Coping with the start of a new semester

Here are some suggestions:

1) Don’t Panic – print a copy of the cover of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and paste it on your office door, across your computer screen, wherever necessary.

2) Go on the Atkins diet – the first few days can be tough, but then you get a nice boost of energy.

3) If your office doesn’t have a coffee maker, buy one, and use it frequently – of course, if you go on the Atkins diet, you will need it less.

4) Have lots of inspiring music ready to play in the background – Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Symphony, Violin Concerto, Sinfonietta and Sursum Corda; Kurt Atterberg’s symphonies; Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis & Chloe; and Sergei Rachmaninov’s Symphony No.2. Check whether your university subscribes to the Naxos music library – if so, put their investment to good use, and try some recent releases by composers you’ve never heard of, like Carson Cooman or Nicholas Flagello.

5) Take deep breaths.

If necessary, repeat steps one through five.