July 16, 2019 in Productivity Diary

Hey there Prosebox! I’m so tired of having so much to do and then not doing anything because I constantly feel guilty about not doing the things I’m not doing while doing the things I’m doing.

Having so much to do that you end up doing nothing. It’s vicious. But it’s a meme already, so I guess it’s relatable to many of us.

I think at this point I should just pick my favorite task out of the list and do it. Yes that means I’m not prioritizing right, but it’s better than doing nothing, so I’ll just do that.

So much to do, so much to plan. But I shouldn’t think of it that way– that when I’m doing something then it means I’m NOT doing other things. Then I don’t do anything to avoid feeling that way.

Shut it, and just do what I want to do at any moment.

Distraction, distraction, and distraction. Let me not care about the result. Let me just do things and see where that takes me.

-10 minutes working on my teaching prep
-10 minutes just reading a book for comps, because I feel like it. This is my indulgent activity.
-10 minutes working on my paper for the upcoming conference (I haven’t a clue of what to write about yet, and the conference is in 2 weeks. That is a major problem).
-10 minutes for the translation project.
-A phone call or email or text, whichever.

12:39 PM I begin the 10 minutes working on my teaching prep.
12:52 PM I begin the 10 minutes just reading a book for comps.

Well I am getting tired. This is so exhausting. I want to rest and sleep a little bit. Maybe three minutes?

Why am I so tired? Arg!

1:11 PM 10 minutes working on my paper for the upcoming conference
1:24 PM I may or may not have got into a groove of working already. 10 minutes for the translation project.
1:35 PM This is not too bad. Now let’s look at my Todoist list. … I decided to write a quick email to Pepperdine Law instead of doing all the emails that have been on my to-do for a while. Oh well.

5 minutes resting.

1:45 PM 10 minutes working on my teaching prep. I wonder if this is an efficient way to get things done.
1:58 PM I’ll just stand up and wash up a bit.
2:04 PM I’ll be grateful for having done comps reading when the time comes. Now, 10 minutes just reading a book for comps.

Reading Kant isn’t all that bad.
2:16 PM 10 minutes working on my paper for the upcoming conference.

Lunch break.

2:59 PM 10 minutes for the translation project.
3:15 PM Now I decide what email/text/phone call I want to make. I wrote a 10-word text to Katherine. That counts, right??

4 minutes resting.

3:24 PM 10 minutes working on my teaching prep.

We will see whether I can, like my sister, work all the way until 6 PM.

3:37 PM 10 minutes just reading a book for comps.
3:49 PM Taking a little bio break now.
3:53 PM 10 minutes working on my paper for the upcoming conference.
4:06 PM This is my relaxation time. I’m going to work on that translation project.
4:21 PM Now I decide what email/text/phone call I want to make.
4:29 PM Was gonna write a FB message. Of course, got distracted by FB.

4:33 PM 4 minutes break

This isn’t fair! How come it’s 5:21 PM already? Yes I’ve been doing some work email, taking some breaks, but still.

God helped me, Quora is temporarily unavailable.

5:23 PM 10 minutes working on my teaching prep.
5:37 PM 10 minutes just reading a book for comps. I know I’m not prioritizing right by doing this, but heck this keeps me going. Forget about all the consequences. It only matters NOW that I do something productive.

Reading Nietzsche is actually pretty awesome.

5:50 PM Another dreaded part– maybe this is good for me, pairing an assignment I like with an assignment I don’t like. 10 minutes working on my paper for the upcoming conference.

9:38 PM, after a little exercise, dinner, hanging, and laundry.

Time goes so so fast. I should just relax.

9:41 PM 10 minutes on translation project.
10:10 PM Oh dear me. Ok, 10 minutes class prep now.

11:38 PM I’m heading to bed :). So-so day. Moving tomorrow.