Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Stages of procrastination

I am a person that needs a deadline to really motivate me and bring my mental "A" game. Teaching in a PUI fits me to a T, becausethere are two or three deadlines daily (lectures, labs) to keep me going. However, this situation is Attention Deficit-ogenic, as I never have to sit and think for a long time, and rarely have to concentrate on one thing for days or weeks.

I'm trying to write a manuscript for submission to a journal that includes my students' data. There has been a very serious period of adjustment to "writing mode". First, I procrastinated for a long time by just "Vegging"- surfing, mostly. I felt very mentally tired and sought escapism. Now it feels like I have that out of my system and have regained energy and focus, but now my energies are being directed toward cleaning out my office. Necessary, but not toward my goal. It also feels like I need to spend a bit of mental energy imagining myself doing the work before I actually start it. I am nearing that phase. Soon, I'll get serious about the writing.

I have belched out a bunch of pages, but they are incoherent. I need now the mental sharpness and long-term focus that will allow me think of an intelligent structure, foresee logical problems to address, and then follow up on addressing them.

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