Skip to the content

Kansas State University

The Practical Art of Juggling:
Coping Strategies for Graduate Students Who Teach

 

One of the first things that you learn as a graduate student who teaches is that there is never enough time in the day to do everything you need to do. The second thing that you learn is how to juggle - appointments, classes, office hours, meetings, departmental functions (both social and official), your own classes, studies, projects, articles, advisors, committee meetings, and writing as well as your commitments to family, friends and other "significant others". Sometimes, you drop the ball - and then, as Murphy's Law states, everything else goes wrong, too.

DO NOT DESPAIR!!! It happens. It's part of that rite of passage known as "graduate school," and everyone accumulates their share of "war stories", which are as much a part of our particular culture as hot dogs are to baseball fans. It wouldn't be the same without them.

It does not, however, help much when you've just forgotten your class notes, missed a meeting with your major advisor, your child has the flu, the copy center copy machine is on the fritz until Doomsday - which is after you need them - and your carpool decided to leave early, and forgot to tell you about it. Great.

Understand that the "rules of the game" just changed.

Graduate school is very different from your undergraduate education. The rules are very different, and each discipline and department has its own version. A few things to generally consider are:

Do not procrastinate or allow yourself to fall behind!

  1. The reading in graduate school will, conservatively, triple.
  2. No one will stand over you to make you do it, or hold your hand while you do it.
  3. If you do not understand something, ask!! After the assignment is due, or after you have bombed a test, is too late!
  4. So what do you do? "Preventive karma" has a lot to do with it. Two of the greatest tools that graduate students tend to overlook are time management skills and organizational skills. These are not "for corporate managers only", and are particularly critical when you are teaching on top of everything else.

"Creative clutter" vs. complete disorganization

If your office/work space looks like the aftermath of a natural disaster or resembles a public health hazard, if you are perpetually late because you can't find your calendar, or if you can't find a conference notice that you think you're supposed to attend, you probably need to re-think your organizational strategies. Disorganization is akin to the last stages of entropy - chaos and disintegration.

There is a difference between "creative clutter" and complete disorganization. Creative clutter has a purpose and an order, whether the rest of the world realizes it or not. The difference between the two occurs when you cannot find what you need to function.

An excellent place to start is with Stephanie Winston's Getting Organized. It's a gem of a book that allows the individual to get as organized as they can stand without going crazy. Another classic is Alan Lakein's How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life. Neither of these books offer "quick fixes" or are rigidly controlled. Both authors emphasize that time-management and organization skills are highly personal and are skills that must be developed in a highly individualized manner.

A few introductory ideas include:

  • Putting things into one place: get a box of file folders and put class preparations and assignments in folders by class, separate and file your own classes by class, as well as articles-in-process, projects, and conference and presentation schedules.
  • Get your reference books and/or materials in some sort of order that you can use.
  • Get a personal calendar and use it! These come in many shapes, sizes, styles, and colors. Find one that you like and keep your daily/weekly schedule of appointments and activities in it. And keep it with you! It may not be appropriate while on your daily walk or run, but it won't do much good at the office if you are working at home.
  • Use a TO DO list. Not only is this one of the great time-management skills of all time, it helps to focus on what is most important to accomplish at any given point in time and to organize your time and space accordingly.
  • Work on one major project every day. Write one good item for the final examination. Write that letter requesting to meet with your committee on your proposal. Pick one major objective each day and concentrate on getting it done.
  • Take time to organize and plan. An hour on Friday afternoon to clean out the "IN" box, file what needs to be filed, and consider the next week's priorities is not a large amount of time but it can be valuable time. On a daily basis, check the next day's schedule and "due dates", and write down (or verify) that schedule.
  • Take care of yourself. Get 6 - 7 hours of sleep every night. Maintain a regular exercise program - at least 3 or 4 times a week. Avoid the vending machine/junk food cycle, and take your own lunch. Find a hobby, an art or a craft outside of your disciplinary area and pursue it. Take time for yourself and learn to recognize when you need some "down time". Do something frivolous occasionally.

Most of the great mental disciplines of the world place a great emphasis on being fit to serve, with the basic idea being that if you are not physically and mentally fit yourself, you are not fit to help anyone else. Graduate students who teach serve many masters - their students, their disciplines, their departments, their community, and themselves. Learning to balance all of these demands is as much a part of your graduate education as your dissertation or thesis.