Are all the deadlines killing you? If I recall my graduate school days correctly, all of my papers for all of my classes were due within a 24 hour period. Usually, this unified front of deadlines also fell on a week when I had a plumbing emergency or income taxes due.
Panic would ensue, followed by a marathon of maniacal study during which I became "that guy" who made the coffee shop my personal office space until the barista was practically running the vacuum cleaner over my feet. I'd meet the deadlines, celebrate by watching South Park and Seinfeld (the only programs I could pick up at 12:30 AM in those pre-digital-converter-box days), and start the cycle all over again. As soon as I (barely) survived one swarm of deadlines, I found myself smack in the face of another.
If this sounds at all familiar to you, first let me say that I feel for you. Second, believe me when I say that you WILL get through it. Hey, I'm living, blogging proof that it is possible not only to meet those deadlines but to meet them so well that you (almost) look forward to them. A 20-page paper due Monday, a book review and analysis due Tuesday, a presentation plus an essay test on Thursday? Bring. It. On.
Before you dismiss me as a weirdo exception to the rule who had no life outside of school, hear me out. I will tell you how I approached deadlines and learned to make them work for me instead of against me. Keep these points in mind and see if you don't cope a wee bit better:
1. Deadlines don't really sneak up on you. Sure, people use this as an excuse all the time. But it's not really true. With rare exceptions, you know about your deadlines well in advance. Due dates are on your course syllabi for each assignment. Sure, we all get distracted and forget about deadlines temporarily, but they don't hide for months and leap out at you at the last minute. Usually they're in plain writing. Keep this in mind, and stay proactive in your planning.
2. Deadlines can be like holidays! Really! It's all about perspective. A deadline in grad school is like a mini last day of school. Say your seminar paper is due November 30. Instead of fretting over how the weeks are flying by as you get close to your deadline, think of November 30 as the last day you have to deal with this seminar paper! Afterwards, you're free! Complete your assignments on time, and your deadline days are happy days. This positive mindset can help you stay focused on your tasks and motivated to tackle your assignments well ahead of time.
3. Go ahead and panic - but keep it short and sweet. I discovered that a well-timed freak-out in an appropriate setting was actually quite healthy. My poor husband and cats more than once had to endure a 10 to 15 minute tirade over the injustices put upon me by MALS, Roland Barthes, Julie Thompson Klein, etc.; but, more often than not these panic sessions ended in laughter. Laughter mixed with a sense of futility (I still had to do the work, after all), but laughter nonetheless. The moral of the story here is that my tirades left me relaxed and in better spirits than I would have been had I simply kept my nose to the grindstone. And in this happier state, on with my work I went. So panic, but then relax.
4. Accept that graduate school probably won't let up. As I've said before, grad school is hard. It's supposed to be hard. Not only are you trying to comprehend complex theories of French philosophers and scholarly vocabulary you could swear the authors made up just to sound good, but you're also expected to read and write about these in what seems like record time. Yep, it's going to drive you nuts from time to time. The sooner you can get over the fact that as soon as you finish one difficult task you'll be in the midst of another, the better. This pill's a little easier to swallow if you keep in mind the following.
5. You're not the only one in graduate school. Heck, you're not the only one in MALS. Remember, at any given time there are approximately 40 other students in MALS at ETSU who are going through the same thing you are. If you notice, none of them are keeling over. You'll live too. And while it's true that an interdisciplinary program of study presents unique challenges, I don't think the other 2,000 or so students in the School of Graduate Studies are enjoying a cake walk either.
6. Your professors won't give you impossible deadlines. They want you to succeed. Yes, they want to challenge you, push you to grow stronger as a scholar, but they will not set you up for failure. They have a lot on their plates too - they don't assign work just to be mean. Even for the 20-pagers, your professors don't expect a hardcover manifesto that extinguishes the quest for all knowledge. In other words, there's a reason you have page limits on your papers.
7. Remember why you are in MALS. You are here because you have a goal. You are here because you enjoy learning and are drawn to learn more about a part of our culture, history, society, or geography that is too complex to approach with only one discipline. You are taking the initiative to take an interdisciplinary approach. How cool is that? As you meet your deadlines, remember that each assignment you complete is a step toward creating new knowledge about something that interests you.
I hope these seven gems of wisdom help you meet your next deadline with confidence and satisfaction. Stay tuned for the next installment on the deadline dilemma, when I'll reveal some tips for working in situations where deadlines are all but nonexistent.
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