My plane back to Chicago sat on the runway at LaGuardia for an hour and a half. I didn't have enough room to take out both my computer and the binder I put all my study materials in. so I just spent the time alternating between my iPod and trying to figure out what language the teenagers sitting in my row were talking in (final guess: Turkish).
I took the wasted time as an opportunity to go over my achievements for the weekend: one resume updated, two cover letters written, some more notes outlined, some sample questions answered, one night out with a high school friend and the purchase of some new socks because they were on sale. I had a list of things to do, and I did about two-thirds of them.
Frankly, the odds of doing any more were low to begin with: I needed some downtime and to some extent, I got it. This fits a pattern that has served me well during the semester: resolve to do more work than I realistically can due to my short attention span, do about two thirds of it, leaving the library feeling guilty enough about my shortcomings to get an earnest start the next day. I've found that setting goals (and thus guilt) is easier to do than re-training myself to concentrate separate from anything else. Instead of tuning the engine to run longer without overheating, I'm just using higher-octane fuel. We'll see how that works for finals.
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