To Putter or To Chunk?

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Though I love teaching, I look forward to the end of the semester for several reasons. At the top of the list is replacing grading with writing. As the piles of school work diminish, I get excited and start making plans for what I will work on instead of papers, presentations and grade calculations.

But the end of fall semester coincides with the ramping-up of holiday preparations. While I long to sit down with my laptop and the muse, Christmas cards, tree decoration and baking (to name a few) tug at me as well. (And my family is more interested in those last three than the first one). 

In addition, the collision of end-of-semester assignments and deadlines often results in a pile-up of clutter that definitely does not put me in the Christmas spirit. Finishing the semester with some peace of mind means filing away all the extraneous bits and pieces of student work, notes to self, and grading sheets. 

What to do first? 

Everything. Not all at once obviously. But slotting in some time each day for each of these things helps me stay on track. And so, for the last week or so, I've been trying to find time each day for something in each category, chipping away at the piles as well as the anxiety and frustration they inspire. 

The school stuff is typically the first to disappear because closing the book on the completed semester is the first step toward relaxing and buying into the idea that I'm on vacation (despite looming to-do lists in other areas). Household responsibilities and organizing in other areas of the house are quick to expand to fill the void, keeping my daily activity categories at three. 

Some days, I only get to one of the categories; other days, I touch on all three. But, by the end of the week, each area has been represented with deadlines determining what rises to the top each day. Each morning, I ask myself what task I'm most interested in and which one I'd be most satisfied to check off my list at the end of the day. It's a good day when the answer to both questions is the same.

If this sounds overwhelming, you may prefer to chunk activities. Holiday baking days are a great example of this. While those were fun and productive when I was younger, I find them much less enjoyable now. Doing a little baking or wrapping each day gets me across the finish line with fewer aches and pains, and a lesser degree of grouchiness than spending a whole day standing, hunching and measuring.

As I type this, the day before Christmas Eve, I have one batch of cookies still to make -- my dad's favorite -- the one I tend to make on Christmas Eve every year. The shopping is finished. The gifts are wrapped. There is still some decluttering to do, along with finishing touches here and there, but nothing overwhelming.  If I so desired, I could make a long list of things I could still do but, as I get older, I find I am more satisfied with less because worrying and fussing less means I enjoy the days and the season more. 

However you get there, I hope you have a wonderful, restful Christmas and a happy, healthy new year.