jrockford27

While this thread has focused primarily on exercise and nutrition, which are important, don't forget that self-care includes hobbies, socializing with friends, and plain old enjoying things that aren't work.
For example, this academic year I started a new ritual where each morning I wake up, make myself some coffee, and spend the first hour of my day reading something that has zero to do with my work.   I feel like this improves my morale substantially, and gets my brain "spun up" to think about important things.  I wish it hadn't taken me until I was 33 years old to realize that mornings aren't just for rolling out of bed, stuffing food in my mouth and rushing into work.  Make time for things that aren't work or exercise!
You'll probably meet people in grad school who brag about 60 hour work weeks and wear their exhaustion like a badge of honor.  It is so ridiculously unnecessary, and these people are probably vastly overstating their workload, or have an exceptionally broad definition of what constitutes academic work.  While we all inevitably find ourselves putting in a few 10-12 hour days at crunch time,  if you're working smart you do not need to be doing that on a weekly basis.

Got accepted into Pittsburgh last night, my top choice, and promptly drank several glasses of wine!
Congrats to everyone!!

I got accepted to Pittsburgh. YAYY!!

Accepted to Pittsburgh today—can barely believe it! Congrats to everyone hearing back this week  

I'll share the narratives of my two campus visits, which were on opposite ends of the spectrum, and which might help you in planning your visit.
School A: I was admitted and attended a "Recruitment Weekend" with every other admitted student. In groups we met with one faculty member for lunch, who may or may not have been in your area (mine was not). The planned itinerary consisted primarily of events with grad students, apart from a party which was attended by grads and faculty.  It was only after I arrived that I discovered that it was incumbent upon me, beforehand, to have set up appointments with professors of interest if I wanted to meet with any faculty individually!  Since I had not made arrangements ahead of time, and at the time I was quite shy and nervous, I had very little interaction with faculty.
School B: Prior to my visit I was issued a (pretty much) to the minute itinerary for a two full day visit which included scheduled appointments with professors I'd mentioned in my statement, and even some professors I was unaware of who happened to be interested in my application, a brief meeting with the department chair, as well as some seminars to attend, lunch and dinner with grad students, etc.  I didn't really need to prepare at all.
It would be worthwhile, once you start talking to the DGS of programs you were admitted to about your visit, to ask if the visit will be more like School A or more like School B!  Keep in mind that everything may not be taken care of, and you may be in charge of planning your own visit to some degree.
My other advice would be: if you attend you'll have 5-8 years to sit with these folks and show off how much Lacan you've read, but you may only have a day or two to decide whether you like these people, this environment, this city.  You've already been admitted, so you don't need to prove how smart or well read you are, focus on getting to know whether or not you want to live and work in this place.  Likewise, your future colleagues are more likely to want to find out who you are as a person; while research interests are a good conversation starter, yours are likely to change a half-dozen times in the next few years anyway!
By the way, I attend School B now.  While School A is a fine program, B definitely made me feel more like they were invested in me, and cared about who I was, which was an important factor in my final decision. These are things to think about as you visit a campus, as I'm sure you've heard enough tales about grad students who feel adrift, neglected, or abandoned by their programs (and if you haven't, believe me, it happens).
   

