This week will be week 14 of the semester. For a lot of people completing studies, it will be the last week of semester. Not for me, unfortunately. I still need to finish data collection and analysis for my research project and complete my reporting. The aim, or deadline I’ve set for myself, is the end of this month, which will leave me to attend to my e-portfolio and define my question for the next research project. No rest for the wicked. But that isn’t the point of this post.
While unofficially it isn’t the end of semester for me, I couldn’t help but notice the tell-tale signs that really, I’ve been at it for some time.
You (or I) know it’s the end of semester when….
- I’m playing ‘library book jenga’. There is a pile of library books on my desk (hopefully I’ll get rid of some today). I’ll bet that the next book I’ll need will probably be about four to five books down the pile. It’s a delicate operation, as you can imagine.
- I placed a picture of Wall-E in my slide deck for my project presentation. The next day, I had no idea why. But it looked good at the time. I couldn’t resist Wall-E.
- My car hasn’t been cleaned for a couple of months, diminishing my desire to drive it. I apologise profusely to my manager who I give a lift to occasionally. She really doesn’t mind. It seems only I see myself has having my life together when I have a clean car and able to offer some comfortable hospitality for the short duration of the trip……so I chit-chat like there’s no tomorrow to distract from the messiness.
- I start delegating home tasks to my partner……via email. Not kidding.
- It takes a good five or so minutes to find the bra I need for work, because I haven’t had time to be a good housewife and put the clean washing away. This is followed by guilt, as my partner can’t find a matching pair of socks, then tips the whole basket on the bed.
- I have post its everywhere on my desk, and even though their use-by date has expired (the ideas or points have been used or didn’t make it in my literature review), they still sit there because I don’t know if I’ll need them again or if I can file them away.
- My personal in-tray is overflowing. I haven’t attended it for a couple of months. There’s probably at least one or two things in the pile I’ve neglected to action. But I think I’ve kept up with the main things in life. Hopefully it’s all just filing.
- I give my partner a ‘window’ of time to go shopping for a bedroom suite. I have two hours…go!
- My desk becomes almost inhabitable as I’ve temporarily moved my laptop to the dining table so I had a clutter-free space to plan and write #blogjune this weekend.
I’d better attend to the messy desk. Clear desk, clear mind. I’ll need it for data analysis this afternoon.
