A Beginners Guide to Making a Busy 12hr Work Week

Fall in Dresden--This is at the Straßenbahn stop outside my place

This is near the TU-Dresden (the University)

We live in a society and world that calls us to efficiency.  This fits me, I like being busy--working, exercising, going to school, writing papers, socializing. During my time at UP it was simple: take 15-17hrs of classes, work two jobs, and overcommit in general.  Vwuaaaa-la, mission accomplished.  I came into this year thinking my 12hrs of work a. . .wait for it. . . week would be good for me.  I couldn't be overcommitted or at least would have to find several hobbies to make it passable.  I have found through some trial and error that I, indeed, can make a 12hr work week busy.  I want to share my tips an pointers so if any of you are stuck in this same fortuitous  position than you'll know exactly what to do with yourself.  I will not claim that the following list exclusive in any way but a good start toward making one's self busy while enduring the hardships of 12 hrs in primary school classrooms.

The key to accomplishing the goal of being "busy" is always having something else on the list.  This means that you can NEVER finish your list.  Sub-tip 1: If you don't make lists start--the "to-do" list is your key to measuring how busy you are. As you see slashes creeping through the words nearing the end of the page quickly jot down something that you inevitably forgot.  This leads us to TIP NUMBER ONE:  its alright to forget non-vital things. If you forget some of the trivialities, the small things you don't need to do but really should accomplish, two productive things can happen.  Suddenly, the trivialities will become important and often, urgent.

Before we get too far into sweeping tips we need to remember that the start of the day is one of the most important parts of the day.  Remember TIP NUMBER TWO when your alarm goes off: Snooze like you mean it.  Not just lazily hitting the button because you're so comfortable rolling out of bed would just be a cumbersome task.  If you're not rushing in the morning you're not starting your day with the sense of urgency that you had when you looked at your "to do" list the night before.


TIP NUMBER THREE: Make your commute productive. . but not all the time.  By doing something while commuting than you fill a couple seemingly empty hours with productivity.  Furthermore, make sure you are not productive during your commute a couple times a week. This will make you miss the normal productivity of your commute and thus enhancing its ability to feel like you accomplish something everyday and that you are working toward your goals (overall productivity).  Not doing something on the commute a couple times a week is a reminder of what you could be doing.  That brings us to TIP NUMBER FOUR: Wasting time is a platform to make everything else you do seem more important.  Without wasting some time your achievements, however small, will seem less important and your small achievements will be the forgotten little brother at the rest stop.  (consequently, my family has only forgotten my mom at a rest stop. . I honestly don't know how this ever could have happened as all of us kids always had a bead on where she was).  TIP NUMBER FIVE: Rejoice in the small things.  You remembered to use "abholen" instead of "bekommen"? Great.  You helped (or at least tried to help) the old lady on the Straßenbahn? Great.  You answered a question correctly without really knowing what it meant? Great.  You understand (almost) everything in the 4th grade German class? Great. 

Now, you don't want to waste too much time because you don't want to slip into being lazy. . that being said you don't have to be efficient.  TIP NUMBER SIX:  Why go to once when you can go twice?  Really,  Getting outside is always good and going to the store takes time AND is productive.  Two birds pigeons with one stone.  The more time you spend in transit places than the better off you are.  Therefore, two trips to the store is definitely better than one.  You can even mix it up and go to two different stores--one will assuredly be farther away.

TIP NUMBER SEVEN follows tip number six: Struggle with bureaucracy. 

These are the official guidelines for pictures..
Note five lines from the top

A move to a new country or situation cannot avoid some bureaucracy.  You have to deal with bureaucracy in some way.  Make sure you deal with it as often as possible while also making sure you construct your own barriers and red tape to parallel their barriers.  In this way you can make a seemingly impossible maze of red tape into something truly foreboding.  For example, get all the documents you need in order but take a horrible passfoto at a random kiosk.  To really do this right find the kiosk that is in the grungyist hidden corner of the train station.  If it looks like nobody uses it its what you're going for.  The pictures may look alright, but do not fear! They will most likely fade yellow if you wait (wait the couple of days just to make sure they are the proper yellowish tint).  Here are some quick things that you can do if you find yourself settling in in Germany to prolong your struggles with Bureaucracy: give the railway a non-residential address for your bahn card--it just wont get delivered and you'll have to go into the station and then finally call and attempt to get them to send another, sublet--it will take a while to get a good enough looking rental contract for your Aufenhaltserlaubnis, make sure you use electronic means of communication to matriculate at the University--basically, only communicate in a way that can be ignored.. if you go in they have to deal with you. Now if you do go in make sure you go in at a time when the office is closed, preferably right after it closes. In this way you maximize your effort to productivity ratio such that you use as much effort as possible without falling into feeling like you are, in fact, wasting time.

TIP NUMBER EIGHT: Deal with the unexpected.  Now this isn't as much as a tip as much as something to remember.  Things will happen and you'll have to deal with them.  By doing this you'll actually get better at them and, if you happen to be in Germany, get to practice your German.  When my bike was stolen I got to use a lot of time figuring out what I could do about it, talking to the police, meeting the police to take pictures of the basement cage, and looking for my bike on the internet.  It sucks but there is nothing else to do but deal with it and, hopefully, by dealing with it I'll at least increase some sort of understanding of German.  At least I'll know what "pedals" are auf Deutsch, probably forever.

TIP NUMBER NINE: Find a hobby. . or two.  One key is finding a hobby to use your time.  Doing actual productive things during free time is essential to using free time.  Who would've thought?  I always have things I want to do or get into but have not had the time or they were not high enough of the priority list to make the time.  Now you don't even have to make the time as much as use it.  Some may ask if this is the case why have I not kept up on my blogging. . . uh, anyways, find something productive and fun to do.. something that you might not get to do otherwise.  Oh, and stay (or get back) in shape.  Think of the weather beckoning you out to work out; or challenging you to, as the case may be.

TIP NUMBER TEN:  Make Friends and have a social life.  This means something different for everyone but when working such a schedule why not get to know people and experience the world though someone else's glasses?

Denise and me in Nürnberg at the castle wall.

TIP NUMBER ELEVEN:  Make sure you work towards your goals that you came with.  This one is a no brainer.. for me it means getting my German better.

I hope that these tips will help you at some point and if not, I hope they help you understand my day-to-day life a little better!  Its been great and I haven't yet had a problem keeping busy. . perhaps I'll refine my technique and publish a refined and updated guide but until then, keep busy!