Skip to main content

Momentum


Image by Mentalpirate


I was on a roll last week, writing close to 5000 words in 3 days, and I felt bloody good about it.

You see the thing about feeling good is that it can lead you off track, and make you think you deserve a break. And like the most natural reaction to hard time labour, you feel you've earned it. You stop your writing and think - "Know what? I'll just take the day off and carry on where I left off yesterday. No problem. No fuss. Done and done."

And you take it.

You take that day off. You spend it with the family doing the things that you should be doing as a family, taking them out to the park, shopping mall/movies, and you chill out for the rest of the day. And at the end of the day, you tell yourself - I'll pick up bright and early tomorrow and continue. No problem. No worries.

Except that because you've grown accustomed to working at night (the only time your kids are in bed), you can't just fall asleep, just like that. So you go online. Check those emails. Log into Facebook. Keep up to date on the latest tech news. You know that you should be continuing where you left off, but you tell yourself - hey it's my day off. I'll pick up where I left off tomorrow. Except that because you slept at 4am, you don't wake up until 1030am, and by the time you've gotten yourself sorted out, it's 1130am. And you kinda feel reluctant to start working on that damn thesis because your head still hurts and you're feeling all zoned out. And you think - "I'll start work in the afternoon".

Except that when the afternoon comes, because your wife is so tired from her pre-dawn job, you have to fetch your son from kindergarten. And so you do. And when your son comes home, he immediately gets into a fight with his elder brother who is at home, and the bickering and crying progress well into the time when you said you'd start your work. And you can't really start because they're making such a ruckus. And you can't just up and leave your heavily pregnant wife who is still sleeping off the fatigue from the morning to deal with all the anarchy when she wakes up. And heavens you can't leave the kids alone to their own devices, unattended.

And so you do what you can. Until your wife wakes up and takes over. And you go back to the study to get some work done. But you're already drained. And you can't really remember where you left off. So you say - I'll pick up where I left off tomorrow. And proceed to take the rest of the day off. I mean, it's only two days right? You can work over the weekend right?

Wrong.

So it's back to square one. In fact, it's less than square one, because you can't really remember where you left off.

You've lost momentum.

And there's no excuse this time.

Suck it up and get back to work.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My nightmare come true

This is it. It's finally happened. The stuff of bad dreams for many language teachers has today materialised for me, rearing its ugly head, scoffing at my abilities as a language professional. This is an actual letter from one of my students as part of their coursework. Final year student. Soon to graduate and meet the workforce of the nation. Read it and weep...

The Forbidden Kingdom No More

Yesterday is a day that would forever go down the sands of time as... "The Day I Fed Two Hundred Ravenous Mouths with Bottomless Pits" Oh the horror!... The Pain!... The Suffering!!! Like a swarm of locusts they came, wave upon wave upon wave... Like a farmer protecting his crop I could only look on and stare, as they darkened the sky, before zeroing in for the kill... Tears streamed down my eyes as I watched them strip every last grain of maize and corn that I had planted at the begininning of the year... My knees thudded to the ground, as I numbly watched the carnage around me, my tired brain barely registering what my eyes perceived. "So this is what it feels like"... I thought in my brain... "This thing called Open House" . .. ... Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I'm just being dramatic here ;) Yesterday was actually a day that I'm going to remember for a long time, simply because it was graced with the presence of those eager young minds I he...

Always & Never

Picture credit here Always . Never . What do these words mean? Simple enough words - Two syllables, direct spelling to pronunciation, timeless in their application in our daily lives. But what do they really mean? For instance, two best friends, before parting ways to go to university, exchange a very teary farewell - they exchange gifts, exchange cards, each pledging to be best friends for always ...forever... and that they always call and never forget to visit each other when they go back to their hometowns. Of course this scenario is a girls only scenario. For guys the scene would be a quick hug, a few pats on the back, and a salute as the bus drives away... Less words, less outward displays of emotion, but nevertheless a quiet ache in the chest and a steely determination to always be friends, and never forget the bond brotherhood that had been forged. Or even former lovers, as they forever part ways... The parting speech before they embrace for the last time, where each vows that ...