Not this again...
So here we are at the beginning of 7th week, and I'm in the throes of an all-too-familiar experience. Let's call it end-of-term syndrome, or EoTS, for want of anything more imaginative.
EoTS is the result of a gradually increasing workload at the point in term where my energy reserves are starting to run low. The increase in workload is partly down to the way the courses I teach work - I give students more choice about the topics they cover in the second half of term, so I end up teaching a greater range of subjects, which means more preparation, plus I'm also supervising students writing long essays, and the consultations etc. happen in the final few weeks of term. But it's also partly down to having to fit in stuff I didn't do earlier in term because I was busy, and which is now becoming pressing. Yes, I know that putting off something when I'm busy and as a result having to do it when I'm even busier isn't a good strategy, but that doesn't seem to stop it happening.
The chief symptom is EoTS is almost perpetual tiredness, which rapidly gives rise to a vicious circle: I'm less efficient when I'm tired, so things take longer, so I end up working later, so I get even more tired. Other symptoms include having good intentions to catch up with things at the weekends and then getting frustrated when I don't wake up until lunchtime, not eating particularly well because I don't have time/energy to cook properly, and whinging on LJ.
I know this problem will resolve itself in a couple of weeks when term ends, but it's a shame that I seem to spend a quarter to a third of each term feeling like this, especially as I really do enjoy the teaching when I'm not too exhausted to function properly. I'm sure I can't be the only person who goes through patches like this: anyone have any handy hints they want to offer?
EoTS is the result of a gradually increasing workload at the point in term where my energy reserves are starting to run low. The increase in workload is partly down to the way the courses I teach work - I give students more choice about the topics they cover in the second half of term, so I end up teaching a greater range of subjects, which means more preparation, plus I'm also supervising students writing long essays, and the consultations etc. happen in the final few weeks of term. But it's also partly down to having to fit in stuff I didn't do earlier in term because I was busy, and which is now becoming pressing. Yes, I know that putting off something when I'm busy and as a result having to do it when I'm even busier isn't a good strategy, but that doesn't seem to stop it happening.
The chief symptom is EoTS is almost perpetual tiredness, which rapidly gives rise to a vicious circle: I'm less efficient when I'm tired, so things take longer, so I end up working later, so I get even more tired. Other symptoms include having good intentions to catch up with things at the weekends and then getting frustrated when I don't wake up until lunchtime, not eating particularly well because I don't have time/energy to cook properly, and whinging on LJ.
I know this problem will resolve itself in a couple of weeks when term ends, but it's a shame that I seem to spend a quarter to a third of each term feeling like this, especially as I really do enjoy the teaching when I'm not too exhausted to function properly. I'm sure I can't be the only person who goes through patches like this: anyone have any handy hints they want to offer?