Week 8? Week 9?

10.25.21

I think this is… Week 8? Week 9? We’re at the point of the semester when time seems to blur together.

At any rate, unsurprisingly, I have been struggling with (yet I would argue, doing well at) managing my time. Going from having 6 courses per semester, two jobs, playing a varsity sport and being involved in tons of clubs and student orgs to “just” taking 3 classes and serving as a TA for two was definitely an adjustment. But there are a few things that I have learned that have helped me get past the midpoint of the semester still standing:

1. I am much, much more productive before 2 pm. Almost all of my motivation and thinking power comes in the morning, which is unfortunate for me as almost all my classes start after 3pm. This may be a conditioned thing, too, because the majority of my courses in undergrad were before 2:30 for sports. I am also productive after around 8pm, but I try to reserve that for less rigorous tasks.
2. I hate grading; no matter how little time it takes me, it’s monotonous and bores me. I try to front-load my grading at the beginning of a due date, and then grade the stragglers at some point…later.
3. Being physically active is really important. For someone who doesn’t use a planner or really have a calendar of events, I find that dragging myself to campus to do work is quite beneficial for my sense of productivity. I am very grateful that we are in person (*fingers crossed*) this semester, because I do not think I would have done as well virtually. It is important for me to move from classroom to classroom, to actually physically move myself to the library to study, etc. I also need to get my daily and weekly workouts in – I’ve reserved Sunday to be almost entirely free of work, with the exception of prepping for the coming week in the evening. Besides that, it is my day for long hikes and drives, and this helps me reset and refresh for the week.

With that said, I am procrastinating some readings right now, so I think I’ll leave it at this right now. Originally I was motivated to share a “day in the life”, but that will be in a coming post!