Dear TAs,
Every week, I read and comment on 20 poems for my advanced poetry workshop (Minor program). This, in addition to my other courses, admin responsibilities, parenting, and my own poem-making. I have managed to get my time down to 10 minutes a poem, and that’s including reading & mark-up. After much trial and error, here’s how I manage this workload so there’s room for creative work, hanging out with friends and family, and generally feeling less over-whelmed about getting it all done.
- Read first, comment later. When I approach a set of poems, I take time to read them first without comment . Reading as prep allows me to experience the work without my editor’s hat on. Second time around, I’m reading with pen in hand, but making notes in a notebook and not on the poem. I’m gathering my foundational materials: technical feats, unexpected or surprising language, risks I think the poet has taken. From this material I can make useful comments much faster than starting from scratch.
- Work in batches. I am a terrible procrastinator! In the last couple of years, I have endeavoured to be better. I break down the work into manageable chunks, and I schedule it right in to my weekly planner. I swear by the Pomodoro technique (I’m using it right now to write this blog post!), setting a timer for four sets of 25 minutes, and then I take a walk. This has saved me lots of time, and has cut down on distractions.
- Cut down on distractions. Nothing beats a good grading run than an email that needs to be dealt with, a quick peruse of Instagram, or a text. I turn of my phone, shut the door, set my web blocker. Whatever you need to do to stay focussed, do it!
- Write to the point. Comments eat up the most time, and it’s because it’s hard work to generate things to say about a piece of writing. One astute teaching assistant at orientation pointed out that it’s not always necessary to figure out what a poem is about in order to comment on it. Once I freed myself from trying to figure out what the poem was trying to do, the time I spent commenting shifted considerably. Stick closely to what the assignment rubric has already set out for you in terms of guidelines, borrow that language, and stick to three particular, technical points. Use lines from the actual work to back up your feedback. When you’re not sure what to say, come back to the piece later.
- Separate creative work from admin. I’ve made a few productive changes to how I approach administrative work, like checking & responding to emails, grading, or meeting with undergraduate students. First, I acknowledge when I’m most creative, which is the morning, and I protect that time fiercely. Commenting is a creative act for me, so I find I have to be in that creative mode. I don’t check emails for the first hour of the day, if I can manage, and I don’t check emails before bed. When I do set out to check off those to-do items, I set that timer and plough through. While this is a bit woo-woo, I did find this useful: https://medium.com/the-mission/how-to-structure-your-day-for-optimal-performance-and-productivity-dcbf0665e3f3#.f17i4s8yd
BONUS: Treat yourself! Once I hit POST, I’m heading down the street to enjoy the autumn sunshine and to get myself a little treat at the bakery. The timer is about to go off.
*Please make sure that if you’re taking more time than is allotted per assignment that you check in with your instructor! This is really useful information for them to know early on, not so great at the end of term. While you can count on using up all your hours, your instructor will have their own strategies for approaching grading and time management.
You’re also welcome to talk to Roquela, or me, for more strategies!
Have a time-saving tip? Please feel free to comment.
Good luck grading, writing, reading!
Sheryda