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Anatomy of a paper
May. 15th, 2006 08:50 amFriday: Go home to work on paper. Get...distracted by hubby. Get to work. Stop for Dr. Who. Accomplish writing two pages. At end of day, 8 pages out of 40 written.
Saturday: Spend entire day in front of computer. Accomplish jack. Read some research, do a little more research. At end of day, 8 pages out of 40 written.
Sunday: Panic. Flail about, feel completely buried in paper. Have meaningful Mother's Day phone conversations with daughters and mother. Flail a bit more. Decide to actually organize research. Pile white papers all over office floor. Finaly find some focus. At end of day, 19 pages out of 40 written.
Monday: Get up at 4am. Remember that there is a good reason why I used to get up at 4am. By 6am, stop working on paper in order to work out. At end of morning, 22 pages out of 40 written.
I've spent the last couple weeks feeling constitutionally incapable of getting up early in the morning. As a result, I am out of shape, my paper is not yet finished, and I am behind the 8 ball in all sorts of ways.
If I can simply repeat the process for 4 more mornings this week, I will easily complete my paper (it's not technically due until the 30th, but I want it out of the way).
This seems to be a pattern with me - working around the edges of a project, flailing, and then finally settling in and getting it done. It's not an efficient way to work. And if I could just shrug and say that there was no reason to worry about it now, being done with school, that would be great. But working in the law means researching and writing. I'm not going to get away from it. I need to find a way to be more efficient at it.
Saturday: Spend entire day in front of computer. Accomplish jack. Read some research, do a little more research. At end of day, 8 pages out of 40 written.
Sunday: Panic. Flail about, feel completely buried in paper. Have meaningful Mother's Day phone conversations with daughters and mother. Flail a bit more. Decide to actually organize research. Pile white papers all over office floor. Finaly find some focus. At end of day, 19 pages out of 40 written.
Monday: Get up at 4am. Remember that there is a good reason why I used to get up at 4am. By 6am, stop working on paper in order to work out. At end of morning, 22 pages out of 40 written.
I've spent the last couple weeks feeling constitutionally incapable of getting up early in the morning. As a result, I am out of shape, my paper is not yet finished, and I am behind the 8 ball in all sorts of ways.
If I can simply repeat the process for 4 more mornings this week, I will easily complete my paper (it's not technically due until the 30th, but I want it out of the way).
This seems to be a pattern with me - working around the edges of a project, flailing, and then finally settling in and getting it done. It's not an efficient way to work. And if I could just shrug and say that there was no reason to worry about it now, being done with school, that would be great. But working in the law means researching and writing. I'm not going to get away from it. I need to find a way to be more efficient at it.
