Pop Quiz: How do you manage your time?
Every year it seems I run into the same bit of fallacious reasoning: “Well, once the semester is over and I have fewer distractions, I’ll be able to just breeze through my research!”
Suffice it to say, things aren’t as breezy as they could be. I’m finding it difficult to stick to a schedule, primarily because I have so few meatspace obligations it never really seems like putting things off will cause any problems. Until, of course, it does. (Wait, I have a meeting tomorrow?).
So, people who research (or do any other projects) in your down-time from teaching: how do you do it? What keeps you on the ball when the weather is oh so nice and there are oh so many shows and websites and games and foods and people out there just itching to drag you away?
P.S. If you’re wondering why you haven’t yet seen Part II of the Teaching Statement series, this is why. Give me some tips and you’ll get it all the faster!
The Pop Quiz is a question posed to you, the Scholars of Doubt. Look for it on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 3pm ET.
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons / Za
Pick a specific time every day to work on a project and stick to it. To get my kids to clean their room, I don’t make them finish it in one day. They have to work on it for 15 minutes every day and then they can go do whatever they want. This is probably the same issue that people have with keeping up with exercise routines and diets. Just start doing a little bit each day until it is a habit.