I'll share the narratives of my two campus visits, which were on opposite ends of the spectrum, and which might help you in planning your visit.
School A: I was admitted and attended a "Recruitment Weekend" with every other admitted student. In groups we met with one faculty member for lunch, who may or may not have been in your area (mine was not). The planned itinerary consisted primarily of events with grad students, apart from a party which was attended by grads and faculty.  It was only after I arrived that I discovered that it was incumbent upon me, beforehand, to have set up appointments with professors of interest if I wanted to meet with any faculty individually!  Since I had not made arrangements ahead of time, and at the time I was quite shy and nervous, I had very little interaction with faculty.
School B: Prior to my visit I was issued a (pretty much) to the minute itinerary for a two full day visit which included scheduled appointments with professors I'd mentioned in my statement, and even some professors I was unaware of who happened to be interested in my application, a brief meeting with the department chair, as well as some seminars to attend, lunch and dinner with grad students, etc.  I didn't really need to prepare at all.
It would be worthwhile, once you start talking to the DGS of programs you were admitted to about your visit, to ask if the visit will be more like School A or more like School B!  Keep in mind that everything may not be taken care of, and you may be in charge of planning your own visit to some degree.
My other advice would be: if you attend you'll have 5-8 years to sit with these folks and show off how much Lacan you've read, but you may only have a day or two to decide whether you like these people, this environment, this city.  You've already been admitted, so you don't need to prove how smart or well read you are, focus on getting to know whether or not you want to live and work in this place.  Likewise, your future colleagues are more likely to want to find out who you are as a person; while research interests are a good conversation starter, yours are likely to change a half-dozen times in the next few years anyway!
By the way, I attend School B now.  While School A is a fine program, B definitely made me feel more like they were invested in me, and cared about who I was, which was an important factor in my final decision. These are things to think about as you visit a campus, as I'm sure you've heard enough tales about grad students who feel adrift, neglected, or abandoned by their programs (and if you haven't, believe me, it happens).
   

I'll share the narratives of my two campus visits, which were on opposite ends of the spectrum, and which might help you in planning your visit.
School A: I was admitted and attended a "Recruitment Weekend" with every other admitted student. In groups we met with one faculty member for lunch, who may or may not have been in your area (mine was not). The planned itinerary consisted primarily of events with grad students, apart from a party which was attended by grads and faculty.  It was only after I arrived that I discovered that it was incumbent upon me, beforehand, to have set up appointments with professors of interest if I wanted to meet with any faculty individually!  Since I had not made arrangements ahead of time, and at the time I was quite shy and nervous, I had very little interaction with faculty.
School B: Prior to my visit I was issued a (pretty much) to the minute itinerary for a two full day visit which included scheduled appointments with professors I'd mentioned in my statement, and even some professors I was unaware of who happened to be interested in my application, a brief meeting with the department chair, as well as some seminars to attend, lunch and dinner with grad students, etc.  I didn't really need to prepare at all.
It would be worthwhile, once you start talking to the DGS of programs you were admitted to about your visit, to ask if the visit will be more like School A or more like School B!  Keep in mind that everything may not be taken care of, and you may be in charge of planning your own visit to some degree.
My other advice would be: if you attend you'll have 5-8 years to sit with these folks and show off how much Lacan you've read, but you may only have a day or two to decide whether you like these people, this environment, this city.  You've already been admitted, so you don't need to prove how smart or well read you are, focus on getting to know whether or not you want to live and work in this place.  Likewise, your future colleagues are more likely to want to find out who you are as a person; while research interests are a good conversation starter, yours are likely to change a half-dozen times in the next few years anyway!
By the way, I attend School B now.  While School A is a fine program, B definitely made me feel more like they were invested in me, and cared about who I was, which was an important factor in my final decision. These are things to think about as you visit a campus, as I'm sure you've heard enough tales about grad students who feel adrift, neglected, or abandoned by their programs (and if you haven't, believe me, it happens).
   

I'll share the narratives of my two campus visits, which were on opposite ends of the spectrum, and which might help you in planning your visit.
School A: I was admitted and attended a "Recruitment Weekend" with every other admitted student. In groups we met with one faculty member for lunch, who may or may not have been in your area (mine was not). The planned itinerary consisted primarily of events with grad students, apart from a party which was attended by grads and faculty.  It was only after I arrived that I discovered that it was incumbent upon me, beforehand, to have set up appointments with professors of interest if I wanted to meet with any faculty individually!  Since I had not made arrangements ahead of time, and at the time I was quite shy and nervous, I had very little interaction with faculty.
School B: Prior to my visit I was issued a (pretty much) to the minute itinerary for a two full day visit which included scheduled appointments with professors I'd mentioned in my statement, and even some professors I was unaware of who happened to be interested in my application, a brief meeting with the department chair, as well as some seminars to attend, lunch and dinner with grad students, etc.  I didn't really need to prepare at all.
It would be worthwhile, once you start talking to the DGS of programs you were admitted to about your visit, to ask if the visit will be more like School A or more like School B!  Keep in mind that everything may not be taken care of, and you may be in charge of planning your own visit to some degree.
My other advice would be: if you attend you'll have 5-8 years to sit with these folks and show off how much Lacan you've read, but you may only have a day or two to decide whether you like these people, this environment, this city.  You've already been admitted, so you don't need to prove how smart or well read you are, focus on getting to know whether or not you want to live and work in this place.  Likewise, your future colleagues are more likely to want to find out who you are as a person; while research interests are a good conversation starter, yours are likely to change a half-dozen times in the next few years anyway!
By the way, I attend School B now.  While School A is a fine program, B definitely made me feel more like they were invested in me, and cared about who I was, which was an important factor in my final decision. These are things to think about as you visit a campus, as I'm sure you've heard enough tales about grad students who feel adrift, neglected, or abandoned by their programs (and if you haven't, believe me, it happens).
   

