Did you publish today?

Did you publish today? is the title of a first person piece written by Rachel Toor for the Chronicle of Higher Education. When I first read it, it immediately resonated with me. In short, the article discussed that as academics, we have little to show for at the end of a day. It is hard to know when an academic is working and when he/she is not. Even harder to explain to a non-academic the process of tenure (i.e., being on probation for seven years). My husband, a tree guy, can show me what he did each day. There was a tree, and now it is gone. I can’t do the same (there was no line on the paper, now there is one!?!?!). But what I can say for the day today: I submitted a paper; I made 4 worksheets, 2 grading criteria sheets; put away the articles I needed for the paper I wrote; organized my stuff for class; made all copies for class; wasted some time looking for images; read some discussion forum postings; started working on my annual report… So, did I publish today? No, but I got a tiny bit closer.