Writing about not writing…is still writing, right?

So, I’ve not been doing any writing. Actually, because I have not been doing any writing, I’ve not been doing anything other than engaging in hedonistic practices that may or may not be limited to endless consumption of junk food for meals, reading legally and illegally acquired copies of whatever entertaining fiction and non-fiction I can get my hands on, and diving into the golden age of TV, snorting Doctor Who, Young Sheldon, Mom, The Big Bang Theory, Speechless, Camping, Modern Family, amongst others. And while I can totally start a #gratuitousreviews section on my facebook page (which I’ve revived), I can’t say I’ve been sleeping the good sleep of someone who knows they have had a satisfying day of hard work. And that sucks. 

Since I’m not really built to enjoy hedonism but seem to counter-intuitively grasp at it every possible opportunity, I thought I would write list no.28761 on what I can change up to regain some dignity on the Phd thing I signed up for.

#1 Sort. the. damn. files. Every document, book, pdf, word document, recording that I have acquired and produced in the course of the past five years lie scattered between two laptops, one hard drive. To make things worse, they no longer have any semblance of organization. Looking at them I can literally trace the process of losing control over my material: after a point I became unsure of whether to save readings under files named after authors, themes, or stages of progress. Do I keep readings that speak to my field notes together in a big folder? Do I store readings according to which one will be of use in a particular chapter? Do I organize readings by theme? Do I print them ALL out and manually segregate into separate folders? What do I do with all this…stuff?

#2 Organise my entertainment. I’m extremely susceptible to easy forms of entertainment when I’m failing at PhDing.  And while I may wish I was again the valiant warrior I was during my MPhil days when I didn’t watch anything on my laptop, including the new season of Game of Thrones because I knew I would get addicted, I’m not. (Hmm, and as I suddenly recall, I entered that warrior stage after succumbing to enough TV and movies during my MA and year off/year of employment to turn my brain to mush, so perhaps this is cyclical and I’m now primed for Warrior Version Two?) Until I stop needing an internet watching version of AA, it makes sense to return to the childhood rule of TV on weekends only, and only allow myself entertainment that I can provide for myself during weekdays: i.e. writing and art. 

#3 Take advantage of the work space provided by my institution, even if it means lunching on bananas every day. Ass to chair 11-5 every day.

#4 Reacquaint myself with my friend Hatha Yoga, Sivananda Style, every evening. 

#5 Plaster every available surface with inspirational post-its on why I’m SO HAPPIEE to be doing the PhD. Ok, the last one was just to get to 5 because who ends a list on 4 points.