Creatures of Habit

I love having a routine. I love knowing what I'm going to do next and what's going to happen after that. I somehow feel like when there is time boxed out for an activity, there is somehow more time to do that than if the time I had were unlimited. - well, for unpleasant activities, that is.

Sometimes I have wished during my student career that at certain times of day, my books, my notes, or even my laptop would disappear. Maybe they would only be available to me between eight in the morning and four in the afternoon. That means, after that magical time in the afternoon, I cannot work anymore.  Bliss.

Actually, I'm fairly skilled when it comes to setting deadlines for myself and setting aside time to rest, but I am currently learning that this becomes more difficult when there are fewer things to do - and when the deadline is six weeks away, not one week away (like a homework assignment, for example).

At this moment, I have one exam (on March 12th) and then, of course, that Bachelor's thesis. Which is coming along, but slowly. I'm currently trying to work out a proper schedule for myself for this time (now that classes have ended and my days seem to be yawning expanses of time that could be used for sooo many things).

The other thing that has been on my mind lately has been a quote - and of course, I'm not sure exactly who said it the first time, but I believe I heard it first from Stephen Colbert. Sometimes I feel thrilled to sit down to work on my paper, ready to write, full of ideas of how and why and in what order to say things -- and on other days, I will clean the entire apartment before sitting down to do my work because I don't know where to start. I'm not inspired. But, as Stephen or (I'm sure) several other people have said - 'inspiration is wonderful and enough for amateurs - the rest of us show up to work'.

So, it's okay if I don't produce something amazing when I sit down to type or work through a proof. The sitting and the trying and the engaging with the subject matter might be enough - at least if I'm sitting and working and I happen to stumble upon some inspiration, I'll be ready for it.

BUT - in order to get me sitting down, a schedule might be in order. I'll get to it.