You know those days when you wake up, it’s surprisingly gorgeous outside, and you have school work to do that prevents you from enjoying the weather and the fresh air?
Today is one of those days.
For the past couple of days it’s been raining like crazy (as you would know if you’ve been reading my blog since BEDA began), therefore I had not showered for a good 2 days (personal hygiene does not matter when you’re only seeing your housemates), really gotten dressed at all and I have obviously not been outdoors. I was beginning to lose sense of all space and time, being cooped up for so long. and breaking routine is not good for my sanity. So, this morning, when I opened my blinds to see a unexpected, beautiful sunny day, there was no way I could focus and do any of the work that I had to do today. I procrastinated for a very long time; watching episodes of [scrubs], putting away laundry, cleaning my room, showering, getting dressed, snapping pictures on dailybooth…
Eventually I decided to sit down at my desk and begin work on my take-home exam that’s due on the 16th, but found myself severely distracted by the beautiful day that lay outside my window. I was all dressed (in a rather cute outfit, may I add) with no place to go, so why not go somewhere, I thought. I couldn’t waste a beautiful day like today, so I gathered my things and headed outside for a stroll.
In my experience, when feeling like this, a walk can be extremely beneficial to the successful completion of work. When you’re distracted by what’s going on outside your study bubble, I find that it’s best to take a walk for about an hour either through your neighbourhood, to some stores, or through a nearby valley or park, because honestly you’d probably spend about an hour (if not more) dreaming about what you could be doing instead of your work.
Today I opted for the stroll down to the shops in downtown Kingston, mostly because there’s an Indigo, several Starbucks and an Urban Outfitters to entertain me. I believe that a walk is best broken up by some good window shopping (and maybe some actual shopping) so your thoughts aren’t completely occupied by the things you have to do, and thoughts of the things you want to do (ie. shopping) can be engaged, thereby getting them out of the way so you can truly focus on the work you’ll be doing in the near future.
Now, I know this is beginning to sound like yet another procrastination tool (I’m starting to sound like a professional procrastinator already, only 5 days into BEDA…my goodness), but I believe that taking a walk is a constructive way to gather thoughts and to meditate on the things that you want to accomplish when you actually sit down to work. From experience I can honestly say that going on a walk has definitely helped rid my distractions and allowed me to successfully complete school related tasks on more than one occasion.
So, next time you feel distracted andĀ unfulfilled in regards to your dreadful day of study indoors, avoid cabin fever by venturing into the outside world and doing the things you don’t think you can do while studying, because in the grand scheme of things, it will help you focus.
Now…dinner then work.
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talons and tea leaves 