How are you all staying productive while you wait?

[502845824]

How are you all staying motivated to do your work while you wait? Any tips or strategy advice? I'm running late on my honors thesis, because I can't focus at all... I have 13 applications out, and I haven't heard a peep on any of them!!

[gordyn]

I'm struggling. That said, the most useful tools I've found are:

1. Habitica - Lets you gamify your obligations -- makes checking things off really satisfying!

2. StayFocusd Chrome Addon - Lets you block certain websites during certain times on certain days. Keeps me off reddit -- I should really add thegradcafe to it as well

3. Daily mantra of: "I'm significantly happier on days that I'm productive. It's irrational to be unproductive because it's only going to make me suffer."

Good Luck! I'll be checking back for tips from others

[lisamadura]

Good thread! I have to defend my Master's thesis mid-April and I have 20 polished pages, 30 unpolished pages, and another 30-ish unwritten pages. The anticipation makes it super difficult to concentrate. I'm going to set email-checking rules for myself. 

[502845824]

26 minutes ago, gordyn said:

I'm struggling. That said, the most useful tools I've found are:

1. Habitica - Lets you gamify your obligations -- makes checking things off really satisfying!

2. StayFocusd Chrome Addon - Lets you block certain websites during certain times on certain days. Keeps me off reddit -- I should really add thegradcafe to it as well

3. Daily mantra of: "I'm significantly happier on days that I'm productive. It's irrational to be unproductive because it's only going to make me suffer."

Good Luck! I'll be checking back for tips from others

Habitica doesn't seem like a bad idea. I might look into it myself. And I really should stop gradcafe, too. I had two different professors tell me independently never to come here. Lo and behold, I hadn't heard of gradcafe before they said that. "Well, I'll just check it out..." I thought. Probably a mistake.

[MentalEngineer]

I have to teach! I've never had an independent prep before, so I get to be neurotic about whether I can get a bunch of teenagers to look at me with the right sort of puzzlement and what readings I'm going to assign for those two weeks at the end of the syllabus that just say "TBD". (For those of you who haven't done this yet, you can get a lot of neurotic mileage out of this. A lot. Oh God, so much.) If I don't spend enough time being neurotic about my students and grading their work, I get in trouble (I think I'd still get paid, but I'm very, very, very terrified of finding out). So this is very helpful in driving most other neuroses out of my mind.

Edited February 6, 2016 by MentalEngineer

[majorshake]

Finishing my masters, preparing to teach (ethics - starting March), working at my university's research office, checking my emails every 20 minutes once it hits 8am in the US (east coast)

[lisamadura]

30 minutes ago, oldhatnewtricks said:

Habitica doesn't seem like a bad idea. I might look into it myself. And I really should stop gradcafe, too. I had two different professors tell me independently never to come here. Lo and behold, I hadn't heard of gradcafe before they said that. "Well, I'll just check it out..." I thought. Probably a mistake.

Did they advise you against it because it's addicting/maddening? Or for other reasons?

[502845824]

3 minutes ago, lisamadura said:

Did they advise you against it because it's addicting/maddening? Or for other reasons?

Addicting/maddening/"an unhealthy phenomenon" (direct quote). I have to say, they were probably right. Alas, I'm here now, so... I guess I'll finish out this season on the forums and try to avoid it next season if I get shut out.

[lisamadura]

9 minutes ago, oldhatnewtricks said:

Addicting/maddening/"an unhealthy phenomenon" (direct quote). I have to say, they were probably right. Alas, I'm here now, so... I guess I'll finish out this season on the forums and try to avoid it next season if I get shut out.

I see. They may be right. But It's good to connect and share information/excitement/disappointment with people who "get it". I come from a very small department with very few grad student so I don't get much camaraderie. Everyone here (grad cafe) understands what a big deal it is to be accepted and how demoralizing it is to be rejected. We've all steeped ourselves in statistics about programs and placement and the unpromising state of the job market. It's nice to have people, ya know? 

[dgswaim]

Pretend to write my MA thesis. Pretend to teach. Drink a lot. Work out. Also, be a parent to my 9 month old daughter (usually).

[FoxAndChicken]

I don't give myself a choice. I am in six classes and have three jobs and maintain leadership positions in three student organizations. Not being productive isn't an options.  I'm required to be places for all of these things, which helps. I check my email every very few minutes at most of them. Fortunately, people understand. 

[gughok]

I'm trying to keep my leisure time to a minimum by writing short stories - aiming for one a week.

[psm1580b]

Well, lets get through this weekend of nervous waiting together.

 

Go eat something. And maybe take a walk. 

[MentalEngineer]

Also, brewery tours. I'm going to miss Wisconsin.

[SamStone]

I haven't been able to keep busy...been way to distracted. So I got a puppy (a beagle)! haha. I've been wanting a dog for a while now, and thought it'd be as good a time as any to get one! 

