Being in sweatpants every day, all day long, is really not that cool. I have to admit that there have been many mornings in my past, many 6:45 a.m.s, when I've longed to go back to bed with a cup of tea and just skip the day ahead. I pictured my cat asleep at my feet, a long, non-work-related book in my hands, occasional naps as the sun pours in my window. There have been days in the past when I didn't feel like getting dressed in my "public" clothes and going out to face the world. Staying home seemed like it would be a such a luxury.
Be careful what you wish for, they say. Now, with days stretching ahead of me and no real end in sight, I'm finding it hard to focus. If ever there were reasons to procrastinate before, as a student said to me earlier (online of course), now it seems like it's not just a matter of not feeling like doing work -- the world is distracting in a truly unprecedented way. If I'm not worrying about the fact that we have no bleach in our house (a product I never use normally) to disinfect the various surfaces we're supposed to disinfect, and no stores seem to have any in stock, I'm obsessively checking how many new Covid-19 cases there are in Italy and India, where I have friends, or obsessively checking who has more cases, BC or Ontario. But over the last couple of days, I'm finding it a bit easier to focus. I'm not allowing myself to check the news every hour. I'm limiting it to twice a day (and trying for once). So other than telling you that I feel your procrastination pain, I can offer these few tips: 1) Sign into your course on Moodle, just to have a look. Tell yourself you'll just spend ten minutes. See what your profs and others have posted, even if you don't read through it all right now. 2) Pick one thing to work on at a time. The many assignments and responsibilities you have may seem over-whelming. Without the structure of a class to put it all in order, it may feel pretty daunting. (I'm only telling you what I feel!) Try working on one assignment for three ten-minute intervals. Take out your notes, read over the assignment, jot down some ideas. 3) Ask a question. If you find yourself slightly confused or even just stuck about how to approach an assignment, email your prof. Ask anything, even "I'm having trouble knowing where to start..." 4) Go for a walk (or do some other physical activity you like, preferably outside). First look at the assignment you want to work on. Read it over. Jot down any thoughts. Then put it aside and go outside. Do something physical that doesn't require your mind (ie. no videos, talking, or complex games) I call this creative procrastination. You're procrastinating, but because you've read over your assignment, it's in your unconscious mind, which quietly works behind the scenes to give you ideas. Charles Darwin used walks to generate ideas. It might work for you, too. Lastly, know that we are all in this together. We will once again put on our "outdoor" pants and get back to work. We'll get through this. Please share your comments & suggestions for getting work done and/or your struggles with it.
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OC faculty, staff & studentsWe made this space available to share our sometimes sorry, sometimes heroic, stories of procrastination. Please scroll down to read all the entries. To submit, send your entry to [email protected] Archives
November 2021
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