I spent a fair amount of time this week struggling to decide on a topic to write about for this column you’re reading.
I followed the news reports, campus events and hot topics in an effort to find something that I could write a strong column about, and, frankly, my mind is absolutely blank. I just cannot bring myself to do any relevant work that involves using Microsoft Word or similar applications.
Writer’s block has gotten the best of me, so it seems.
This is not a good statement to be making when I still have seemingly endless amounts of papers and projects to do before the semester ends (only 22 days left until the final exam day, but who’s counting?).
Thanks to pure fatigue, stress, lack of sleep and too many assignments due in too little time, I cannot bring myself to think clearly, coherently or creatively.
Last month I wrote about my frustrations regarding the rough March weather much of Ohio experienced and how I was awaiting spring’s arrival with open arms. Well, spring has finally sprung (at least for the moment), and the weather outside actually reflects the date on the calendar.
But now I’m wondering if there was another reason that I wanted spring to come so badly.
I never thought I was a person who experienced “spring fever,” or that I’d still have problems spending the same amount of time slaving over assignments as I have for the entire semester.
It seems as though I haven’t spent any time outside in the longest time. Why would it matter that the seasons changed? The changing of the season wouldn’t lessen the amount of work I’m doing!
Now, though, I’m beginning to feel the arrival of spring is actually something that I wanted for reasons other than losing the inconvenience of winter weather.
Maybe I subconsciously knew I would get spring fever and feel even more tired and annoyed with the amount of school work I have to accomplish!
I’m sure most of you can relate. The idea that, after a long winter of sitting inside and not being able to experience fresh air without worrying you’ll catch hypothermia, it’s possible to go outside and actually enjoy it.
No matter how much work needs to be done before that 8 a.m. class tomorrow, nothing seems better than going outside and taking a walk or playing outdoors.
As a chronic procrastinator, having another fairly prominent distraction isn’t something I need right now (as it is, network television shows, back from the strike, are taking out a chunk of my time that is probably too large for any college student).
I have too much work to do, too little motivation to do it and too many distractions preventing me from even thinking about all of the work I have to do.
Add in the constant wish to escape my dorm room, and there is no way that I can utilize what little time I have devoted to school work properly.
Since I secretly believe myself to be 5 years old and am always desperate to find a way to avoid my responsibilities, I was watching an episode of “SpongeBob Squarepants” the other day. In this episode, SpongeBob was assigned to write a paper for boating school, and constantly found himself procrastinating (by cleaning the entire house, chatting up the mailman and imagining his house is on fire) until he is left five minutes to hastily do his essay.
This 11-minute cartoon perfectly summarized my entire existence in life on a regular basis, currently aggravated by spring fever.
Wow! Amazingly enough, I have managed to turn my writer’s block and my inability to concentrate on school and writing this column into a column!
Maybe there is some hope left for myself and others who are experiencing the same feelings, providing we never see the sun until May 2.
Good luck to everyone who is in the same boat – we all need it.