I took a vacation day yesterday to do school work.
That's a first.
In several years of being in school part-time
while working full-time,
I've carefully hoarded vacation days for
that glorious between-semesters Down Time.
But ... this is the final push ...
I'll be finished in August ...
and I've gotta get it done.
So I'm spreading out a week's worth of vacation days to
Get. It. Done.
I've discovered a change in the way my brain works.
I'm not sure if it's all the time-saving technology (which makes it actually harder to avoid distractions) ... or just that I have too much on my plate these days.
I do.
There's a lot on there, honestly,
and I love all of it.
I'm sooooo looking forward to being done school,
even though I will miss learning,
and haven't ruled out continuing on.
At any rate - it's harder to stay ultra-focused lately for a significant length of time.
I know that I need an outside view.
Learned that a long time ago, and Birkman confirmed it.
I would weep in a windowless cubicle.
At work, my desk is placed squarely in front of a window.
So my solution - for the focusing thing - has become setting timers and moving work spaces. It's surprisingly effective.
I start here, in my L'viv corner, so named because when I set it up as an experiment several months ago, The Boy said it reminded him of a L'viv cafe. From it, I can stare into the backyard while typing and thinking - that's what I do.
The Boy gets a little creeped out by my vacant stare, I think.
Louie hangs out there all the time, keeping an eye on things.
As soon as the snow melts, I'm outside on the shady back deck. I have to adjust the laptop screen a little, because of the glare, and if there's a breeze, papers blow away. But I could - and do - stay out there for hours.
(On Wednesday this week, a bird pooped right on my MacBook. Still didn't go inside.)
In the winter - or super early morning - or for a change of space - I work in my favourite chair. It's by the front window. Has a perfectly-placed space for coffee on one side, and a piano stool for extra papers on the other side.
It's cozy.
But this - THIS is my latest work space, and I spent hours here yesterday.
It's opposite the L'viv corner. That's the extra leaf from the dining room table on there, and it's solid as can be. I can even set a coffee on there, and work away while slowly walking. It's remarkable how much I can focus while my legs are moving.
Is this a side-effect of being a multi-tasking society?
We struggle now with single-tasking?
Whatever.
It's working,
and I'm now trying to figure out
how I can get a (free) treadmill
into my (not-big-enough) office at work.
Louie's a little overwhelmed by all the beeping timers and the moving to different spaces, but he never says it out loud. Just sits in his corner with a facial expression that can mean anything.
He's the Mona Lisa of stuffed sheep.
