Career & Tools
Do you often feel crazed during the end of fall quarter? Read on for tips from the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community. Membership (free for UCSB students!) provides several forms of professional support to help combat common problems academics face - find out more here.
Do you often feel crazed during the âend of fall quarter? Read on for tips from the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community of over 71,000 graduate students, postdocs, and faculty membersâ.
To take advantage of this amazing resource (free for UCSB students!), you must register with your UCSB account (see how to register here). Once you âregister, you are automatically subscribed to the Monday Motivator -- your weekly dose of âpositive energy âand actionable steps to increase your productivity and motivation. This week's Monday motivator focuses on staying productive during the holiday crunch time.
The span of time between the return from Thanksgiving and the beginning of Christmas/Holiday break is a special time for academics. For many, it's where your end-of-the-term exhaustion meets desperation; where your search for a moment of free time has to accommodate forced participation at multiple holiday social events; and where your own grandiose writing goals face the pending reality of what you can actually accomplish in the remaining two weeks. To add insult to injury, it's also the time when the days get shorter and the weather turns grim in most parts of the country. In short, what we hope will be a gentle descent into the slower pace of Winter Break often ends up to be a stressful and bumpy climb.
However, special times call for special coping strategies. And since the NCFDD Top 10 Tips for Crunch Time was so popular in the past, they have come up with an additional list as the holiday break approaches.
1. Plan Ahead For Crunch Times
Make a strategic plan, such as leaving the first two weeks in December blank so that you can catch up on any research or writing that has not been completed during the fall term. When the calendar turns to December, build in a cushion of time that helps relieve stress during an already stressful time of year.
2. Try The Treat System
Lots of academic writers swear by the treat system during the end-of-term crunch time! Since each day can be packed full of pressure to meet other people's demands, staying committed to completing the most important thing (your writing) without getting off track deserves a reward. If you fulfill your writing time first thing in the morning, then you get a reward. The only rule is that the reward has to be something truly pleasurable!
3. Find A Crunch Time Buddy
The buddy system is a great way to get through the difficult times of the term. Asking someone to be your accountability partner during crunch time will not only help to keep you connected to your colleagues but will also help you to maintain your daily writing practice. It's really simple: 1) ask a peer if they will be your partner for two weeks, 2) set up a time to talk for 5-10 minutes each morning, and 3) agree to quickly report in during the call by stating what your key priorities are for the day and identifying any potential places you may get stuck for a little advanced problem solving. Two weeks is a minimal commitment and the call can serve as a built-in morning ritual to confirm and clarify your priorities for the day.
4. Get Comfortable With End Of Term Conflicts
The end of the term is guaranteed to bring some students wanting to negotiate with you for better grades. Instead of getting angry and lamenting their consumerist attitudes, understand that at this late date, the only thing you control is your response. Get clear ahead of time about how and when you want to handle grade conflicts, and then do it in an efficient and professional manner so it doesn't disturb your inner peace.
5. Try Annoyance Tracking
Most of the things that you find annoying at the end of the term can be alleviated with a little advanced planning. If you have too much grading, then you can front-load your writing assignments next time or try an entirely different evaluation strategy. If the binge-and-bust model of writing has left you hysterical because you've only produced a handful of pages, then let the next term be one where you start a daily writing practice. If you're shocked to find yourself with time-intensive service commitments that all piled up at the end of the term, then make yourself a note to consult your calendar before saying "yes" to anything in the Spring. This doesn't necessarily solve any of your problems in the moment, but the changes that will come out of your annoyance tracking will reduce your stress in the long run.
6. Take Strategic Short-Cuts
Many people respond to the stress of the end of the term by taking shortcuts. Unfortunately, the shortcuts we frequently take are with our writing and/or our bodily needs. So instead of unconsciously choosing to skip sleep or give up your daily writing time, try consciously assessing what activities in your day can be eliminated or reduced with minimal consequences. For example, when I skimp on sleep, the consequence is lowered cognitive functioning and physical exhaustion. That's not really a good idea. However, if I stop checking Facebook for a week, sign off all listservs, close my office door (and don't answer when someone knocks), let voicemail pick up the phone, or re-schedule low priority meetings, the consequences are minimal and I open up time and space in my day for the things that really matter.
7. Move Your Butt
Even if you don't normally exercise, stressful times require movement! If you can combine movement and relaxation (yoga, sex, whatever...) that's great! If all you can manage is to take the stairs instead of the elevator up to your office, that's fine too! If that seems like too much, how about just playing some music and wiggling in your chair a bit? Whatever you can do to get your body in motion is worth the time and effort.
8. Rethink Your Regular Coping Strategies
Smoking, heavy drinking, overeating, procrastinating, withdrawing and/or glazing out in front of the TV are all too common coping strategies. However, drinking a bottle of wine while binge-watching TV probably isn't going to leave you feeling truly relaxed and rejuvenated. Instead, I want to encourage you to take a look at your regular stress-relieving behaviors and consider trying some healthier alternatives during the end of semester crunch time. For example, calling a good friend, taking a hot bath, pausing for a cup of tea, playing with your dog/cat, getting a massage, journaling, reading for pleasure, or listening to music are all great options!
9. Hold Your Sunday Meeting Sacred
I believe the key to aligning your time with your priorities is to take 30 minutes to plan your week. But during the crunch times, it's even more important! Your schedule changes, demands on your time increase, and it would be oh-so-easy to just hope everything will get done. The truth is that we still only have a finite amount of time, we have more tasks to do than time to do them in, and our human tendency is to focus on the seemingly urgent while neglecting the truly important. Unless we take the time before the week begins to make sure our priorities are appropriately placed in our schedule, they are very likely to get pushed out entirely or we are likely to end up working far more hours.
10. Keep The End In Mind
If all you can do during the next two weeks is to regularly ask yourself: what MUST get done between now and the end of the term and let the answer drive your daily behavior, you will be in good shape. Keep your tasks manageable, ask for help when you need it, and be willing to let some things go by developing the habit of consistently asking: does this matter? You may return to being hyper-attentive to details when the term has concluded and your grades are turned in. However, during the crunch time, there are many small details that can be released from your life. Stay focused on the most important priorities each day and give yourself permission to let the small stuff go.
Pick one or two strategies from this list (or from the Crunch Time Monday Motivator) and experiment with them. If they work, great! If not, try a different strategy. The idea is to recognize that the end of the term has its own special energy and unique time challenges that can best be managed by recognizing them and adjusting your approach in whatever ways make the most sense for you!