If you missed it, I spent the last three weeks doing our department's take-home version of comprehensive exams. This is the first year they've been an option, & while we all have complicated feelings about the idea, I was fortunate to have this version. Because let's be honest, my baby--now five months & increasingly demanding--would not let a closed-book test happen. Not the memorization required, & not three uninterrupted four-hour time blocks. (Is it an unfair advantage to take a break mid-exam to pump? The world may never know.)
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At the close of 2015, I've started implementing some measure to help me be productive, calm, & focused. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the idea of comprehensive exams when I realize it's impossible to have everything read when I'm meant to begin. I'm prone to stress, to having so much in a day that I fall apart at the start of my day. My over-packed to-do lists leave me feeling hours behind by lunch, & I spend some of each afternoon rethinking how to approach the day or what to push off on other days. Here are things helping me maximize my productivity & stay calmer throughout the day.
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In less than 30 days, I will begin the comprehensive exam process--an open-note, at-home version that gives me one week with each question. That means for five weeks, I'll be eyes-deep in urban geography, political ecology, and pastoralism in America. The timeline took me a bit by surprise; I'd been anticipating a February start date. Instead, I'll begin just a week after the semester recommences and wrap up with time to spare before spring break--a break I fully intend to give myself for the first time ever.
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