Break-Time

It's working!!  I've been turning off my email/gmail/reader/cell/facebook/co-workers, and I'm getting stuff done!  The inertia has passed and I'm finally making progress.  However, I am still finding it challenging to work for 60 consecutive minutes.  I do a lot of problem solving, writing computer scripts, and statistics - and my head starts to hurt.  Literally.  Sometimes I need to get up from my computer and walk around and clear my head for a few minutes.  A few minutes.  This is where I'm having a problem.

Because instead of walking around, I usually go on a mental break by turning on my gchat or checking my google reader.  And then, as though I stepped into a magical time machine, an hour has passed.  Poof!

I need to start setting a time limit on my breaks.  I downloaded Alarm Clock, and today I'm going to set the timer during breaks.  When the timer goes off, it is time to return to my dissertation.  There are many different alarm sounds to choose from.  In the spirit of Skinner week, maybe I should have one sound to signal starting work (i.e., the end of a break) and a different sound to signal break-time (i.e., the end of work).  If lemonade were a sound, that is the sound that I'd like to signal break-time. 

How long of breaks do you take to recharge?

**Photo by Paula Patton

Interuptions

Yesterday I channeled B. F. Skinner to become more deliberate and disciplined in making progress on my dissertation.  I'm happy to report that I finally completed an analysis that had been paralyzing me for weeks.  Once I began working, it was easy to continue, and I ended up having a very productive day.  Though my goal was only 1 hour of uninterrupted work, I ended up spending a few hours engaged in my dissertation - however I don't think I ever had a full hour without interruptions.

I kept a list of yesterday's interruptions as they happened:

• Text from husband; reply.  Which lead to checking email on my phone.
• Going to chat with the boss about my analysis problem
• Another text and reply from husband.
• Met with colleague regarding my analysis problem.  Conversation drifted into other topics.
• Received phone call
• G-chat regarding the evening's dinner plans
• Checking my email.  Still emailing.
• G-chat regarding my friend's difficult boss
• Check blog stats
• Still gchatting about my friend's boss
• Coworker stops in to chat.  Repeat.  Repeat.

Your comments yesterday were incredibly helpful!  I am taking your advice and today I'm going to:

1. wear headphones (but what should I listen to?)
2. not log into email (and thus gchat)
3. turn my phone on mute and put it in my drawer (so I don't see the red flashing light telling me I have emails!)

Do you wear headphones while you work?  What do you listen to?

**A funky collage from John W. Golden

B. F. Skinner

As I set out to be productive today, I was reminded of a story I'd heard about the psychologist B. F. Skinner.  Considered by many to be the most influential psychologist of the 20th century, Skinner studied human behavior - including his own productivity.  (You may recall hearing in school that if you studied drunk, you should take the test drunk - that's basically Skinner.)  He researched the environmental factors that influence behaviors.

Skinner wished to maximize his writing productivity.  After much observation and measurement, he determined the ideal time and environment to write.  Skinner began his writing each day in a study in his basement where distractions were minimized.  A bell rang at 5am each morning signaling to him that it was time to begin writing.  He wrote until 10am, at which point he went on a walk, marking an end to that day's writing.  Through measuring his output (words), he had determined that 5 hours was the maximum amount of time that he could continuously write.  Skinner is also one of the most prolific psychologists, publishing 21 books and 180 articles - so I'd say that his method worked well for him!

I would love 5 solid hours of productivity each day.  I have a feeling that if I charted my daily activities, what I stretch out over 12 hours could be accomplished in much less time.  Much less!  I would like to complete my dissertation by the end of May.  I know that my goal is realistic if I exercise self-discipline and consistently work on it each weekday.  But drawing on yesterday's post, I cannot go from zero to five hours overnight.  I will fail.  Instead, this week I'm going to 1.) make changes to my working environment (in my lab) to make it more conducive to productivity, and 2.) each day I'm going to increase the uninterrupted time I exclusively dedicate to my dissertation.

Today I will spend 1 hour working on my dissertation.  I will be turning off: gchat, google reader, email, my blog - everything that is not dissertation related.  I will not spend time on other work related tasks for that hour.  I'm not sure what I will do about my co-workers - maybe a "Do Not Disturb" sign?  I will make one daily goal for my dissertation, and I will work on that goal for 60 minutes straight without interruption.  Tomorrow I will increase the time (90 minutes? - 120? - it depends on how today goes).  And maybe I'll even incorporate a bell...

What takes away from your productivity at work?

**Gouache illustration by Hranilovich
**I think I'm going to read one of Skinner's autobiographies.  I pulled some of the info for this article from various online sources (including Wiki) and the rest from my recollection of a course lecture.  This probably won't be the last time I mention Skinner!

Sunday Sayings

Every Sunday, I post a new saying that helps to inspire me to create new habits, finish my projects, and reach my goals.

An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. ~ Sir Isaac Newton's first law of motion

For the physicists out there, I know that this is not a direct quote.  Originally written in Latin, his first law, sometimes called the law of inertia, has been stated in numerous ways, but the definition is always the same.

While still in grade school, my father was always talking about momentum (which I know is more relevant to the Newton's second law, but let's ignore that because the second law doesn't sounds as "pretty").  Towards the end of summer, it was time to start "practicing" for school.  He would explain that my siblings and I could not simply go from the academic inertia of our summer routine (of sleeping in and playing with friends) to the movement of our school routine (homework, studying, and tests) over night.  And thus for the last week or two of summer we would "practice" going to bed early and waking up early.  Those last days were spent doing errands to get ready, such as shopping for school supplies and cleaning our room.  While my brother and I complained about "practicing for school" (my sister LOVED it), I now understand its utility.

