Manageability

I like lists. I like how organized I feel when I make lists, even if I don’t actually use the lists I make, or get everything crossed off. I still like lists.

One tactic I’ve found which helps me during the course of the semester is take my reading lists and the syllabi and write a weekly schedule so I can keep track of what I need to have read when. Tonight’s task was to do just that. I took the syllabi for each of my courses, plus the one I’m just sitting in on, and creating a Word document that gives me a weekly breakdown. That helps when, in my 500-level US course for example, I only have four books to read and the assigned dates are spread over the course of the semester. Reading seminars are a bit easier, because I just have to keep track of what’s next. There’s always a book or article or book/article combination that needs reading, so it’s harder to lose track of due dates.

The good news about this semester’s list is that it comes to a very manageable two pages. (Yes, I took the font down a size to make it fit just the two pages, but that’s beside the point.) I don’t have more than five assigned readings in any given week, and those weeks are a combination of book chapters and articles. What makes this a particular relief is the fact that I will not just be reading for class this semester. I will be reading for comps. The book list for my Modern France comp currently has about 40 books on it. The book list for my Modern Britain comp currently has 27 books, with more likely to be added. If I’m lucky, my Modern US comp will be based entirely on books I’ve already read. But at this point, I’m not ready to count myself quite that lucky.

At the moment, I feel like my workload this semester is actually quite manageable. I give that feeling until the first set of books I’ve requested from the library starts arriving. Then, once my desk fills with books again and I’m continually only barely prepared for class as I walk in, I’m sure the more than familiar feeling of panic with set in again, and I’ll wonder yet again what I’ve gotten myself into.