Schedule

Schedule

Getting through a pile of research in a pre-defined amount of time feels much like planning and completing a thesis project, but with more grown-up end results. After all, a sabbatical is designed to allow a faculty member to refresh their knowledge, develop new ideas and create in ways that cannot be done around the full-time job of teaching and participating in the management and smooth running of a university.

Except today is the 20th of June, and I find myself a month out from finishing one of the strangest semesters ever, because we are in the middle of a global pandemic and have been confined to our homes since March. This odd situation has brought about the strange effect of being stuck in a no-man’s land, where time has no meaning and days can tick by in a strange expectation of “when will we be normal again?”.

Since I can’t answer that question, and I can’t allow myself to waste this gift of time that I have gotten, I am going to instill a rough, daily schedule for myself, based on the off-habits that have been created in the past two months.

Sep 1st Update: Who are we kidding?? This schedule lasted about a week and then everything went to hell. My new schedule has evolved, much as my learning process has. I think this makes sense, because it’s one thing to plan a schedule when you know what you’re doing. As an animator, I know how I work and can plan accordingly, but it has been at least 10 years since I was in class, or learning like a total noob (pardon the netspeak). So I’ll post a new update on my schedule in the am. Right now, it’s midnight and I’m making myself sleep early nowadays!

TimeActivity
9 amearly morning sketches
10 amtending to house and back yard
11 am – 1pmReading and writing (plus any meetings)
1 pm – 4pm3D building/ digital creation
4 pm – 9pmHours flexed between creation or research.
(insert) 7 or 8 pmEvening walk/ biking etc
11:30 pmUpdating the blog
In bedReading a book (not electronically)

Now, I’m not planning to make this a stressful experience for myself. I know life will force this schedule to change, and there will even be some days when I do nothing. However, I’m not at crunch-time right now, and I think if I play this right, I should never get into crunch mode. (Or at least I can avoid super-crunch, right?)

The way I see it, maintaining a general guide for myself will keep me from whittering entire days on doodles, or full days on tutorials and force me to stay mindful of my progress.

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