In Which I Finally Come to Terms with the Fact that I Need a To-Do List

It's true. I've avoided my planner and the making of lists since the regular semester ended. This is problematic for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that it means I've not really been getting much done other than what is immediately necessary to get done. The problem is, I've got three research-related things that I just need to finish - tying up loose ends sorts of things - as well a the admin thing to finish up (which I've been ignoring), and then now grading is looming for the summer classes, etc. This is not to mention things like figuring out shit with my car (I leased 3 years ago and now it's time to turn that car in and to figure out what I'll be doing re: transportation), wanting to get back in the groove with eating right and working out, doing a major spring cleaning and weeding out of the old homestead (which I've convinced myself I can't do until I take care of other work-related things.... See, the problem is that I have taken a break from the grind, thinking that with the end of the regular semester that I could slack, when really I've got a lot of shit I need to take care of.

So let me hereby declare this Memorial Day Weekend the Weekend of Productivity. Just ignore the fact that now that I've made my list I'm blogging rather than getting started on the list. Also ignore the fact that I've got two more parts of a series here that I'm procrastinating about writing. You know it's bad when you're procrastinating about posting shit on your blog. That's just ridiculous.

You know what the problem is? It's that I suck in the home stretch. I suck with putting the nail in the coffin on projects. I'm great on the front end of productivity, but the fact that pretty much everything (other than the classes I'm teaching) is in the home stretch... well, I feel finished, so I'm just not in the mood actually to finish. Also, and this is the rub, the way things have been going of late is that I keep thinking I'm finished with things and then static keeps happening where I'm not really finished. How annoying is that? This is a lot like when I was chomping at the bit to defend my dissertation, when I believed that I was done, and my adviser was all, "you're totally not done yet." I just hate details. I'm great with the big picture, but the details... ugh. So annoying. What's bizarre is that people often characterize me as a detail-oriented person. In reality, I'd really rather have minions who just took care of details for me. The problem with this whole line of work is that it turns out one has to take care of most details oneself if one really wants them to be taken care of.

But so, as I look ahead to the afternoon, I know that what I need to do is to check some things (even if small things) off my list. I feel as if, however, I may end up just taking a nap or something.