I'll share the narratives of my two campus visits, which were on opposite ends of the spectrum, and which might help you in planning your visit.
School A: I was admitted and attended a "Recruitment Weekend" with every other admitted student. In groups we met with one faculty member for lunch, who may or may not have been in your area (mine was not). The planned itinerary consisted primarily of events with grad students, apart from a party which was attended by grads and faculty.  It was only after I arrived that I discovered that it was incumbent upon me, beforehand, to have set up appointments with professors of interest if I wanted to meet with any faculty individually!  Since I had not made arrangements ahead of time, and at the time I was quite shy and nervous, I had very little interaction with faculty.
School B: Prior to my visit I was issued a (pretty much) to the minute itinerary for a two full day visit which included scheduled appointments with professors I'd mentioned in my statement, and even some professors I was unaware of who happened to be interested in my application, a brief meeting with the department chair, as well as some seminars to attend, lunch and dinner with grad students, etc.  I didn't really need to prepare at all.
It would be worthwhile, once you start talking to the DGS of programs you were admitted to about your visit, to ask if the visit will be more like School A or more like School B!  Keep in mind that everything may not be taken care of, and you may be in charge of planning your own visit to some degree.
My other advice would be: if you attend you'll have 5-8 years to sit with these folks and show off how much Lacan you've read, but you may only have a day or two to decide whether you like these people, this environment, this city.  You've already been admitted, so you don't need to prove how smart or well read you are, focus on getting to know whether or not you want to live and work in this place.  Likewise, your future colleagues are more likely to want to find out who you are as a person; while research interests are a good conversation starter, yours are likely to change a half-dozen times in the next few years anyway!
By the way, I attend School B now.  While School A is a fine program, B definitely made me feel more like they were invested in me, and cared about who I was, which was an important factor in my final decision. These are things to think about as you visit a campus, as I'm sure you've heard enough tales about grad students who feel adrift, neglected, or abandoned by their programs (and if you haven't, believe me, it happens).
   

I'll share the narratives of my two campus visits, which were on opposite ends of the spectrum, and which might help you in planning your visit.
School A: I was admitted and attended a "Recruitment Weekend" with every other admitted student. In groups we met with one faculty member for lunch, who may or may not have been in your area (mine was not). The planned itinerary consisted primarily of events with grad students, apart from a party which was attended by grads and faculty.  It was only after I arrived that I discovered that it was incumbent upon me, beforehand, to have set up appointments with professors of interest if I wanted to meet with any faculty individually!  Since I had not made arrangements ahead of time, and at the time I was quite shy and nervous, I had very little interaction with faculty.
School B: Prior to my visit I was issued a (pretty much) to the minute itinerary for a two full day visit which included scheduled appointments with professors I'd mentioned in my statement, and even some professors I was unaware of who happened to be interested in my application, a brief meeting with the department chair, as well as some seminars to attend, lunch and dinner with grad students, etc.  I didn't really need to prepare at all.
It would be worthwhile, once you start talking to the DGS of programs you were admitted to about your visit, to ask if the visit will be more like School A or more like School B!  Keep in mind that everything may not be taken care of, and you may be in charge of planning your own visit to some degree.
My other advice would be: if you attend you'll have 5-8 years to sit with these folks and show off how much Lacan you've read, but you may only have a day or two to decide whether you like these people, this environment, this city.  You've already been admitted, so you don't need to prove how smart or well read you are, focus on getting to know whether or not you want to live and work in this place.  Likewise, your future colleagues are more likely to want to find out who you are as a person; while research interests are a good conversation starter, yours are likely to change a half-dozen times in the next few years anyway!
By the way, I attend School B now.  While School A is a fine program, B definitely made me feel more like they were invested in me, and cared about who I was, which was an important factor in my final decision. These are things to think about as you visit a campus, as I'm sure you've heard enough tales about grad students who feel adrift, neglected, or abandoned by their programs (and if you haven't, believe me, it happens).
   

