Uncategorized

There’s way more to being a student than just going to class.  Many of my peers and even my students work regular jobs, have families all the while trying to maintain some semblance of a social life.  While I think that a ‘work-life’ balance is a bit of an illusion, there are ways that we can manage time so that we can do a combination of what we need to do and also what we like to do.  Here are my top 5 tips for saving time.  Let me know if you have any to add.

1. Take notes on everything

Admittedly, I have a very type A personality, but taking notes on course readings has really been a godsend. When I take notes, especially by hand, it’s a great way for me to process the information as I’m reading. If my notes are typed, it’s really easy to do a quick search and find key words or theories that might be relevant for a future paper. An extra perk is that I’ve also been able to share my notes with classmates who might be short on time. It’s always nice to make an investment on positive karma.

2. Take advantage of your flexible schedule 

While much of the world is stuck working 8 hour shifts, if not worse, take advantage of the freedom that academia affords you. I sometimes feel awkward about doing my grocery shopping on Friday mornings when it seems like other people are at their ‘real’ jobs, but this approach will save you time in the long run. It takes me 30 minutes to shop during the week, but if I were to go on Saturday morning when everyone else is rushing to do their weekend errands, I’d easily spend an hour trying to shop –and would be super annoyed on top of that.

3. Prep your meals in advance

This one is tricky because you have to block of anywhere from 1-3 hours to make your meals; however, it’s worth it.  I have so much peace of mind knowing that I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to eat every day of the week.  Even if you are only able to prep for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, that’s better than nothing. Meal prep’ also saves lots of money that I would otherwise spend on Chipotle or Chop’t.

4. Make a schedule

There’s no better way to take advantage of the time you have than to manage it accordingly.   I prefer using a spiral bound planner whereas other people prefer Google calendar. The most important part is to figure out what works best for you through trial and error and then stick to it.

5. Take a break

I can’t tell you how annoyed I am by people who purport to be constantly busy and inundated with work. No. You, like other people, I have to limit my social interactions with, feel pressured to appear busy 24/7 because we are socialized to judge ourselves by our productivity. There have been times when I’ve tried to ‘go hard’ but did nothing more than spend hours staring at a computer screen getting nothing accomplished. I find that taking a break to go to dance class, watch ‘This is Us,’ or even just  walk around the block refreshes my mind to the point that when I do come back to my work, I have way more clarity. Breaking is productive and will save you time in the long run.

This is just a short list that is definitely not conclusive, what works for you all?

Not to be grim on this Mother’s Day, but I recently came across this NYT article about Black women’s health as part of my research assistant job.  This is just one of many texts I’ve read that covers the ways in which Black women disproportionately experience complications (and even death) during pregnancy.  When I read things like

“black college-educated women were more than twice as likely to experience severe complications from childbirth as white women without a high school diploma”

it kind of makes me feel like my efforts to live well are in vain.  What if I’m healthy but the doctor doesn’t recognize my pain because of supernatural assumptions about Black women’s strength?  Does it really matter if I eat well and exercise regularly if the stress I experience on the job, on the subway and once I get home will just bring me down anyways?  I’d like to think I have some control over my health, but do I really?  In some ways, being intentional about living a healthy lifestyle is my way of saying, “I know that shit is going to happen, but I won’t take it laying down.  I won’t take part in my own destruction.”  I want that to be enough.

I know that as a Black woman in the academy, it’s already extremely hard to meet men that are even somewhat eligible, yet, I still have faith that I will eventually have a family of my own someday.  In the class I teach, we recently read the introduction of Raising the Race by Riché J. Daniel Barnes, which illuminates how professional Black women adopt a strategic mothering approach where they stay at home or alter their work schedules to be a better support for their nuclear families.   This offers an alternative to the be-all-do-all strong Black woman archetype. Honestly, maybe they are on to something.  Maybe we need to think creatively about better strategies to ensure our livelihoods. Already too knee deep into my doctoral studies to turn back, it is quite clear that an advanced degree won’t save me.  What will?

