It is not that life has been boring or empty in the last few weeks, but that circumstances have forced me to strip my work to its essentials - and that left no surprises, no critical incidents. Despite calamities at home, I have mostly continued working - but at normal instead of hyper rate. I have ignored anything that was not a core part of my job, and the world has not stopped. I haven't followed inviting trails, or thought very deeply. Just got on with things, delegating a little more than usual. It wasn't really delegation as colleagues have offered help wherever possible - and that is not a surprise because it is what we have always done.

It has helped that I work from home, so I didn't need to avoid passing a nasty flu virus round the office. I work fairly flexible hours, so when I have needed to be away from my desk for the afternoon, I could make up the hours needed to complete jobs at other times. Nearly all my work communications are asynchronous, fitting well with flexible hours.

I haven't made much progress on the pathway review, but at the moment there is still time to complete the paperwork for what is a successful degree course. I've had to set my own studies aside - but presenting similar themes at undergraduate level has given me plenty of background and if I take an unambitious stance I can still meet the deadlines.

Am I being too optimistic? It is too early to tell. I should look back over the past few weeks to see what I've covered, then I can make some better plans.