I'll share the narratives of my two campus visits, which were on opposite ends of the spectrum, and which might help you in planning your visit.
School A: I was admitted and attended a "Recruitment Weekend" with every other admitted student. In groups we met with one faculty member for lunch, who may or may not have been in your area (mine was not). The planned itinerary consisted primarily of events with grad students, apart from a party which was attended by grads and faculty.  It was only after I arrived that I discovered that it was incumbent upon me, beforehand, to have set up appointments with professors of interest if I wanted to meet with any faculty individually!  Since I had not made arrangements ahead of time, and at the time I was quite shy and nervous, I had very little interaction with faculty.
School B: Prior to my visit I was issued a (pretty much) to the minute itinerary for a two full day visit which included scheduled appointments with professors I'd mentioned in my statement, and even some professors I was unaware of who happened to be interested in my application, a brief meeting with the department chair, as well as some seminars to attend, lunch and dinner with grad students, etc.  I didn't really need to prepare at all.
It would be worthwhile, once you start talking to the DGS of programs you were admitted to about your visit, to ask if the visit will be more like School A or more like School B!  Keep in mind that everything may not be taken care of, and you may be in charge of planning your own visit to some degree.
My other advice would be: if you attend you'll have 5-8 years to sit with these folks and show off how much Lacan you've read, but you may only have a day or two to decide whether you like these people, this environment, this city.  You've already been admitted, so you don't need to prove how smart or well read you are, focus on getting to know whether or not you want to live and work in this place.  Likewise, your future colleagues are more likely to want to find out who you are as a person; while research interests are a good conversation starter, yours are likely to change a half-dozen times in the next few years anyway!
By the way, I attend School B now.  While School A is a fine program, B definitely made me feel more like they were invested in me, and cared about who I was, which was an important factor in my final decision. These are things to think about as you visit a campus, as I'm sure you've heard enough tales about grad students who feel adrift, neglected, or abandoned by their programs (and if you haven't, believe me, it happens).
   

Got into Chicago!!! So excited!

Just to update- I spoke with a peer mentor who I really respect. They reported the situation to our university's EOO office, and now I have to meet with them. I'm going to make a plan for setting boundaries for what I will and won't tolerate, and draft a document with evidence of what was said and done to me in this program. One day, when I have a secure job, I'll let send this document to someone with the power to affect change. Thanks to everyone here for their advice. It all got me to go confide in someone.

Definitely write a thank you e-mail back in the case of an acceptance or a waitlist.  It lets the administration know you've received the decision.  Something as simple as, "That's wonderful news!  Thank you!  Please let me know if you need anything from me."  They know that you're probably waiting for all of your offers to come in and they definitely know that you have until April 15 to make a decision.

