Reading During the Winter Break: A Bad Idea?

[Neist]

I'm about to finish my first semester, and everything is going well. To be honest, I haven't enjoyed myself in quite a number of years. That being said, I haven't been without something to do in years, and I was hoping accomplish a pile of reading during the winter break (sitting around doing nothing will probably give me anxiety).  However, as this is my first year, I was curious if this was a bad idea. 

Should I spend the time resting/relaxing? Is burning through a pile of books a bad idea, considering that I enjoy reading the material?

I don't specifically consider doing so bad, but I'm a rather novice graduate student and thought it apt to ask advice. I'm quite enjoying myself, but burnout is something that I'd rather like to avoid.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Neist
Clarification

[Klonoa]

Reading during breaks should be your only idea.I don't know any in grad students who does not use the breaks to read at their own pace. Once the Spring semester resumes you're going to wish you had used that time to burn through those books. Since being in grad school I have spent every break reading and researching. During Thanksgiving break I only took two days to myself to literally do nothing. It truly lifts the load once the semesters start back up. 

[TMP]

Really take the first week to do nothing.  Seriously.  You DESERVE it.  Once you get yourself together and sane again, you can begin to read at your own pace.

I was morbidly exhausted for the first 7-10 days after handing in my last paper to do anything.  I did not feel guilty at all.  (Maybe because my adviser explicitly told me to 'take a break'.)

[Neist]

Thanks for the replies! And, of course, I found a confusing typo. It should be written as, "I haven't enjoyed myself this much in quite a number of years." Ergh. 

@Klonoa I only had 1 day to myself during the break.  A lot of my final papers were due relatively early. I used the break to burn through the last push.

@TMP I'll definitely schedule some rest, then. Thanks for the tip.  

Thankfully, I only have to take two courses in the spring, so I'm hoping to have a little extra reading time next semester (decided to take a summer directed reading in lieu of another three course semester). Even so, I wanted to get a few books in during the break. I'll plan on reading some, but will try to not to overload myself too much; the small break idea sounds like a good one.

This semester has been pretty rough with three courses plus TA'ing. I'm not sure how I could accomplish anything extra with that load. I've acclimated well, and I'm enjoying my courses, but there's little hope that I could squeeze in an extra book a week. 

[TMP]

Then, I'd recommend working through a survey book or two in your field to further ground yourself in the general narrative.  That's what i used my breaks for-- no interruptions for days to read an entire history of X.

[Sigaba]

4 hours ago, Neist said:

Even so, I wanted to get a few books in during the break. I'll plan on reading some, but will try to not to overload myself too much; the small break idea sounds like a good one.

 

1 hour ago, TMP said:

Then, I'd recommend working through a survey book or two in your field to further ground yourself in the general narrative.  That's what i used my breaks for-- no interruptions for days to read an entire history of X.

As an alternative to @TMP 's sound guidance, you might take a look at a work or works centered around prominent historians in your fields. These works can range from interview transcripts, to biographical works, to memoirs. Maybe even a Festschrift or two.

And/or you could devote some time to administrative tasks. Organizing, returning, renewing...backing up digital files...catching up on email.

What ever you decide to do, give yourself permission to do it at a pace that feels right at the time with no second guessing or regret. And that includes not doing a damn thing related to history if you so choose.

What ever you do, please please please please (please) resist opportunities to shit kittens over the 2016 election results. Worker bees and bosses in the private and public sector have that job covered. Bigly.

[rising_star]

I don't think there's anything wrong with reading over breaks if that 's what you want to do but I also don't think you should feel like you have to be reading historical scholarship over break. I never really started doing work until at least 10 days after the semester ended and, even then, some of it was the more mundane tasks like cleaning out my inbox, reading the latest CFPs to see if there's something I might want to submit to, updating reference info in Zotero, reading the TOCs of recent journal issues to see if there's relevant new scholarship or book reviews, etc. like @Sigaba has suggested. If you don't already back up your digital files, figure out a solution for that ASAP. I use a service which backs up automatically everything on my multiple computers (personal laptop, work desktop, lab computer, etc.) and I consider that well worth the $75/year I pay for it. 

[nevermind]

We're required to produce a journal article our first year as part of our research seminar (prospectus first quarter, final paper due at the beginning of third quarter), so reading archival material/primary sources during break is really the only option for me to get this done. I plan on taking a couple days off, but really just reading and cataloging my archival documents and trying to do some of the "heavy lifting" out of the way before the second term begins will hopefully save me some time.

If you aren't "required" to do something like this, I wouldn't really worry about it. If you want to do something passively productive, I would try to put together reading lists for minor exams or something that might be helpful in the future...but honestly, it's a break and you earned it. You don't need to feel guilty about enjoying yourself.

Edited December 3, 2016 by nevermind

[MarineBluePsy]

Hmmm it never occurred to me to not use winter break to do some reading.  My research interests require more background reading than I anticipated and there just aren't enough hours in the day on top of everything else I need to do during the semester.  I fully intend to use the break to plow through most of that reading and develop an additional research proposal so that I can hopefully start collecting data next semester.  I also really miss pleasure reading and only managed to read half a book this semester.  So I am also going to finish that book and probably read 2 others.  I also will have plenty of relax time and will likely not do anything academic for at least the first week because binge watching some trashy tv show sounds so much better.

I used Thanksgiving break as a trial run to see how it worked out.  I had 5 days off and spent one full day working, two full days vegging and doing fun stuff, and two days split 50/50 with fun and working.  I was way more productive working a full day and full days off made me feel more like a normal person.  So winter break will be fine alternating work days with fun days.

