Thursday, November 3, 2011

Procrastination- Thy Name is Rayna

In light of the fact that I am trying to be a better me, today's post is how I'm trying to be a better student.  As most of you know I've been in college for over 10 years and only have an Associates to show for it.  I'm currently working on my Bachelor's and have just over 84 weeks to go.  I like to count it in weeks.  Weeks are shorter than months (thank you Cpt Obvious) and 84 weeks sounds shorter than 20 months to me.  So in a little over 84 weeks I will be the proud holder of a Bachelor's in English with a minor in History.  And I will be 33 years old. 
Normally I'm a disorganized student.  I try really hard to be organized.  A little too hard.  I spend more time trying to find a "system" that works for me than actually doing my work.  So instead of trying to organize my assignments to death, I'm just going to do them.  Sounds easy right?  Well, habits are hard to break and I'm still organizing more than I should, but it's getting better.
I also procrastinate until the very last minute and beyond.  I used to just wait until right before an assignment was due to do it, but lately I've been waiting until the last day I can hand it in and get credit.  This class I've just started should be good to kick my ass in gear for this one since assignments can only be one day late to receive credit.  Anything past that and you're screwed.  Since I've screwed up enough in past classes to have my GPA weeping, I need to get my ass in gear!  In my past psych classes I've learned the reasons for procrastinating and have finally come to terms for why I do it.  I used to make the excuse that I was too busy doing other things to concentrate on the work, not that I was afraid of failure.  In actuality I am afraid of failure.  For most of my academic career I was able to coast on the bare minimum of effort and get B's.  Now not so much is that working any more, and I am afraid.  Afraid that even with my very best effort I will fail. 
Anyone else have reasons for procrastinating?  Did you get over them?  How?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Groundhog Week

This is going to be a very long week.  Today is Tuesday, but I'm pretty sure we're stuck in some sort of alternate universe, kinda like Groundhog Day.  But instead of reliving the same day over and over again, we're stuck with REALLY LONG days.  I'm sure that all of us (and I mean ALL of us) being sick is not helping.  Lil Miss has been sniffling for almost a week now and Munchkin has been coughing non-friggin-stop since Saturday.  According to the doc it's a viral thing and could last 2 un-ending weeks-possibly 3.  How do you keep a kindergartner from bouncing off the walls because he has to stay inside because he's sick?  I could really use some tips pretty please?  With a cherry on top? 
Halloween went swimmingly last night.  We were out for only about 45 minutes and the kids are loaded.  Not that they'll get to eat all that candy.  I'm not a sugar Nazi or anything, but I am trying to teach them moderation.  We're working on an 80/20 frame.  80% of the time I make them healthy balanced meals and 20% of the time we eat cookies for dinner. 
Today after Lil Miss's nap we're heading to the store for cough drops and groceries.  My kitchen is looking barren....