Over on Phinished.org, it's something of a truism that it takes two years to get back to 'normal' following the completion of a PhD. I passed my defense 15 months ago, and all I know is, at this point, I'm nowhere near normal again. The aftermath has been an extended exercise in dealing with burnout - not just academic, although that's there, but a broad, all-encompassing burnout that includes family and everyday life. Once upon a time, I was on the borderline-OCD side of organized and efficient; today, I can barely be bothered to put the mountainous piles of mail and papers that seem to collect everywhere into my catch-all of an office. Procrastination has devolved into one of those problems that is affecting my quality of life, and I seem caught in a spiral of self-recrimination and vague despair that shows no signs of abating.

So, when people ask me if I'm going on the job market this fall, what I want to say, in no uncertain terms, is HELL, NO.

( Long post is long. )

All that said, today a friend and I had a paper proposal accepted for an upcoming journal! There's a part of me that's all "Squee!" in the face of my academic angst.