Note to Self

I'm sorry you're feeling unmotivated and therefore overwhelmed. That's very sad for you. In an attempt to ease some of the stress so you can stop being all twitchy, I have some reminders.

• Cleaning is good. Congratulations on picking up the house this morning! You should continue to work on that - vacuum, work on the kitchen, clean the mirrors in the bathrooms. This makes you feel more calm and centered for some reason, so go with it.
  
• Take a walk. The dog enjoys it and it clears your head more often than not. It's all sunshiney outside (which I know is annoying when you wished for rain - sometimes life isn't fair) and it might give you a sense of accomplishment.
  
• Use the mornings. It's rather silly not to abide by this simple rule since you know the first two hours you're awake will dictate the rest of your day. No reading for fun or playing computer games or sending fun email first thing. There must be coffee and putting dishes in the dishwasher and doing some professional writing. Then the list of things to do is already started and seems much easier to tackle.
  
• Turn on ESPN. Sports bore you enough that you'll do work while they're on. It also gives you a superior feeling to know that you're being productive while those thousands of people are out there having frivolous fun. This makes you a bit of a loser, but, well, the truth sometimes hurts.
• I know this is difficult, but you're not writing a dissertation anymore. There is no huge document where you can deposit all your knowledge on a given topic. It's good that you've read a lot of papers! Good work! But summarizing all of them just makes telling your story more complicated. I know that paragraph is relevant, but it's not essential. Take it out. I know that analysis and figure took 20 hours to create. It still doesn't belong, so hit delete.
  
• You're still aching over removing all that text you liked so much, aren't you? Perhaps you can put it in the talk you're giving. They will allow you to speak for 50 minutes on all the new information you've tucked in your pretty brain. Go ahead and move all that text into the PowerPoint document and knock yourself out listing papers and references and all this peripheral crap. Maybe someone will be impressed.
  
• You must go over the grant application today. Forgot it at work, did you? The science takes 5 flipping pages, Katie. Print it again and make your notes.
  
• Oh, and turn off the Christmas lights out front. I know you often forget to plug them back in at night, but that doesn't mean it's reasonable to just leave them on all day. If it means that much to you, you may leave on the multi-colored lights on the tree inside while you're at home. And you should pick up the ornaments Sprout batted off the tree.
• I see you put away the boxes of Christmas cards. Good work, that. It's frustrating to get halfway through writing them every year and not sending any, isn't it? Save yourself some energy and accept you're not a Christmas card person. Perhaps you could send a Christmas email instead! Think about selecting a picture and writing a note to friends and family.
  
• Remember to pray for Jill. She has surgery on Monday and she's scared. This means you will go to church tomorrow and ask for their prayers as well. I think you fill out a little card and put it in a basket during the first hymn. It can't be that hard - just remember to sit by the aisle.
  
• I appreciate that you want to vacation - find a beach and a book and watch the ocean over the top of the pages while wiggling your toes in the sand. Eventually, you may do that. But not now. Instead, you can put on your shoes and socks and go see the lake.
  

Much love,
Katie