It's that time again

No, not THAT time. [I have a one cramp-related post a year limit]

That is, it's that time of the semester again - the time when we have made it past the halfway mark, but there seems to be so much to do that it feels like it's impossible and you are tempted to respond to the overwhelming workload by crawing into a hole with a big bottle of vodka and not coming out till spring... or wait, maybe that's just me who would drag a bottle of vodka along... but I think the crawling into a hole part is an accurate way of describing how all students feel at this point.

I know my students are feeling it. Hell, I'm even feeling it and I'm not registered in any courses, just dealing with my own self-imposed deadlines.

The exhaustion that comes at the ten week mark isn't physical - well, at least not only physical - and it can't be solved by more coffee. Or more beer/wine/hard liquor/other mood-altering substances. Even the healthier option of exercise and plenty of water doesn't seem to do the trick. A swift kick in the ass might work. But I suspect even that would only be a temporary remedy.

Why? Why, oh why, oh why does student life have to feel like this? What perverse mind decided that fifteen weeks was an optimal time frame for educating adults? Hmmmm? It just don't work. At least not for me.

Thing is, it's really hard for me to motivate my students when I feel like my own motivation level is dragging in the dirt. How can I convince them that they need to keep at it even when they don't feel like it, when all I want to do is crawl into a hole (sans bottle even if necessary)?

ARGH!