My Work Schedule During Final #DevilDiss2 Edits

The last couple of weeks have been very busy.
And in some ways, stressful and awful (but none of this tied to my new job).
Because of a lot of factors I have not been on social media much. I just don't have the time.

However, I do believe in blogging as a resource so I wanted to share what my schedule is like now that I'm finishing final edits this month.

Work Week:
5a: Get up, walk dog, get ready for work
630a: Have to be out of driveway and on way to work
7a: Set up classes, materials for day
725a-225p: Teach all day. 6 classes, one prep, 30 minutes for lunch

• during day stay on top of emails
• try to use prep period to lesson plan and grade for next week so I don't take work home

After school: prep for next day as much as possible, get anything done I can before I leave

45 minutes later: arrive home, switch gears

• log into online class
• grade
• answer any questions left from day
• walk dog
• eat
• asleep by 8p

Weekends: 
Saturday:

• Clear all grades for online course
• Post weekly announcements for online course
• Answer emails in morning
• Aim to have online course stuff done by 12p
• Work on #DevilDiss2 edits after lunch
• Laundry

Sunday:

• Finish any #DevilDiss2 edits not done day before, must meet chapter deadlines for each week in order to be finished by end of March
• This weekend I need to get through CH 3
• So I can take Part II to ACLA and get through at least CH 4
• Our spring break starts F 25 March so I have that last week to get CH 5-6 and the conclusion done, as well as type up 400 pages of edits

I love my new job. I really like my school, the teachers I work with, and the faculty/bosses. I'm not just grateful to have a job, but I'm happy. I also really love my kids. I always loved high school teaching, and after 15 years of teaching, a lot of it comes easy to me.
But I've also thought a lot about how different my life is now. I'm certainly working hard on finishing dissertation final edits, but that will be over this month. But the life of a high school teacher and college professor are very different.
I've gotten asked whether or not I'll stay or leave. And I've told them I'm happy to stay. The college rejection letters hitting my inbox don't bother me because I can pay rent. Job Market The Sequel will be very different than this year. I would only apply for jobs that were perfect fit. In a lot of ways, it's about choosing the life I want to have. And certainly we all know that the higher ed job market is imploding. But I also have to realize that these are two very different lives.
I certainly could publish and go to conferences as a high school teacher, I did before. But if it's not required and not paid for in any way, will I choose to?
The last few weeks too have reminded me too of just how privileged a college professor's life is. Yes, there are lots of different challenges. But other than your 2-4 classes you can juggle/set your own work schedule. You can work from home. You get to work on fun things. While you scrape for funding, you also get to go to conferences.
I have 6 classes of +/- 20 students. While I don't give busy work, there's a lot more paper to grade than a college class. There are parents to call. It's not a better or worse thing, it's just an acknowledgement that they're very different lives.

My schedule now means I'm not really on social media. I don't have the time to be on Twitter. It took me three weeks to write a blog I really wanted to get out. I get home and I'm exhausted. Several times I've fallen asleep on the couch before 7p. I had forgotten how exhausting it was to teach all day, to be "on" and available. And while I'm trying to check in on Sundays when I'm editing, and because I've Storified the process, it's exhausting to try and catch up with a week of news. So I'm not really trying. I just don't have the time.
For me the gif below isn't me and my students, it's me and my extended support network on Twitter.

So that's my life now.
I know things will calm down some come April because these final edits will be into my director and done.
Then I'll have April off from #DevilDiss2.
The first week in May I have whatever last notes (hopefully small, nonexistent notes) to fix before sending the final, final draft to committee by 15 May for 17 June defense.
UNM is done 13 May.
School's out 25 May.
I'll collapse for a couple of weeks and prep for my defense.
After my defense I may hibernate for a month.

So that's my check in.