The Coffee Kiddo

Me:

everyone is different and every program is different, but i think these tips are generally applicable! regular caveat that i'm an english lit phd, and things may be different in social sciences + stem

do not do all the reading. not only is it physically impossible unless you're an incredible speed reader, it also is actually not helpful! 80% of what you read isn't going to serve you + your research, so reading it all is gonna get in the way of that. ruthlessly prioritize

get some sleep. you are a person, and your work should never come before your health + happiness. there will always be more work to do. not getting everything done is fine!

notes and citations are your friend. when reading an article, look at the works cited and look at the foot/end notes. these will give you a better idea of what the scholarly landscape looks like than the body of the article will. likewise, write notes on everything you read so you don't have to go back and reread things.

talk to people. it's scary, but grad school is about moving from being a student to a peer— treat your professors as people, go talk to them/ videochat/ whatever; this makes the profs 1) less scary and 2) better able to write rec letters.

courses only matter so much. for a lot of programs, coursework is the bare minimum of what you do. get a job, join a research project, work on an individual project. it will help you not be consumed with the grunt work of courses, and will make you look better in the long run.

hello i love organizing and planning and this is now my… fourth year…. of graduate school so i figured i would share what i do to start off the semester/ year on the right foot!

compile all your readings / assignments in one place. all of em. i have a giant spreadsheet that has the date in one column and readings, research/ writing goals, and teaching markers all together listed chronologically in the other. a good calendar also works well for this– but the key is to throw everything together in one place. you should be able to look at it and not worry ab whether you’re forgetting something. 

think about your priorities: is teaching? your own research? one course more important than the others? schedule more time, and at the times when you’re more productive, for the things that matter most to you. 

with those priorities in mind, make a rough weekly schedule. i like to focus on one thing a day, so after laying out when my meetings / coursework / teaching is, i pick one thing to work on during that free time. It can be really simple, i.e. “Tuesday Aft - Medievalism Homework” but it helps you to know when and how you’ll get work done.  

know when your time off is. this includes holidays and breaks, but also plan into your schedule time off. i like to have one zero progress day a week, where i do absolutely nothing related to school or work and just exist as a person. maybe you need two of those days, maybe you like to give yourself a 3 day weekend once a month. plan for those breaks, so you don’t explode.

Following the reactions to this post, which I couldn’t stop thinking about : 

Read More, Read Better

Many of us are looking for more ways to enjoy our time at home in these stressful circumstances. Some of us have turned to books. But how can we make sure we get the most out of them?