it was a nice breakfast/brunch we had the other day, tho' i think i was a little insistent in my talk of timelines and scheduling and work habits. that said, i thought (or 'thot') i'd put my money where my mouth is & post about my attempt at planning a weekly schedule. having just been accepted to present at Congress at the Canadian Communications Association (CCA) conference in June in Vancouver, i figure this is better done now than later.
so first, i thought about what a reasonable work week would be. 10 hours per weekday plus another 10 over the weekend is a 60 hour work week, but with reading and writing constituting a big chunk of that, it isn't an overwhelming schedule, I believe.
Then I thought about what that would be (w/ a running total at the end of each point):
+
10 hours a TA-ship (that's the easy one, and it gives me bonus time in the summer, or if I choose not to do a TA-ship one semester:
50 hours remaining)
+
2 hrs/day writing = 14 hrs. (i thought whether this would be lumped into weekends or free days, or rigidly scheduled into the activities of each day. i don't yet have an answer for that, but the 14 hour weekly max. gives some flexibility:
36 hours remaining)
+
2 hrs./day reading = 14 hrs. (this includes researching, annotating, and note-taking, which might also be considered writing, tho' i'd like to develop a habit of doing research directly into the computer, so i don't have to filter through post-it notes at a later date. i've had success doing this with précis-writing, tho' it's not yet instinctive enough a practice. "writing" proper i'd like to devote to synthesis and analysis and more creative activities:
22 hours remaining)
+
3 hrs./weekly supervisory meetings (maybe ambitious, but i would like to be working closely with my supervisor[s], either supporting their work through my collaboration, or discussing my own progress with them. i'd like to institute this early and make it an ongoing activity... i guess the challenge is getting my supervisor to buy in:
19 hours remaining)
+
6-9 hrs./weekly in-class, coursework (this may include course audits, unaccredited coursework. ideally i'll be taking two in a semester, tho' three courses may be a necessity at times. in any case, i'll say 9 hours to give myself some space to do readings without cutting too deeply into my own research:
10 hours remaining)
+
7 hrs./weekly peer meetings (the formal side of socializing, this would include TA development activities, participation in grad student association meetings, peer presentations of work-in-progress, local symposiums/panels/etc., gallery openings, and so on. i've averaged an hour per day on this, tho' it'll likely cluster:
3 hours remaining)
So the grand total is
57 hours, meaning I have
3 to spare! Of course I'm not factoring in transportation in this equation, and 3 hours hardly counts for that. But as a set of upper limits, hopefully that makes sense.
the question now is whether i "enforce" my restrictions, and how do i do it? (apologies in advance for sounding so anal in this section, but i'm just trying to work a problem through.) for example: say there's a number of interesting peer activities going on in a week that would take me above my alloted 7 hours: do i say no to them? do i cut into my reading or writing or some other time to attend? do i "bank" hours from week to week, or does each week start as a blank slate? how do i determine when things need to change—do i redo this weekly plan every few months or so?
many questions. i only hope by addressing them like i have here that i'm working toward a viable solution rather than a compulsive disorder (the use of the term "self-discipline" in the title makes me feel
really squirmy...)
