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    Spring Break no more (sigh)

    By Ted Rzad
    Mar 28, '05 1:14 AM EST

    I had a huge list of stuff to do this past week; got a cold, did about 30%. I literally slept for 2 days. Is grad school supposed to be like this? I am seriously wiped out and there's still 6 weeks left of the semester.

    Am I alone in feeling strung out by all of this? Am I taking it too seriously? Really, there's got to be another way to deal with the pressure rather than just falling face first on the bed when a day off comes along.

    What are ways to relax, i.e. find balance? My wife thinks I'm going crazy, but I think I'm already there”¦


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    • 7 Comments

    • yoga?

      Mar 28, 05 7:30 am  · 
       · 
      Bill-nyc

      Yes!, seriously..yoga, good to nstrecth the neck and back (working on computer and building models is murder on the body...I am in constant physical pain!)

      Yoga, multivitamins, pilates, and an understanding partner are the key for me.

      I think it is this intense all over.

      Crazy? Obssesive? I think it might be a pre-requisite for this!

      I do the best I can, day-to-day...maybe it helps to focus on the process and not the results. I know we all need kick ass portfolio work but we need to take care of ourselves too.

      Best, and good luck!

      Mar 28, 05 10:28 am  · 
       · 
      Ted Rzad

      Thanks for the feedback; a sound mind almost always needs a sound body. It certainly does for me. I need to be more disciplined in how I integrate health time into the schedule.

      This goes for the working world, too. The pressure's not going away, right?

      Bill-nyc; good point on the process vs. outcome idea. A personal, effective creative process is the essential machine. Perhaps that's at the heart of the emotional/psychological differences between design architects, those who potentially are changing the way architecture is considered in society, and the service architects, whose processes are all about a preconceived result. Not a bad business model, but not pushing anything forward either.

      Far more of us on this forum are/will be involved in the service side of things as mature professionals, as opposed to the creative design; perhaps stress management as students is the key? If we can make it through the intensity of school and our early careers with healthy minds and bodies (able to approach our challeges as FUN rather than drudgery), we will have a better chance at maturing professionally creatively as well, fully realizing the potential we're all in love with as students.

      just a thought.

      Mar 28, 05 12:39 pm  · 
       · 
      duke19_98

      Napoleon is that you? sweeeeeeet!

      Mar 28, 05 1:50 pm  · 
       · 
      Ted Rzad

      Whatever, man; just for Pedro.

      Mar 28, 05 2:02 pm  · 
       · 
      Bill-nyc

      Hi Ted,

      I'm with you 100%!

      Good luck,

      Bill

      Mar 28, 05 9:20 pm  · 
       · 
      Regan Martin

      Well, it's like I'm fond of saying:

      "Architecture isn't so much of a passion, as a pathology."-tm

      We do this not so much by choice, as by compulsion so it becomes merely another thing to survive. Not much different from drug use really, starts as a way to satisfy an itch waaaaay deep down, then we get that big high of euphoria when something inspired gets drawn or at the finish, followed by withdrawl until the next fix. Yes, archtecture as a lifestyle.

      Jul 29, 05 12:54 pm  · 
       · 

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