When I wrote my last research paper, I kept a list of notes detailing the process. The result is a little humorous, a little frustrating, and a lot of explanation about why I end up trying to do homework for six hours and actually only getting one hour's worth done...
The assignment: Research a type of medical technology and write a five-page research paper about it. My chosen topic: AAC used by autistic people. Yay for choosing my own topic--might never have managed without it!
DAY ONE
12:00 noon: Wake. Get up get up get up. No, you have to get up now. You really have to. Call the library when you get up to find that lost thumb drive. Get up get up get up.
1:30 p.m.: Call the library. They can't find the thumb drive. There go my notes. Next step will be to look through my computer to find out if I've still got the notes on the hard drive.
2:30 p.m.: Got stuck reading forums online. So much time has passed. I need to take a shower. Still in my PJs. Throw off the pajamas, still not intending to take the shower. Get stuck in the routine and take the shower anyway. Glad that getting dressed is part of the routine.
3:00 p.m.: Put the pile of books on my table into two piles: Books I Need and Books I Don't Need. Still feel overwhelmed, but at least I have my supplies in one place. Miss thumb drive. Make sandwich; eat sandwich. That's more complicated than most lunches these days.
3:30 p.m.: Still can't get myself to start. Stare at the reference books some more. Make coffee halfway. Put on backpack and grab keys to drive down to Wal-Mart for some coffee creamer, remember to finish making coffee before leaving, remember not to turn on machine. Fire is bad. Maybe the sunlight will kick me into gear. Coffee would help me concentrate. I hope.
3:45 p.m.: Realize just how zoned out I am. I'm driving like I'm in a dream. Thankfully I am listening to a book on tape, so my attention bounces rapidly between the road and the book, multiple times a second. It's a trick I've used before and intend to use again.
4:15 p.m.: Back from Wal-Mart. Yum... vanilla coffee creamer. Go to check the computer again. Still zoned out, not so bad now. End up reading an essay I wrote years ago instead of checking for old notes. Back to the forums. I notice how I'm not actually having any fun procrastinating.
5:00: Remember to make coffee.
7:30: Remember to drink coffee.
7:00 p.m.: Post on Wrong Planet. Get interesting idea for blog post. Write blog post. Post about my problem on Wrong Planet. Realize I'm writing three or four pages worth on some other subject. Why is it so much harder to do the research paper?
8:00 p.m.: Put laundry in the washing machine.
9:00 p.m.: Start looking for the notes I had on the computer hard drive. No getting distracted this time. Well, okay, I find the notes and then I get distracted again. Can't remember what I was doing. It probably wasn't interesting.
12:30 a.m.: Get inspired. Write half-page outline of my intended research paper. Pop up to put a second load of laundry in the washer.
1:20 a.m.: I have to learn APA style for this. Oh, well. That's not hard.
1:45 a.m.: Yes it is.
2:00 a.m.: Hang up laundry and warm up some pretzel bits for a snack.
2:15 a.m.: Hmm... I can't figure out how many autistic people need communication devices. Nobody seems to have done a study on it. I'm going to have to research the epidemiology of autism.
2:57: Houston, we have a title page.
3:30 a.m.: It's kind of odd--I'm writing about things I know so well that I have to think about what the professor does or doesn't know and what's actually relevant. People writing real journal articles don't have this problem, do they?
4:20 a.m.: First bullet point on the first heading of my outline is done. I'm in it for the long haul...
4:50: Don't want to stop... tired... don't want to stop... of course, I've gone off on a tangent. Stupid outline. Have to have some organization.
5:00 a.m.: I need to stop writing for the night; I'm not making much sense and I've lost my original plan. Too tired to keep going. If I stop I may never start again. Conundrum. Extreme tiredness decides it for me. Please, please go to bed instead of doing something stupid because you can't transition to bed properly... sleep is good... must sleep...
5:20: Sleep.
Net result: 17 hours of trying. 2 hours of actual work.
NEXT DAY
9:30 a.m. Can't sleep. Can't stop thinking about the paper. Ideas running through my head like wheel-addicted hamsters.
