120 hours and counting

In approximately 120 hours, I will be back in the classroom on the first day of school. This is not very much time. I am not complaining about the lack of time I have left of summer, but I am starting to become concerned at my lack of productivity this week.

I do have an excuse. I have now been sick (SICK) for seven full days, and that has greatly impacted both the quality and quantity of my work. I finally went to the doctor yesterday, after finding out that my nephew, whom I got sick, had an ear infection. I knew there was no point in going to the doctor with anything viral. That would waste my time, her time, and my $10 copay. I didn't want to go unless I was walking out with a prescription that would actually make me feel better. Miracle of miracles, I left her office with three! My official diagnosis? A viral infection that morphed into sinusitis. This was patently obvious with all of my sinus pain.

I also got authorization from the pharmacist to sleep more. So, yesterday I started antibiotics, took a two hour nap that made me feel like I was hit by a truck, and finished up my official schedule for the fall semester. I also finished up my syllabus for the two classes I'm teaching and started their Blackboard site, where I post all course documents. I was surprised about a month ago by a phone call from our department head saying I needed to be teaching two courses this fall instead of one. No, I do not get paid more. Fortunately, they are the same course. Unfortunately, it doubles the workload when it comes to grading and museum trips.

Even more fortunately, the two courses are identical to the course I taught the first half of this summer. All it will take from me is a bit of reorganization to my lecture notes and I'll be ready to go. They did use two different textbooks, but the majority of the images are in both books.

I've also been planning how I will spend my time each week. I've attempted this in the past and it has not worked so well. However, with the lack of time between now and when I take my exams (early November) I have no choice but to make the best possible use of my time. Here's what my schedule looks like:

My two classes are MW 11:00-11:50 and 12:00-12:50. I'm sitting in on my advisor's graduate class that immediately follows my two sections on Monday afternoons. The rest of my time must be devoted to prepping for teaching, reading for the class I'm sitting in on, and preparing for my exams. I've made sure to include twenty hours a week for exam prep, ten each to my broad field and my specialty field. I've only scheduled one major break in each day, but I'm sure I'll take smaller ones throughout the day. I also intend to spend one day a week at Penn's library. They have things that don't lend, and it will also give me a chance to work in a different environment to shake up my routine. My new train pass will allow me to get there more easily and more cheaply than has been possible before.

I've done this grad school thing for four years now and I think I've figured out what works best for me. I work really hard, but I also am aware of my need for down time. If I behave myself and stick to this schedule, I'll be able to use the evenings and weekends as I see fit: exercising, cooking, spending time with Nick, etc. I try to keep my mental health a priority, and a large part of staying sane is keeping my stress level low. It's always a difficult transition from summer to new semester, but I'm attempting to make it as smooth as possible by planning ahead.