So for this next school year, I’m facing something I’ve never faced before – a totally open schedule. I got a Mellon Award, which means that I don’t have to teach or be an assistant of any type. The plan is to get work done towards finishing my degree, which is finishing up that second QP and beginning dissertation work.
This is at once exciting and terrifying for me. I’m excited to have the time and energy to devote to my graduate work, but I fear the open schedule. I’ve never really experienced anything like that before, since I have always had something around which to plan my time. It’s always been classes, or a teaching schedule, or a job with regular hours. What do I do with an open schedule?
I’ve tried making a schedule for myself, but I’m struggling with how to do it. Big blocks of time devoted to one thing? Fifteen minute chunks of work on several different things? Do I work from home? Work from the office at school?
I’m interested in input from others who have had to make a similar adjustment. What time management strategies worked for you?