10:00 Up. Shower.
10:20 Back typing out ideas.
11:20 Still writing. I'm getting the hang of this APA thing. Can I cite a blog? I really really hope I don't lose my momentum...
11:30 Call the library about the thumb drive again. Not there. Will have to give it up as lost.
11:40 V8 for breakfast. Yum.
12:00 Tired again. Force myself to sleep so I'll be able to continue writing properly.
3:30 Awake. More V8. I know, not proper food, but dangit, calories is calories.
5:30 Have managed to reconnect with paper. Had some proper food. I'm going to miss the support group meeting tonight. Sad. Progress: One and a half main points out of four. Three pages written. Five pages altogether are necessary; but I have more information than that. At this rate, my paper should be about eight pages long, with fifty or more references. Yes. I am addicted to references. Stupid easy-to-use online article databases.
6:00 Drop and break mouse. Hmm, I was wondering when I'd get my daily dose of clumsy.
6:05 Fix mouse. Thank goodness for mechanical aptitude.
6:30 One sentence over the past half hour? I am SO not concentrating.
9:21 Slow going. Keep getting distracted. Also, I'm currently laughing my head off because when you search for PECS, Google apparently thinks you want to look at pictures of bodybuilders.
9:50 How the heck do people manage to find a communication device for themselves? The sheer number of options is overwhelming. The prices are ridiculous, and sometimes not even stated. Reminds me of one of those ritzy shops where "if you have to know how much, you can't afford it"...
12:00 I'm giving up on putting references in the text. The prof will just have to deal with it. If I lose points for not using APA style, so be it. This thing's due in eight and a half hours and I'm still not done. Oh, yeah, and I think I was supposed to sleep somewhere in there.
2:00 Hmm... interesting information on autism and hyperlexia. File away for later.
3:00 Done. I fricking cannot believe it, but I am actually done...
Final result: 31.5 hours of trying About 8 hours of actual work 11 pages worth of paper, not counting bib page and title page.
Oh, and I don't have fifty references, thankfully. Only 24.
The assignment: Research a type of medical technology and write a five-page research paper about it.
My chosen topic: AAC used by autistic people. Yay for choosing my own topic--might never have managed without it!
DAY ONE
12:00 noon: Wake. Get up get up get up. No, you have to get up now. You really have to. Call the library when you get up to find that lost thumb drive. Get up get up get up.
1:30 p.m.: Call the library. They can't find the thumb drive. There go my notes. Next step will be to look through my computer to find out if I've still got the notes on the hard drive.
2:30 p.m.: Got stuck reading forums online. So much time has passed. I need to take a shower. Still in my PJs. Throw off the pajamas, still not intending to take the shower. Get stuck in the routine and take the shower anyway. Glad that getting dressed is part of the routine.
3:00 p.m.: Put the pile of books on my table into two piles: Books I Need and Books I Don't Need. Still feel overwhelmed, but at least I have my supplies in one place. Miss thumb drive. Make sandwich; eat sandwich. That's more complicated than most lunches these days.
3:30 p.m.: Still can't get myself to start. Stare at the reference books some more. Make coffee halfway. Put on backpack and grab keys to drive down to Wal-Mart for some coffee creamer, remember to finish making coffee before leaving, remember not to turn on machine. Fire is bad. Maybe the sunlight will kick me into gear. Coffee would help me concentrate. I hope.
3:45 p.m.: Realize just how zoned out I am. I'm driving like I'm in a dream. Thankfully I am listening to a book on tape, so my attention bounces rapidly between the road and the book, multiple times a second. It's a trick I've used before and intend to use again.
4:15 p.m.: Back from Wal-Mart. Yum... vanilla coffee creamer. Go to check the computer again. Still zoned out, not so bad now. End up reading an essay I wrote years ago instead of checking for old notes. Back to the forums. I notice how I'm not actually having any fun procrastinating.
5:00: Remember to make coffee.
7:30: Remember to drink coffee.
