My Freaking Problems

Do you ever have a day during which you feel lot you got a lot of stuff done?  Or made a lot of progress on something?  And not just any stuff or something, but the right stuff or something, i.e., the stuff or something you should be doing and not the stuff you a) would rather do bc it's easier or fun or whatever and/or b) do iot avoid doing what you should be doing?  That's the key: doing the right stuff.  Bc I can easily fill my day doing useful yet not the most important stuff.  E.g., purging the house of clothes, housewares, etc. to donate or throw out could take up a whole day.  And while it would be nice to clear that stuff out, it's not the most important thing at the moment.  It will probably never be the most important thing at any moment which is fine bc the important thing is that the important things at any given moment are the important things that I do.

Anyway, the point of this is that I got a lot of the right stuff done yesterday:

1. read David Lewis's New Work for a Theory of Universals; took notes in the fervent hope that I will fully understand it after another reading or seven; there was originally a typo here that called it New Wok for a Theory of Universals which I'm glad it wasn't bc that's sure to be an exponentially more complex argument
2. did an estimated EIGHT loads of laundry in the background to item #1; is this item as important as item #1?  Noooo, although a complete lack of clean underwear lends a sense of urgency to getting at least one load done.
3. did the usual other stuff around the house...tidy up the kitchen, scoop some litter boxes, made a couple of phone calls, etc.
4. performed the basic tasks of humanity (showered, ate, cuddled a cat here and there and there and there, etc.)

So yeah, as mentioned before, my class paper will be a compare and contrast between Lewis (the above paper and Against Structural Universals) and Armstrong's theory of universals.  My challenge, besides writing the thing, is to get it done on time.  I have a horrid habit of being very late with papers, so much so that I'm too embarrassed to admit how many papers I still have to hand in.  That's gotta change.  If Obama  (and David Bowie) can change, dagnabit, so can I.

One might wonder, what's my freaking problem?  Well, I'm afraid I must admit to multiple problems.

1. I don't stick to a topic.
2. I don't stop reading about it.  I have this irrational fear that I'm going to miss something really, really important and really, really obvious.  Of course I am.  I can't possibly read everything that is relevant and important on the topic.  Nor could I cover all the relevant and important stuff in a normal size paper so I shouldn't worry about missing something; instead, I should focus on setting boundaries on what material I will consider.  Depending on the topic, a paper covering all the important stuff could be a lifelong project.
3. I overdo the understanding of the material.  What does that mean?  Perhaps that's not the best way to put it.  What I mean is I think I need to understand every iota of whatever material I'm writing about.  Well, perhaps not every iota; if I don't need to cover a section and I don't think it will inform what I am writing about, I don't go over it with a fine tooth comb; e.g., I won't worry about fully understanding the last section of yesterday's reading (which is a fortunate thing in this case, let me tell you).
4. Probably related to #3: I go about understanding the material in the wrong way.  I don't think I do it in the best, most efficient way.  I struggle getting the details right, which takes time, and leave the big picture until the end.  I wonder if things would go smoother and faster if I posit a big picture first and then flesh it out with the details, correcting the big picture as I go along.  Slogging through the details of each section of material in question isn't a problem until a deadline is involved.
5. And then I think there's fear.  There.  I said it.  Fear that my paper will suck.  Suck beyond compare.  Suck without peer.  That it will be used over coffee or beers to regale other students and/or professors.  Okay, I don't really think it would suck bad enough that it would be a punchline.

That's it.  Well, those are all my freaking problems that I can think of right now.  I hope that's it.

Comments

[gottagopractice]

Let me know if you discover a cure for those problems.

...A Fellow Sufferer

p.s. Good luck on the paper.

[Annie]

I have a sneaking suspicion that one cure is to actually go ahead and just start writing the thing.

Thanks for the good wishes.