My father continued to talk to us about momentum when we entered college.  He said that we should study a little each day because once we stopped studying, it would be hard to start again.  His words ring true today with regard to both my daily habits and my dissertation progress.  I'm hoping that tomorrow I can find "the unbalanced force" to start the ball moving again.  I'm hoping a productive Monday, leads to a productive Tuesday, which leads to a productive week.

Where do you find "an unbalanced force" to get you moving again?

**For all that I know, "practicing" for school was my mother's idea.  She certainly did the majority of the enforcement and had to deal with the majority of our complaints.  Oh, those last days of summer. 

Thank You! - I Now Have a Hobby

I've spent a good deal of time in ice-breakers. You know, where you go around in a circle and say your name, where you are from, and then a fun fact about yourself. Typically people mention their hobbies. Reading, running, and knitting are frequently mentioned. Occasionally I have felt really bad about myself when colleagues have listed oil painting and french literature as hobbies. (Side note, they weren't lying!) I've never really had hobbies to mention during these ice-breakers. Talking to my sister, drinking wine on my sofa, hanging out with friends - these sound like non-hobbies, especially considering that the readers, runners, and knitters also do these things. (I was once in an ice-breaker where someone listed Reality TV as a hobby; I wanted to be her friend!).

At various times in the past decade, I've tried to become a reader, a runner, and a knitter. I've joined book clubs and I even attended one meeting of a knitting club. I purchased cool running toys (like that ipod attachment). I like all of these activities in theory, but I obviously never enjoyed them enough for them to actually become true hobbies.

But now, I have a hobby! Blogging has become my hobby! I greatly enjoy spending time each day writing posts and looking at Etsy art for the blog. I enjoy figuring out html, I enjoy responding to comments, and I enjoy visiting my readers' blogs. I have found a hobby that I both make time for and enjoy.  I was very nervous to start blogging, but your support through both reading and commenting on my blog has taken away my apprehensions. Thank you!

Also, a little while ago, Lauren from Wife & Blog and Mrs. D from Life of a Doctor's Wife, awarded me some blog awards.  Thank you!  Your support means so much and is incredibly appreciated.  I am also supposed to pass these awards forward, and so I want to thank my very first readers and commenters who (like Lauren and Mrs. D) helped me out when my blog was just a few weeks old:

• Rae - No Wealth But Life
• Kristen - BonBon Rose
• Meredith - Penelope Loves Lists
• Schmei - Yo-Hah!
• Jenna - ThatWife

Thank you to all my readers, followers, and commenters for helping me to create not only a habit, but also a hobby!

**Painting by Stray Dog Arts

When Life Removes Items From Your To-Do List: Sad Edition

A few minutes into writing yesterday's post, when reflecting on the joys of having Life remove items from my to-do list, I became painfully aware of the items Life has removed against my will. As much fun as it is "crossing" these household items off the to-do list, it has been a sad reminder that sometimes Life takes things off of the list that you wish you could have actually done.  I lost several items from my to-do list this past Fall when my maternal grandmother passed away.  Send her more letters.  Too late.  Plan a visit.  Too late.  Send her the wedding video.  Too late.

Whereas I took pleasure in watching some items leave the list yesterday (I don't even know how to seal granite), it is incredibly sad to know that I will never be able to acquire the habit of calling my grandmother regularly or visiting her more often.  As I updated my to-do list yesterday, I realized that the most important thing on the list is categorized under Other - Visit my paternal grandparents.

The sad reality of being in an interstate marriage is that our time is spent traveling for work, traveling to see each other, traveling to see our parents, best friends, and my siblings.  Holidays, weddings, 30th birthdays, showers, bachelor parties - we travel a lot.  My extended family is spread around the country and we do not have reunions nor see them on the holidays.  As a result, I haven't seen my grandparents since our wedding in the summer of 2008.  And yet of all the items on my to-do list, I am putting the least amount of effort into scheduling a trip to see them.  It makes me very sad to reflect on my habits and projects and realize that I spend so much time worrying about flossing and dishes, and so little time worrying about the things that really matter.  The time to schedule a trip to see my grandparents is now, because I don't want Life removing this from my list.  And because I miss my grandparents.

**All of the images remind me of my late grandmother. Art work by Chelsea Victoria, Violet Bella Photography, and Lola's Room.

When Life Removes Items From Your To-Do List

This week, my husband's company will close on their condo in Workville, and next week he will finally leave his shabby hotel and move into his fabulous new digs.   In June, I will pack up our condo in Homeville, and move into an amazing rented apartment with my sister in Internshipville.  These moves represent a lot of changes (mostly good) and one change is that several things just fell off of my to-do list!  Poof - they are magically gone!

Getting a new nightstand and dresser for our bedroom - off the list after 3 years.  Seal the granite - off the list after 4.5 years.  Finish trim and paint built-in shelves - not anymore!  I'm not actually doing any of these things, rather they've been removed from the to-do list.  Removed by Life.  Technically, I could have removed these items from my to-do list at any point in the past several years.  However, the fact that we are moving magically removes so many things from the to-do list, including the vague "decorate," without leaving any guilt.

The granite, I'm pretty sure it was sealed before I moved in, but I always wanted to reseal it.  The shelves, they held our books just fine without being painted white.  Our bedroom, it had a dresser and a nightstand, we just thought we'd like newer (coordinating) furniture.  Why were these items on the list if we were never going to do them?  Why were they languishing on the to-do list, only providing me with guilt but not motivation?

It's amazing how I view these items differently now that I don't have to do them.  What items have languished on your to-do list?  Is there a way for Life to remove them from your list if you don't have the strength to remove them yourself?

**Drawing by Virginia Kraljevic