I would say, don't get too sore at particular departments about a lot of these things, a lot of them are standardized at the college-wide or university-wide level. If an English department wanted to stop requiring GRE scores and official transcripts they probably couldn't do it without getting the change made globally across whatever college they were in, it is very difficult to do anything in a university bureaucracy.
With regard to dates and fees:  I can totally understand the points made about application fees, I dropped like $800 on them, but there needs to be some way to keep the number of applications down because application reading is exceptionally laborious.  That probably sounds like a whine, but imagine a school that requires a 3 page SoP and a 20 page writing sample gets 400 applications.  That's 9,200 pages of reading, not inclusive of CVs, transcripts, and letters of rec, all of which have to be read carefully in order to ensure a good application process.  The adcom at my program has 6 people on it, who break out into groups of two and divide the applications evenly between them for the first round.  Even then, you're still looking at 3,000 pages of reading just for the SoP and writing sample.  If you don't find some way to decrease the total number of applications, then you would have to fall back on some other quick cut metric, like, for example, a greater reliance on GRE scores as a cutoff, which is already a bugaboo.  
Pinning down an exact date for responses is also quite difficult given the nature of academic committee work.  As one person pointed out, profs do not get any kind of work release for adcom work and so those thousands of pages of application to review come on top of their current teaching, writing, conference, and research responsibilities.  It can be very difficult to coordinate an adcom on a particular date with so much involved in actually completing the review process.  What if a member of the adcom has something come up, becomes ill or has a death in the family, would you want them zipping through your SoP at the last minute in order to get it read on time?  They're also probably thinking of their already underpaid and overworked department administrators, because what do you think will happen to them if the responses happened to go out a day... or hell even an hour late?
Getting anything done in a University setting involves a lot of moving parts, cat herding, and bureaucracy.  Even something as trivial as updating an out of date website can require multiple layers of approval from various functionaries.  While there are doubtless a great many ways the process can be improved, there aren't easy solutions.

Every school has a waitlist, fear not.  I attend a program very similarly ranked to tOSU and we admit off the waitlist every single year (I got into my program off the wait list!)

Every school has a waitlist, fear not.  I attend a program very similarly ranked to tOSU and we admit off the waitlist every single year (I got into my program off the wait list!)

I would say, don't get too sore at particular departments about a lot of these things, a lot of them are standardized at the college-wide or university-wide level. If an English department wanted to stop requiring GRE scores and official transcripts they probably couldn't do it without getting the change made globally across whatever college they were in, it is very difficult to do anything in a university bureaucracy.
With regard to dates and fees:  I can totally understand the points made about application fees, I dropped like $800 on them, but there needs to be some way to keep the number of applications down because application reading is exceptionally laborious.  That probably sounds like a whine, but imagine a school that requires a 3 page SoP and a 20 page writing sample gets 400 applications.  That's 9,200 pages of reading, not inclusive of CVs, transcripts, and letters of rec, all of which have to be read carefully in order to ensure a good application process.  The adcom at my program has 6 people on it, who break out into groups of two and divide the applications evenly between them for the first round.  Even then, you're still looking at 3,000 pages of reading just for the SoP and writing sample.  If you don't find some way to decrease the total number of applications, then you would have to fall back on some other quick cut metric, like, for example, a greater reliance on GRE scores as a cutoff, which is already a bugaboo.  
Pinning down an exact date for responses is also quite difficult given the nature of academic committee work.  As one person pointed out, profs do not get any kind of work release for adcom work and so those thousands of pages of application to review come on top of their current teaching, writing, conference, and research responsibilities.  It can be very difficult to coordinate an adcom on a particular date with so much involved in actually completing the review process.  What if a member of the adcom has something come up, becomes ill or has a death in the family, would you want them zipping through your SoP at the last minute in order to get it read on time?  They're also probably thinking of their already underpaid and overworked department administrators, because what do you think will happen to them if the responses happened to go out a day... or hell even an hour late?
Getting anything done in a University setting involves a lot of moving parts, cat herding, and bureaucracy.  Even something as trivial as updating an out of date website can require multiple layers of approval from various functionaries.  While there are doubtless a great many ways the process can be improved, there aren't easy solutions.