7:00 p.m.: Post on Wrong Planet. Get interesting idea for blog post. Write blog post. Post about my problem on Wrong Planet. Realize I'm writing three or four pages worth on some other subject. Why is it so much harder to do the research paper?
8:00 p.m.: Put laundry in the washing machine.
9:00 p.m.: Start looking for the notes I had on the computer hard drive. No getting distracted this time. Well, okay, I find the notes and then I get distracted again. Can't remember what I was doing. It probably wasn't interesting.
12:30 a.m.: Get inspired. Write half-page outline of my intended research paper. Pop up to put a second load of laundry in the washer.
1:20 a.m.: I have to learn APA style for this. Oh, well. That's not hard.
1:45 a.m.: Yes it is.
2:00 a.m.: Hang up laundry and warm up some pretzel bits for a snack.
2:15 a.m.: Hmm... I can't figure out how many autistic people need communication devices. Nobody seems to have done a study on it. I'm going to have to research the epidemiology of autism.
2:57: Houston, we have a title page.
3:30 a.m.: It's kind of odd--I'm writing about things I know so well that I have to think about what the professor does or doesn't know and what's actually relevant. People writing real journal articles don't have this problem, do they?
4:20 a.m.: First bullet point on the first heading of my outline is done. I'm in it for the long haul...
4:50: Don't want to stop... tired... don't want to stop... of course, I've gone off on a tangent. Stupid outline. Have to have some organization.
5:00 a.m.: I need to stop writing for the night; I'm not making much sense and I've lost my original plan. Too tired to keep going. If I stop I may never start again. Conundrum. Extreme tiredness decides it for me. Please, please go to bed instead of doing something stupid because you can't transition to bed properly... sleep is good... must sleep...
5:20: Sleep.
Net result: 17 hours of trying. 2 hours of actual work.
NEXT DAY
9:30 a.m. Can't sleep. Can't stop thinking about the paper. Ideas running through my head like wheel-addicted hamsters.
10:00 Up. Shower.
10:20 Back typing out ideas.
11:20 Still writing. I'm getting the hang of this APA thing. Can I cite a blog? I really really hope I don't lose my momentum...
11:30 Call the library about the thumb drive again. Not there. Will have to give it up as lost.
11:40 V8 for breakfast. Yum.
12:00 Tired again. Force myself to sleep so I'll be able to continue writing properly.
3:30 Awake. More V8. I know, not proper food, but dangit, calories is calories.
5:30 Have managed to reconnect with paper. Had some proper food. I'm going to miss the support group meeting tonight. Sad. Progress: One and a half main points out of four. Three pages written. Five pages altogether are necessary; but I have more information than that. At this rate, my paper should be about eight pages long, with fifty or more references. Yes. I am addicted to references. Stupid easy-to-use online article databases.
6:00 Drop and break mouse. Hmm, I was wondering when I'd get my daily dose of clumsy.
6:05 Fix mouse. Thank goodness for mechanical aptitude.
6:30 One sentence over the past half hour? I am SO not concentrating.
9:21 Slow going. Keep getting distracted. Also, I'm currently laughing my head off because when you search for PECS, Google apparently thinks you want to look at pictures of bodybuilders.
9:50 How the heck do people manage to find a communication device for themselves? The sheer number of options is overwhelming. The prices are ridiculous, and sometimes not even stated. Reminds me of one of those ritzy shops where "if you have to know how much, you can't afford it"...
12:00 I'm giving up on putting references in the text. The prof will just have to deal with it. If I lose points for not using APA style, so be it. This thing's due in eight and a half hours and I'm still not done. Oh, yeah, and I think I was supposed to sleep somewhere in there.
2:00 Hmm... interesting information on autism and hyperlexia. File away for later.
3:00 Done. I fricking cannot believe it, but I am actually done...
Final result: 31.5 hours of trying
About 8 hours of actual work
11 pages worth of paper, not counting bib page and title page.
Oh, and I don't have fifty references, thankfully. Only 24.
Now to get to work on the rest of my homework.