My second week just ended – I can’t believe how fast that went! And there are only 10 weeks in the quarter. It’s already a fifth over. This week was pretty busy, especially around Wednesday night, when I had two psets to finish. Such is life, though.
I had a really good talk with my research adviser yesterday, which made me feel much better about how I’m managing my time.  I was worried that taking four classes would suggest to him that I’m not taking the research seriously, but he actually agreed with my reasons for taking so many, and insisted that the first quarter can be kinda slow on the research anyway.
I do have to stop caring about the grades, and that’s hard. It doesn’t matter that I do well in my classes, just that I get B’s (and apparently C’s aren’t show-stoppers either), and eventually the research will be way more important. As one professor put it, “It’s not very often that someone asks you to do mediocre work on one thing so that you can do really well on something else.” He’s right — I’m not sure anyone’s ever asked me to be mediocre at something, and it’s weird.
Actually, I found that being expected to prioritize my efforts instead of just excel at everything to be one of the most liberating feelings ever.