I would say, don't get too sore at particular departments about a lot of these things, a lot of them are standardized at the college-wide or university-wide level. If an English department wanted to stop requiring GRE scores and official transcripts they probably couldn't do it without getting the change made globally across whatever college they were in, it is very difficult to do anything in a university bureaucracy.
With regard to dates and fees:  I can totally understand the points made about application fees, I dropped like $800 on them, but there needs to be some way to keep the number of applications down because application reading is exceptionally laborious.  That probably sounds like a whine, but imagine a school that requires a 3 page SoP and a 20 page writing sample gets 400 applications.  That's 9,200 pages of reading, not inclusive of CVs, transcripts, and letters of rec, all of which have to be read carefully in order to ensure a good application process.  The adcom at my program has 6 people on it, who break out into groups of two and divide the applications evenly between them for the first round.  Even then, you're still looking at 3,000 pages of reading just for the SoP and writing sample.  If you don't find some way to decrease the total number of applications, then you would have to fall back on some other quick cut metric, like, for example, a greater reliance on GRE scores as a cutoff, which is already a bugaboo.  
Pinning down an exact date for responses is also quite difficult given the nature of academic committee work.  As one person pointed out, profs do not get any kind of work release for adcom work and so those thousands of pages of application to review come on top of their current teaching, writing, conference, and research responsibilities.  It can be very difficult to coordinate an adcom on a particular date with so much involved in actually completing the review process.  What if a member of the adcom has something come up, becomes ill or has a death in the family, would you want them zipping through your SoP at the last minute in order to get it read on time?  They're also probably thinking of their already underpaid and overworked department administrators, because what do you think will happen to them if the responses happened to go out a day... or hell even an hour late?
Getting anything done in a University setting involves a lot of moving parts, cat herding, and bureaucracy.  Even something as trivial as updating an out of date website can require multiple layers of approval from various functionaries.  While there are doubtless a great many ways the process can be improved, there aren't easy solutions.

I deal with some of the same issues you do (including attention deficit, anxiety, depression) but over the last few years of grad school I've managed to refine my methods, maybe some of this will help.
First.  I find that a solid work schedule begins and ends with a solid sleep pattern, because this helps you establish a routine which I think is so important to dealing with some of these mental health issues.  If I go to bed on time, and wake up on time, the day goes well.  If I stay up too late and oversleep, surprise surprise, I have a hard time even getting grounded and it can be very hard to recover.  Have a routine, and have set work hours.  It doesn't matter if you work from 11am-7pm, 9am-5pm, or 9pm-5am, routine is important.  If you're struggling with getting to classes and meetings, pick a set of working hours amenable to that.  Keep that time sacred for work (though remember to take a break here and there - though don't get too far afield).  If you're like me, and struggle with focus, there are apps for that!  Don't rapidly snap into this new routine overnight, work your way up to it.  I find that even on the weekend I only deviate slightly from this sleep schedule, I shoot for 7 hours of sleep each night, your body may have different needs.
Second.  Protect some time for non-work stuff and keep that sacred as well.  Don't buy into the myth that you should be putting in 70 hours of solid work each week.  Nobody is really doing that, and even if they are, there is plenty evidence to suggest that working in small, intense bursts actually produces better output than dragging out your workday for the sake of being able to comfortably say you logged a lot of hours.  If you have nothing to look forward to then it will be very hard to stay committed to your work.
Third.  Never go into anything as important as a day in your life without a plan.  Even if you wake up and finish your breakfast and walk your dog and you're just itching to sit down and write until your fingers bleed, take some time to plan out your day.  I have used checklists, but I've found that I've had more success after I bought a small lined notepad.  Each day, I mark out the clock hours I'm going to work, each line represents a 30 minute increment, and I visualize how my time will be spent, accounting for time spent on the bus or walking from place to place, as well as any breaks.  Each day starts with a 30 minute block I label "planning/prep", in which I check my e-mail, check and update my planner, get any old coffee cups off my desk, and get whatever books or materials I'm going to need for the day.  After that, I turn on my website blocking app for the next 6-7 hours and I work.
Fourth.  Try doing creative/intense intellectual work in short, highly focused bursts.  There are studies that show that even highly trained and experienced experts in various skills have a very very finite amount of mental energy/willpower that they can expend on their practice before they start to see diminishing returns.  Since I've started actually producing my dissertation, I limit my actual writing time to two very intense 90-120 minute chunks of writing each day.  I've found that I'm having quite a bit of success this way.  In a typical day, I begin at 9:30 a.m., I take care of prep stuff and everyday tasks until 10, I then write until about noon, at which time I take a 30-60 minute break to eat, walk the dog, etc.  I then write for another 90-120 minutes.  These minutes of writing, of course, are focused and intense (I don't check e-mail, don't use my phone, etc., just write).  I then leave the rest of the day for reading and research, or other less intellectually demanding stuff.  I always take the last 15 minutes of the day to close everything down, make some notes on what I need to do tomorrow, and then I take like five minutes or so to just close my eyes, breathe, and disengage from the work.  The strategy of short, intense, flurries of output takes some practice, but I think is ultimately far more rewarding than the drawn out days I used to spend at my desk distracted and despondent.  If you're still in coursework, you may have to alter this formula slightly in order to keep up on reading and seminar prep, which is demanding in a somewhat different way, but I think the principle still holds true.
It goes without saying that this is a very fragile system, it takes some discipline to adhere to.  I have really excellent productive weeks using it.  There are also some weeks that nothing seems to go right with it, and I can't get a groove.  Consistency is key, good days beget good days, good weeks beget good weeks.  If there is something disruptive coming up like a holiday, or a conference, or research travel prepare yourself for it and figure out how you'll get your groove back when you return. I can't stress enough that the strongest indicator I can find as to whether a week is good or bad is a consistent sleep pattern that helps lock the routine in place.  Also, finding a workspace conducive to highly focused work is essential as well.
There is a book I've found very helpful called Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Dr. Cal Newport.  Some of the strategies I talk about in this post come from that, though most are modifications of things I was already working about.  What Newport provides is a solid well researched basis for these strategies and ways of refining them.  It's not geared toward academics, but the author is a professor at Georgetown so the strategies are actually rooted in his academic life.  It's not without its problematic aspects, but overall very helpful. 

