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In this solo episode of Mentoring Matters, Dr. Stephanie Hansen shares how she approaches the start of a new semester with plans that actually survive reality. Instead of chasing perfection, she focuses on building sustainable systems: protecting time for deep thinking work, stress-testing your calendar, and breaking big goals into small, repeatable processes.

She also tackles common faculty pain points, from mentoring high-achieving grad students who struggle with perfectionism to setting realistic thesis and dissertation timelines before panic season hits. Along the way, she shares practical tools she uses to keep projects moving when the semester gets chaotic, including a Kanban approach and structured accountability.

Finally, she talks attention and technology: reducing social media and phone distraction, and helping students become AI-capable without cognitively offloading their education. The goal isn’t flawless performance — it’s growth, resilience, and progress you can sustain.

If you are interested in having Steph or Mary do a workshop on graduate mentoring at your institution please reach out to Steph at slhansen@iastate.edu

For actionable tips and strategies for mentoring please check out The Graduate Mentor's Trail Map available in paperback and ebook now!

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