Major lessons from a heavy semester

I would not be my analytical, introspective self if I would not want to draw lessons from the semester I just sailed through.

So, what did I learn from deliberately overloading myself? All in all, I have come out tired, but pleased with what I achieved. In short, these are my lessons learned:

1. Planning makes everything more doable: I knew in advance that my semester was going to be overloaded, so I made sure to plan for achieving the major goals. I set recurring meetings to push projects forward, and larger timeblocks to work on writing of proposals.
2. We can do hard things: I was not sure if I was going to get through this semester without getting too tired. Well, it turns out, we can do hard things, as Glennon Doyle has said. We can push when needed, as long as we are aware that this too shall pass.
3. Large time blocks are key: To make real progress on tasks that require attention, setting aside time blocks of at least two hours are key. I did a few very early morning sessions as well (4:30am – 6am), but mostly focused on finding larger time blocks during the work day.
4. Nobody dies from take-out pizza: I bought take out meals more than usual. I had groceries delivered. I have not decluttered. But, I managed to be present for all my kid’s important events, and pick her up from her activities most days, and help her with homework and violin practice and so on. Nobody has died from too much pizza.
5. Exercise helps: I still ate relatively ok, I am rather sleep-deprived, and I managed to keep exercising for the most part of this semester. Certainly, picking up a heavy barbell before breakfast gives me a boost for the rest of the day.

Have you ever had a very intense semester? What did you learn from it?