Congrats.  I did my undergrad at UMN English.  My interactions with CSCL were limited but all positive!  It may please you to know that one of my grad instructors from that dept. interviewed for and received a tenure track job during the course of the class I was taking from him.  Minneapolis is a wonderful city, though I'm a bit biased having been born and raised in the area.  However, Prince once told Oprah that he would never move away from Minnesota because "the cold keeps all of the jerks away."  Good luck with the rest of the process.
Also, as you probably know, you would be living a stonesthrow from the birthplace of your namesake! 

Just got an acceptance from Minnesota Comparative Literature! I applied to the CSDS program in the same department, but I had a lovely phone conversation with the DGS where she recommended I switch to Comp Lit. My first acceptance--I'm overwhelmed!
The pain from Chicago is healing.

ACCEPTED TO ILLINOIS AND NOMINATED FOR A FELLOWSHIP!

This came up in the acceptance thread re: Buffalo, but oftentimes schools have outside or university-wide fellowship nomination processes that don't coincide with their overall admissions timeline.  Oftentimes the department needs to nominate an applicant and then forward that nominee's application to an extra-departmental committee for approval.  That could potentially be a reason for admissions notifications that seem out of whack with tradition.  If this doesn't show up in the survey in previous years, it could be because some fellowships rotate between departments; or because a department used a fellowship that ordinarily goes to a student already attending in order to recruit a particularly good or interesting applicant they think may go elsewhere.
Also, I'm sure that if a dept. tried to notify an accepted applicant by phone and didn't get an answer that they would leave a voicemail, contact the applicant by e-mail, and patiently wait for a response.  If they're calling you that means they want you, possibly just as much as you want them.  Even Harvard has to compete for accepted applicants, so remember that it's a two-lane street, even if their lane is substantially wider than yours!

This came up in the acceptance thread re: Buffalo, but oftentimes schools have outside or university-wide fellowship nomination processes that don't coincide with their overall admissions timeline.  Oftentimes the department needs to nominate an applicant and then forward that nominee's application to an extra-departmental committee for approval.  That could potentially be a reason for admissions notifications that seem out of whack with tradition.  If this doesn't show up in the survey in previous years, it could be because some fellowships rotate between departments; or because a department used a fellowship that ordinarily goes to a student already attending in order to recruit a particularly good or interesting applicant they think may go elsewhere.
Also, I'm sure that if a dept. tried to notify an accepted applicant by phone and didn't get an answer that they would leave a voicemail, contact the applicant by e-mail, and patiently wait for a response.  If they're calling you that means they want you, possibly just as much as you want them.  Even Harvard has to compete for accepted applicants, so remember that it's a two-lane street, even if their lane is substantially wider than yours!