[majorshake]

2 minutes ago, SamStone said:

I haven't been able to keep busy...been way to distracted. So I got a puppy (a beagle)! haha. I've been wanting a dog for a while now, and thought it'd be as good a time as any to get one! 

Cute dog!



I found the most soul-sucking way to spend the weekend that isn't waiting: I'm marking undergrad assignments in critical thinking

[FoxAndChicken]

6 minutes ago, majorshake said:

Cute dog!



I found the most soul-sucking way to spend the weekend that isn't waiting: I'm marking undergrad assignments in critical thinking

Marking?

[dgswaim]

28 minutes ago, majorshake said:

Cute dog!



I found the most soul-sucking way to spend the weekend that isn't waiting: I'm marking undergrad assignments in critical thinking

This just reminded me that I'm waaaayyy behind on grading. Fuck.

[majorshake]

58 minutes ago, FoxAndChicken said:

Marking?

I think the more commonly used term in the US would be grading?

(I do a lot of teaching/grading/marking at the uni where I'm doing my MA)

[FoxAndChicken]

Just now, majorshake said:

I think the more commonly used term in the US would be grading?

(I do a lot of teaching/grading/marking at the uni where I'm doing my MA)

Oh, got it. I've heard grading can be tedious. It's weird to think that I could be leading classes within two years. 

[majorshake]

10 minutes ago, FoxAndChicken said:

Oh, got it. I've heard grading can be tedious. It's weird to think that I could be leading classes within two years. 

Grading can be.. especially with dry units like "critical thinking" (at my institution it means basic logic).

Leading classes is fucking great though. I love teaching. In each class there are those 2 or 3 students that listen, do their work, and ask the most insightful questions. It's so damn rewarding.

[lisamadura]

On 2/6/2016 at 10:24 PM, FoxAndChicken said:

I don't give myself a choice. I am in six classes and have three jobs and maintain leadership positions in three student organizations. Not being productive isn't an options.  I'm required to be places for all of these things, which helps. I check my email every very few minutes at most of them. Fortunately, people understand. 

Whoa, get after it! That sounds like a nightmare. Although, I do find that the busier I am the happier and more productive I tend to be. I only have two lecture preps right now and they're both courses I've taught a bunch so It isn't much work outside of actually lecturing and grading. My schedule is almost too open (I might get virtual eggs thrown at me for that one). As counter-intuitive as this sounds, I think I would get more of my thesis written if I had more additional responsibilities. 

[FoxAndChicken]

8 hours ago, majorshake said:

Grading can be.. especially with dry units like "critical thinking" (at my institution it means basic logic).

Leading classes is fucking great though. I love teaching. In each class there are those 2 or 3 students that listen, do their work, and ask the most insightful questions. It's so damn rewarding.

I decided that I wanted to be a logic major between freshman and sophomore year, but even before that I would basically beg my friends taking the class to let me help them. (Unfortunately, something about logic means people don't want tutors because they think it's remedial thinking and they don't want to admit they're bad at thinking.) But finally I have friends taking math logic, and they not only want my help, they give me Starbucks gift cards in exchange! 

 

6 hours ago, lisamadura said:

Whoa, get after it! That sounds like a nightmare. Although, I do find that the busier I am the happier and more productive I tend to be. I only have two lecture preps right now and they're both courses I've taught a bunch so It isn't much work outside of actually lecturing and grading. My schedule is almost too open (I might get virtual eggs thrown at me for that one). As counter-intuitive as this sounds, I think I would get more of my thesis written if I had more additional responsibilities. 

I can't remember a time without lots of things to do. (I think that as a kid this is how my mom kept me from hanging out with the neighbor kids who all do meth now.) So I am both used to it and crave it. One thing that really jumpstarts my productivity is to make an entry in my planner that has the items I need to do with estimated time it should take. And I tend to estimate on the low side to push myself to do the things faster. 

[MentalEngineer]

11 hours ago, SamStone said:

I haven't been able to keep busy...been way to distracted. So I got a puppy (a beagle)! haha. I've been wanting a dog for a while now, and thought it'd be as good a time as any to get one! 

When do we get to come see him?!

[philstudent1991]

11 hours ago, SamStone said:

I haven't been able to keep busy...been way to distracted. So I got a puppy (a beagle)! haha. I've been wanting a dog for a while now, and thought it'd be as good a time as any to get one! 

I had a beagle for a long time! Best kind of dog you could have!

Sundays are the hardest, since historically they are the least like day a school could release. At least today is the Super Bowl...This week I'm hoping for UNC, UCSD, Virginia and Brown, based on the predictions  But I am also teaching, taking two classes and finishing up my thesis, so I have other things to (try) to think about. Good luck everybody!