Grade papers, that is.
I wake up in my sleep clothes, tumble over to my office (my cave, or dungeon, if you will), and look at the piles of papers that exist both on the desk and somewhere in cyberspace and I think “I’ll check my e-mail.”
And then I check my message forums.
And than I write a blog. Or two. Sometimes three.
And then I refresh the message forums again, because someone could have responded to me in the last ten minutes.
It’s a problem.
However, last week I was able to read and categorize 400+ entrance essays to the high schools at a coworkers apartment. I wasn’t in my sleep clothes then. I wasn’t even sleepy. I pushed through and cut through that stuff like a hot knife through…something…tasty?
Perhaps I’m getting hungry.
The point is, I got through it. So why can’t I do that regular, like?
Today I started grading, and somehow got through an entire “stack” of my virtual backlog. Unlike last week, no one was around to force me to grade. So what was different?
I’m wearing my purple dress shirt. Well, not just, but you get the idea.
I suspect the trick is to dress the part, or to be somewhere unfamiliar. I can’t grade when I have so many distractions, so much leisure time, so much…food. Dress the part, or sit somewhere that feels like the part. I spend too much leisure time in my office that to sit here and do work is hopeless and savage. But if I dress the part, it means that I can’t paint toy soldiers, can’t sit still and read for pleasure, can’t fool around on the Internet all day without feeling the tug of responsibility bearing down.
So for the next couple of weeks
X= Papers to grade in my office.
Y= Wear my work clothes.
Let’s see how far this gets me.