Day #17: Balancing Work and Creativity

Very soon, I will be receiving my first swarm of essays. Then I'll have stacks of papers on my desk. And I might have a stack of the blues as well. I love just about every aspect of my job... But grading papers is my Achilles heel. I used to be so speedy. Now I've slowed down. Most of the time, while I'm grading, I start to come up with great ideas for a new book -- but I can't just stop grading, I gotta get through it!

Anyway, I mention this because the ONCOMING ESSAYS will be my greatest obstacle. It will be tempting to stop working on this blog, and not concern myself with the $20000 challenge. It's not easy to balance my work life and my creative life. But I'm gonna do it. And the best way to do it is to stay on top of those essays. Every time I get a batch of them, I'm going to grade 8 a day. That way turnaround should be about a week, and I won't drive myself crazy trying to grade twenty in one day.

Are you a teacher? Do you grade lots of essays?  How do you keep your life balanced?

Challenge Total: $112.64