Once an Iowan, Always an Iowan

I have been struggling as of late with using my time efficiently and productively.

Okay, that’s not wholly true: I have always struggled with using my time efficiently and productively, or I have at least since somewhere in the middle of college. But the dissertation as a whole has ushered in a whole new world of inefficient work, and the combination of dissertation, job market (let us speak of it no further) and a 15 month old who resembles the tasmanian devil in his ability to ransack any room 3.5 seconds after I have finished cleaning it up, has me more than a little flummoxed.

Still. Today I conquered my dissertation-related paralysis, if only in a very small way.

I was working in my library carrel (thankfully my annoying carrel neighbor was absent today) and realized that I had been screwing around on the interwebs for quite some time. (As a tragical-comical-ironical sidenote, I was wasting time looking at some websites that claim they will help me declutter my house and thus save me lots of time.) I promptly quit all of my internet applications (email, web browser, RSS reader) and turned off my wireless card and actually got to work.

Score: Productive Me 1, Inefficient Me 1 (I did waste that time to begin with after all).

Then later, I had gotten to the point where I was bored and tired of working, and I decided that I absolutely must go to Starbucks to get a coffee.

I will feel so much better with some coffee. I will feel so much better when I’ve had a little break and a short walk, when I’ve seen the sky and not just the glow of fluorescence in my carrel. Yeah, I need a coffee. Definitely need a coffee.

My powers of persuasion are astounding. I locked the carrel and walked out into the elevator lobby, and just as I was about to call for the elevator, I realized that I do not need any more coffee. What I need to do is sit there and work. No more breaks. No more excuses. Work, Dagnabbit!

And I did.

Score for the day: Productive Me 2, Inefficient Me 1.

Friends, we have a (modest) winner.

ps: yes, I know that I am now wasting time by blogging about not wasting time. But you see, blogging was on my list of things to do this weekend, so I am actually coming out ahead!

I hate Mondays. And not just for the obvious reasons.

This semester, my Mondays are full of dissertation work and teaching. Many hours of both. It’s sort of like my average day in the kidless days of yore (or what those days should have been): get up, breakfast, go to the library, meet with students, teach in the Writing Center, go home, eat, fold laundry, clean kitchen, maybe some more work, go to bed.

The problem: it’s almost exactly like the kidless days of yore in that I don’t get to see my kid.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. I get to see him for a couple of hours in the morning. But my Writing Center shift is from 5:30-8:30 on Mondays, so I don’t get home until long after he’s asleep. And mornings are not really where I shine, not to mention the fact that I also have to do a bunch of things (shower, pack lunch, eat, walk the dog) that don’t let me devote all of my attention to the little guy.

In short: on Mondays I suffer from Thomas withdrawal.

Luckily, I get to spend lots of time with him on other days of the week, so I can’t complain too much. It’s just, well, I like the little guy. He’s funny, and sweet, and weird, and goofy, and even when he’s teething (like he is now), and when he feels the need to yank out large chunks of my hair, I’d still rather be with him than anywhere else. Okay, well, mostly. It’s nice when Will is around to take some of the beatings and let me have a little break.

But not an all-day, only-get-to-see-him-when-he’s-sleeping kind of a break.

All I can say is I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.