[Need Coffee in an IV]

I'm planning on using the break for some light reading for my field. I'm not well versed in the general history/background info so I want to use this time to get more grounded. Plus I need to study more on learning about Triassic reptiles and their skeletons, I'm not where I should be. So I'm hoping by the end of break I can at least identify more bones. Plus I'm working during the break because I need money ha

[pro Augustis]

I think this is one of those things that really depends on your temperament and optimal work habits. A lot of people need a break and, if that break is going to be what you need to excel next semester, you should take one, save for any work that truly must get done (my program likes to put our grad exams right after some of the breaks, so even if you aren't doing extra work you are still preparing for those). But that will work differently for different people. Though I certainly don't plan on maintaining the pace of work I have kept up throughout the semester, I plan to do some work and know that I will enjoy doing so. After focusing on class topics it is nice to have free reign as to what you want to read in the field. I have just started on a spectacularly ambitious 2016 monograph by a professor I had last year and will after that probably read one of Roman history's classic monographs from a few decades back. Being in such a language driven area of history, I will also of course have to do some work to keep those skills sharp. 

[Neist]

Great advice so far! Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to mix a little of everything and try to discover a personal cocktail that works best.

On 12/3/2016 at 2:34 PM, nevermind said:

We're required to produce a journal article our first year as part of our research seminar (prospectus first quarter, final paper due at the beginning of third quarter), so reading archival material/primary sources during break is really the only option for me to get this done.

Ack! That sounds pretty intense! Do they have specific standards as to the type of journal that said article must be published in? 

On 12/3/2016 at 3:51 PM, MarineBluePsy said:

Hmmm it never occurred to me to not use winter break to do some reading.  My research interests require more background reading than I anticipated and there just aren't enough hours in the day on top of everything else I need to do during the semester.  I fully intend to use the break to plow through most of that reading and develop an additional research proposal so that I can hopefully start collecting data next semester.  I also really miss pleasure reading and only managed to read half a book this semester.  So I am also going to finish that book and probably read 2 others.  I also will have plenty of relax time and will likely not do anything academic for at least the first week because binge watching some trashy tv show sounds so much better.

I used Thanksgiving break as a trial run to see how it worked out.  I had 5 days off and spent one full day working, two full days vegging and doing fun stuff, and two days split 50/50 with fun and working.  I was way more productive working a full day and full days off made me feel more like a normal person.  So winter break will be fine alternating work days with fun days.

Well, I think the question (at least for me) is more of a question of the amount of reading. I'd probably do some reading, but I read pretty fast. Two books would be painfully slow. Five would be leisurely. Ten to twenty ranges from somewhat fast to grindy. Even giving myself some slack, I'm hoping to get in at least 10.

On 12/4/2016 at 10:57 AM, Need Coffee in an IV said:

I'm planning on using the break for some light reading for my field. I'm not well versed in the general history/background info so I want to use this time to get more grounded. Plus I need to study more on learning about Triassic reptiles and their skeletons, I'm not where I should be. So I'm hoping by the end of break I can at least identify more bones. Plus I'm working during the break because I need money ha

I've sort of wondered, what is your academic background? I imagine jumping into a directed museum studies program on a specific subject, if said subject is nothing something one is well-versed, would be relatively rough.

On 12/4/2016 at 3:23 PM, pro Augustis said:

I think this is one of those things that really depends on your temperament and optimal work habits. 

I think this is pretty good advice. I guess I should have qualified the question more as: "How much reading should an overly bookish graduate student do over the break?"

That statement better parallels my concerns, I think.

[nevermind]

1 hour ago, Neist said:

Great advice so far! Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to mix a little of everything and try to discover a personal cocktail that works best.

Ack! That sounds pretty intense! Do they have specific standards as to the type of journal that said article must be published in? 

1

We were told to shoot for the highest we can. I've already submitted the abstract to a conference so that I can get feedback in the spring and then revise it during the spring/summer and submit it in the fall. I've been pretty busy.

 

[AP]

On 12/3/2016 at 3:12 AM, Sigaba said:

 

As an alternative to @TMP 's sound guidance, you might take a look at a work or works centered around prominent historians in your fields. These works can range from interview transcripts, to biographical works, to memoirs. Maybe even a Festschrift or two.

And/or you could devote some time to administrative tasks. Organizing, returning, renewing...backing up digital files...catching up on email.

What ever you decide to do, give yourself permission to do it at a pace that feels right at the time with no second guessing or regret. And that includes not doing a damn thing related to history if you so choose.

What ever you do, please please please please (please) resist opportunities to shit kittens over the 2016 election results. Worker bees and bosses in the private and public sector have that job covered. Bigly.

This is great advice. I've recently had some misfortunes during dissertation research and because I've backed up stuff regularly, things are not as bad as they could be. As historians, we underestimate the amount of time we need to devote to information management. We handle a lot of data but we are not very aware of it. Plan for this too. 

[Need Coffee in an IV]

@Neist My background is a BS in geology and several years of work experience in museums. Where I got my BS from, there aren't any reptiles or dinosaurs so my professors never really got into details. My knowledge prior was pretty much knowing the geological ages that these species lived in. So it is hard but I'm trying to catch up. The general background of museum science won't be hard. I just like improving my knowledge when I can. My eventual goal is to work in a science museum, national/state park, or a library.

[AP]

I'll be reading a book for a review. So I will be actually *reading* the book.

[Neist]

4 hours ago, AP said:

I'll be reading a book for a review. So I will be actually *reading* the book.

I read all of my books, actually.  I know, I know. Insane. But I've kept up fairly comfortably this semester. 

The only books that I tend to not read in their entirety are books for my own personal research (i.e., not for coursework) when I determine after a chapter or two that the title is absolutely not what I'm looking for.