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GSI
Common Teaching Problems
Checks and Balances for TA Time Management
As a TA, you already know that your life is hectic: You're committed to work 20 hours per week as a TA, a full-time course load, research, and jumping through one of the obligatory "hoops" that are intended to help you develop as a scholar, such as qualifying exams or your dissertation. Although managing your time is probably something that you've mastered to some degree as an "expert" student, many graduate students (and especially TAs) can still benefit from self-reflection as a way to monitor your time management skills.
One of the most common problems for all students, including graduate students, is procrastination. Research indicates that 90% of all students admit that they procrastinate at one time or another. Though it's easy to admit, it's much more difficult to remedy (otherwise, it wouldn't be such a common problem). Unlike undergraduate students, who usually substitute social activities for work, graduate students usually procrastinate by substituting one type of work for another. For example, many TAs find that grading papers, holding office hours, and teaching review sessions takes over time that would otherwise be spent working on personal coursework, doing research, or writing. For most TAs, finding that free afternoon or couple of hours to work on personal assignments becomes more and more difficult as they progress through their program.
This type of procrastination pattern usually emerges for two reasons: Over-commitment and the inability to say "NO." Many times, students run into problems managing their time because they have too many commitments, especially TAs. In order to remedy this pattern of procrastination, TAs need to analyze how they currently spend their time and how much time is needed to be successful on certain tasks that have personal priority. One suggestion for self-reflection is to log your time spent during a typical week to compare the number of hours spent doing TA work with the number of hours spent doing personal work; you may find that there is a conflict between your goals as a graduate students and your goals as a TA. For instance, TA's frequently schedule office hours with the intention of getting their own work done, but frequent interruptions from students and/or a short time frame doesn't allow the right kind of quality time that's needed to accomplish personal work. A well-respected scholar in my own field suggests that graduate students set aside specific times in their schedules for personal work: he takes time to write at home every day from 9-12, calling it "an appointment" and treating it as such by not answering the phone or making other appointments at that time.
Now, most TAs feel that they cannot take such liberties with their time, claiming that their time is "not their own - it belongs to my adviser/supervisor." To some extent that's true - you have committed 20 hours per week to being a TA. As the previous article points out, TAs are wise to sit down at the beginning of the semester with their professors and work out a schedule that suits everyone. Once that's planned, the trick is to stick to it and maintain a commitment of 20 hours a week to your professor as well as yourself. If things are not working out and you are spending over 20 hours with TA responsibilities even after coordinating with your supervising professor, perhaps your schedule(s) are worth re-evaluating and you need to sit down again mid-semester to rearrange your schedule.
Finally, many TAs have difficulty keeping a "balanced" schedule. In other words, when you're not being a TA, you spend so much time in the lab, writing, or doing research, that you have no time left over to relax or for recreation. In order to prevent "burnout," you MUST find time in your schedule for activities that help you decompress! Otherwise, when burnout hits, you may not be able to carry out your regular academic activities. Some of the most successful professionals in your field probably have very balanced lives. Many students enjoy simple daily activities, such as walking or yoga, others insist on pushing themselves to the limit by running a marathon to channel any negative energy that's accumulated during the semester. Whatever physically and emotionally healthy activity you choose, it will help you cope with stress and burnout in the long run.
If after self-refection, you find that you fall into patterns of procrastination or suffer from an imbalanced schedule, evaluate the way you are currently spending your time and decide if you can make some positive changes to the way you spend your time. Overcoming fear is frequently a starting point for overcoming procrastination and managing time. We put off many jobs because they seem overwhelming. Start with just a little piece of the job and build on it. Here are some statements, call it the "time-management mantra" if you will, to get started:
- Since we cannot actually control the passage of time, it makes sense to think of time management as self-management.
- Planning tools can assist you guiding yourself through an as-yet-unknown reality (weekly and monthly planners, to-do lists; being mindful of peek times of alertness, long-range deadlines).
- The biggest time-saver is to start now.
- A balanced load is easier to carry.
- Learn to use time that would otherwise escape you.