My bill for May only came out to $69.40.  This month, I only plan to be in the city for three weeks, and I already have some pretty busy weekends planned for the time that I am here, so I didn’t need to buy for a full month of meals. I still have to stop by my local grocery store to pick up some pasta sauce and produce, but I will get through the bulk of the month with what I bought at Trader Joe’s.  

This month’s highlight is riced cauliflower. I honestly, picked this up on a whim and had absolutely no idea what I would do with it at the time.  According to Livestrong.com cauliflower is a great source of potassium, vitamin C and glucosinisolates.  Additionally, the fact that I can take a break from my usual grains is a plus.  After a quick search, I plan to try this Spanish rice recipe.  I’ll let you know how that goes.

Especially during this trip, I was really hit by how difficult ‘adulting’ is.  The fact that monthly grocery shopping is something I hold myself to in order to save money and to stay healthy is obviously a good thing, but it is seriously a struggle.  I went shopping after I’d gone to my 7 am Friday workout class, and while I felt seriously accomplished, I already felt extremely tired by 10:30 am and still had a mountain of work to do (much of it is still there as I write this post on Sunday evening).   I am grateful that the semester is over, but I’m currently in the calm before the storm.  I have an annotated bibliography due, one presentation and 45 final papers to grade before I can officially be done with Spring 2018.  It’s rough, and there are no trophies (I can’t even seem to win a TJ gift card for bringing a reusable bag but anyways….) To those of you trying to balance it all, please be encouraged and keep trying–it’ll be worth it in the end.  I’m in the struggle with you.

Three of my favorite Black yogi’s are coming to NYC this summer, and I won’t be going to see any of them. Why you ask? Their tickets are either miles out of my price range and/or sold out.   If you have the coins to spare, I’m sure it will be a good time if  slots are still available for your city.

Trap Yoga Bae

Trap Yoga Bae  is going to be around during Afro-Punk at the end of August.  Known for her love thy self and give no fucks approach to life and business, she has managed to expand the conversation around “how” and “who” practices yoga.  While I’ve seen a few videos and am not completely sold that having trap music as the soundtrack to my vinyasa would allow me to  walk away feeling as calm and centered, I wanted to give it a try.  Usually, her classes are more affordable with an early bird price of $15 and a regular price of $20.  I can justify that, but because she is so popular and her price are more affordable, the class is already sold out four months in advance.

Lady Dork

Lady Dork is going on her fifth tour and will be in NYC in early June.  I identify with because she started her yoga journey while getting her PhD in Environmental Engineering, so I was excited at the possibility of taking a class with her, but the $45 price tag was a bit of a shock.  I love her, so I tried to reason that the price made a bit more sense considering that the class is 2 hours.  Needless to say, the class is sold out.  To add, every date on her tour is sold out except for Chicago, so if you’re in that area, you should definitely get on that ASAP.

Hippie Heathen and Dade 2 Shelby

Finally, Hippie Heathen and Dade 2 Shelby  are going to be at my beloved Prospect Park in the middle of July.  Their beautiful poses, hair, and melanin glistening…I could go on and on about how dope this couple is.   They are offering a number of different types of classes, including Acroyoga, Hips + Heart Soul Flow and one called Rooted in Power that will have a live DJ.  The classes range from 75-90 minutes, and while they aren’t yet sold out, the $40 price tag makes me cringe.  He’s fine but maybe not $40 fine, just saying.

Many of these figures and others like them say that a major part of their mission is about making yoga accessible to communities of color; however, it seems like that is easier in theory than in practice.   I wonder what type of people of color are actually showing up to these  events.  While a part of me understands that they are running a business and of course need to make a profit, I wish that maybe they had a set number of reduced price tickets available for students or people who’d like to attend but find it hard to make it because of financial strain.  I think that maybe a 30-minute community or donation based class would allow people to attend who otherwise wouldn’t be able to.  It’s quite possible that these yogis already host these types of reduced price events in their hometowns, I have no clue.

With that said,  I’m happy to see that these people’s classes have or will sell out, which means that somebody is able to attend, and that’s great.  Since I’m not one of those people, I’m content with knowing that  NYC is gearing up for a another great summer with these 3 yogis coming through.

Will you be attending any of these classes? How much are you willing to pay?