Motivation & focus, where are you???

Ah, now begins the struggle... Christmas is officially over and other than writing thank-you notes and taking down decorations, I am free to really get some serious work done. So what's the problem? It may sound like I am making excuses, but hear me out. Academic work is very independent. This has many perks, such as:

1. not being chained to a desk from 9AM to 5PM every day,
   
2. not having anyone leaning over my shoulder to make sure I am working,
   
3. I can budget my time any way that I like.

While these are great perks, there are also some drawbacks, such as:

1. not being chained to a desk from 9AM to 5PM every day,
   
2. not having anyone leaning over my shoulder to make sure I am working,
   
3. I can budget my time any way that I like.

Ha ha ha... Here's what I mean- #1: I don't have to be in my office from 9 to 5, but I always have to work at times outside of that. The work doesn't end when I go home. #2: While this independence is something I wouldn't trade for the world, there are some times it would be useful to have someone bugging me about finishing a paper. This is why I find proposal-writing easier than papers- they have deadlines and if you miss it you are out of luck! #3: The key phrase here is "budget my time". If you are good at working on your own, it's great- and usually this is no problem, but certain times of the year can be a real struggle. My first couple of summers, I felt like I completely squandered my time. I kept thinking I will learn how to motivate and take advantage of that chunk of time with no teaching. Then, I started to realize that most of my colleagues get more writing done over Thanksgiving or Christmas break! I think we all fall victim to thinking "I have lots of time, I can do it next week" when we have those long breaks.

So, now my problem is to get back on my early schedule (waking up and working, instead of sleeping until 8:00), making a PLAN for what needs to be accomplished, and DOING IT! I'll keep you posted on my progress- this week won't be terribly productive, since my daughter is still out of school. I have higher hopes for next week (year!)