Extra assignment from advisor - how to prioritize?

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

I'm in my 1st year of graduate school, drowning in work, and my advisor asked me to write a report/literature review on a very big topic (don't want to be too specific, aka identifiable, but it's on the same scale as a report on monumental architecture in Bronze Age Europe - it's huge) and I can't see myself being able to do a respectable job on this in less than 150 or 200 hours of work, and he wants it by December 1.

 

He's on sabbatical right now and I don't think he realizes that I'm maxed out with taking classes, working as an RA for a different professor 25 hours/week, submitting funding applications, and working a job at a museum (about 10 hours per week). I've already cut back a lot of hours at the job, and I don't want to cut more, especially since I asked about this during my interview process and was reassured by him that staying in the job would not be a problem. (In fact, this job is why I wanted to stay in the city I'm in and did not go elsewhere).

 

While I want to start off on good terms with him, I asked if I could have an extension on the Lit Review, until the end of winter break, and he said no, because he needs to present at a conference in January, using information from the report I turn in to him.

 

What do I do? Turn in a woe-fully lacking report on time? Take longer and turn in a high quality report? Just throw a bunch of articles into a dropbox folder and see if those will appease him until I can get a good write-up together?

[anthropologygeek]

Grad school means priority: research>publications>adviser projects>classes>assistantship. Research and publications is how you get jobs and a job with your adviser contacts/recommendations. So if this means you don't sleep for say two nights so be It. It's gad school. About half of all students drop out. I fact I came in with 4 other students with my adviser and there's only two of us left. If your having trouble now reevaluate where your time is going because next year year you will at at least be putting together your reading this for comps, and the comps animal is much worst than any class load could ever be

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

They're having us do comps (master's exams) this year, so I'm working on that too!

[anthropologygeek]

Comps is not a masters exam. Comps and proposal is what you do to stop being a phd grad student and you can stop taking classes. It focuses on your research solely your research. It is like 150 articles directly on your research and you have to memorized them, then take a written test that you must site the articles in your answers. At my school You get 4-5 questions and have 6 hours to do it over a five five back to back days and then oral exams over those articles for three back to back days. It takes over a year to prepare and pass. Plus you can't possible began the list until after your classes since they provide a lot of the resources in preparing your list.

[MsDarjeeling]

I'm in my 1st year of graduate school, drowning in work, and my advisor asked me to write a report/literature review on a very big topic (don't want to be too specific, aka identifiable, but it's on the same scale as a report on monumental architecture in Bronze Age Europe - it's huge) and I can't see myself being able to do a respectable job on this in less than 150 or 200 hours of work, and he wants it by December 1.

 

He's on sabbatical right now and I don't think he realizes that I'm maxed out with taking classes, working as an RA for a different professor 25 hours/week, submitting funding applications, and working a job at a museum (about 10 hours per week). I've already cut back a lot of hours at the job, and I don't want to cut more, especially since I asked about this during my interview process and was reassured by him that staying in the job would not be a problem. (In fact, this job is why I wanted to stay in the city I'm in and did not go elsewhere).

 

While I want to start off on good terms with him, I asked if I could have an extension on the Lit Review, until the end of winter break, and he said no, because he needs to present at a conference in January, using information from the report I turn in to him.

 

What do I do? Turn in a woe-fully lacking report on time? Take longer and turn in a high quality report? Just throw a bunch of articles into a dropbox folder and see if those will appease him until I can get a good write-up together?

 

I understand that you're tired and overwhelmed, but we all are.  We signed up for this remember?  It'll take time to find the right balancing act, but I don't recommend not turning in the report on time or doing a poor job.  If your advisor isn't brand new to academia then he likely has a lot of ideas about what's on your plate right now and he clearly thinks you can handle the Lit Review as well.  

 

This is a good opportunity to buckle down and make some sacrifices to sleep and socializing (if you're doing any), let the house get a little messy, cut back on exercise, reduce tv/internet browsing, etc.  Also look at the amount of time you're putting into your classes and homework.  Is there anything you can do to study more efficiently and free up a little time?  Is all of your RA work being done in the designated 25 hrs?  If not, is there something you can do to get there?  Are you able to adjust the schedule so that it frees up more time on another day?  

 

I know cutting any more from the 10 hr a week job isn't what you want, but perhaps you can switch shifts to allow for more free time on another day.  I am working my way through school and I find when schoolwork piles up it makes a huge difference to work 4 long days and have one extra day off versus working 5 regular days.

 

As for the Lit Review, yes its a huge topic and yes its a lot of work.  Is there anything you can do to work more efficiently?  I like to print articles and read them on my lunch hour at work, while waiting for class to start, etc.  Always having them with me allows me to get a lot of work done when I have surprise gaps of free time.

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

Thanks to both of you! It's good for me to hear that I'm not alone in this. 

 

I'm embarrassed that I didn't know the difference between comps and masters exams - oops!

But one of the things that has been really scary about these first couple months in grad school is how in the dark I feel about everything, including the Masters exams. These are supposed to be cumulative questions (also 6 hours of written examination) covering material from our 1st two years of coursework - which is why finding out shortly after starting that we'd have to take them our first year, only having taken half the classes, is pretty unsettling. I think I just need to take this program one hurdle at a time and, as you said MsDarjeeling, it'll take time to find a balance.

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

And the job was full time before I started, so cutting back from 40+ hours to 10 had been so hard for me. When I take a moment to step back and look objective at the situation, I know that giving up a lot of responsibilities at the job is really the thing that's difficult for me right now.  I think I need to find a happy balance between work and school and then these extra assignments and surprises won't seem panic-inducing, but will seem like opportunities to succeed and build a good relationship with my advisor...

[rising_star]

I dunno but I wouldn't write a report for my advisor that doesn't serve my research if it doesn't also benefit me in some way (line on the CV). So I'd half-ass the report if I'm not getting any credit for it but, then again, my advisor would never ask for that kind of thing in the first place.

[NatureGurl]

This is interesting to me because my advisor just asked me to do an extra assignment as well (and due in two weeks!). It's something for a paper he's writing that he doesn't have time to do (or want to do). At least he said he would put me as co-author and even pay me a little! I could use the extra cash, but it'll mean working for the next two weekends on this assignment, as well as finishing up my own stuff for the end of the semester.

Edited December 5, 2013 by NatureGurl

[Canis]

Echoing rising star, I'm actually really curious why your advisor is treating you like a research assistant. Is this for a conference paper that you're co-authoring? If not, and you have a different RA job, why is he giving you lit reviews to write as unpaid assignments, unrelated to your research or your funding responsibilities?

If you want to sustain a career, in anything, it's vital to learn how to say no when you can't take on a task. I actually think the above advice about sacrificing more sleep is absurd.

Is it possible your advisor is trying to push you to only focus on grad school and drop your job?

If you want to survive your program you need to start thinking about the faculty, including your advisor, as colleagues. Life will be full of managing unreasonable expectations from colleagues. Learn now how to handle them and you'll be much better off later.