Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Brief update of reassurance

I haven't fallen down any manholes.  The end of the semester has slowed things down considerably.  It's the quiet, impoverished time of summer now, in which I must construct a daily schedule of Things I Should Be Doing in order to avoid wasting away entire days doing nothing useful.  So far, this effort is a near-total failure.  My productivity sucks lately.

Meanwhile, this is beginning to look like a problem.  I have a book review to write, due in about a month, and I should be frantically reading pseudology textbooks in order to cobble together a workable syllabus for Introduction to Libel and Slander.  Am I doing any of this?  Not really.  I sort of hit a point of apathy towards everything work-related after I uploaded final grades.  I feel like I want/need a vacation, although, given how careful I need to be with money this summer, it would be more of a staycation.  At the same time, this stuff isn't going to sort itself out.  I need some self-discipline.  Can someone lend me some?

5 comments:

  1. I wish I had self-discipline to spare. The summer started off so well for me, too! Motivation? Check! List of things to do? Check! And now that I'm a couple of weeks in, and have gotten some big things done, I feel sort of bored. I still have a lot to do, but I seem to have misplaced my motivation.

    Maybe you could give yourself a couple of days to relax and then set up some deadlines. Deadlines help me a lot. In fact, I should probably create some for myself, too. Sigh. It's harder to practice than to advise.

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  2. Self-discipline!!! I got nutin'. I am making some dribs and drabs of progress, but nowhere near the amount I should be.

    Maybe if you pack and move now instead of later? Or work for an hour or two every morning and then pack and apt-hunt in the afternoons?

    Or, lie around and drink beer! (sorry, I am a horrible advice-giver. Don't listen to anything I say.)

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  3. I think many of us plunge full speed ahead into the things we have wanted to do all semester yet we're still exhausted. So it's normal to feel rebellious or apathetic because we didn't get a break!

    How about this: give yourself a few days to do absolutely nothing. Sleep for hours and hours. Stare at the tv. Float on your back in the pool. Just give in completely to the apathy for a full 48-72 hours. Do whatever you can to do relax: consider this a mini-vacation! Then...at the end of the predetermined time frame, get to work. At best, you'll feel recharged. At the very least, you will be rested.

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  4. I'm in the same boat. Just got back from Europe last night (hello, jet lag) and I have a crap-ton of stuff to do. Unfortunately, I don't have the crap-ton of motivation I need to slog through all of this stuff. We've been beaten down by the demands of the regular semester, and it seems that we need time to recharge. I second CK's advice, and may even take it myself.

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  5. I agree with CK - take a staycation, THROW yourself into a staycation. Reclaim your space, if that's your thing, with spring-cleaning. Hang out by the pool and do NOTHING for three days, or watch three saeasons of your favourite show, or plan long hikes around your neighbourhood. Buy yourself some nice seasonal produce, and make good meals. Go out in the middle of the day to the pub and sit outside with a beer! Whatever it takes to feel like you are getting a real break. THEN go back to work.

    I would also advise that you plan a similar staycation - write it in your diary now! - before the start of the new semester. That gives you something to look forward to... and a chance of starting the new year refreshed and ready to go, not already tired out.

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