Driven to Distraction

The Internet has ruined my attention span. There. I said it. Are you happy now, Internet?

I was a kid who could devour a book in a single sitting. It used to drive my family crazy. I would park myself on the couch with a book and literally not move - except to go to the bathroom - until it was finished. My mother worried that I had some kind of mental illness. My poor little sis' just couldn't understand how Gone With the Wind could be more exciting than playing with her. In hind sight, playing would have probably been a better use of a 10 year old's time.

During my first degree, I somehow managed to get all of my reading done in between working 20 hours a week. I still don't quite know how I managed it, especially when I think of how my idea of a study space was my couch with the television cranked at high volume.

It's approaching the end of reading week here at MacEwan and while I'd like to be able to say I am all caught up on my mile-long to-do list, it would be a bold-faced lie. It's not for lack of trying. I have logged some serious hours in the library over the last week and while I can claim some headway, I can't help but feel like I would be a lot more productive if I wasn't so addicted to the internet.

The internet has changed the way I function. It is now a serious challenge for me to sit and read uninterrupted for longer than about 20 minutes at a time. It is worse when I am on the computer and have access to all of the distractions that social media and new aggregators have to offer. Damn you, Buzzfeed for sucking me in with animal videos and 90s nostalgia!



Being conscious of the problem, I've tried to employ some strategies to help me buckle down and focus. I set a timer when I'm working and reading to try to retrain myself to focus on just one thing at a time. This is a habit I actually picked up in the workplace. It used to work really well and has been pretty successful with school work so far. I also stay late at school to get work done. I find working at home to be way to distracting when it comes to school work which is completely opposite to what I find when I'm working on paid work assignments. All of this has been pretty successful so far at helping me stay on top of school work but lately I've found an entirely new distraction.

My own enthusiasm is killing my productivity. I've recently started to get interested in design and my visual communications class has got me dabbling in the Adobe Creative Suite. My social media research project is in the design phase and there's a lot of work to be done there. All of these new pursuits and interests have got me hooked and now I find myself mentally stretched thin. These are the types of pursuits that take time to learn and master, time that should be spent on school work and studying. It is absolute torture. There is so much to learn and my classes seem like the least interesting of any of it.

Photo: Someecards

Tardy to the Party

One of the first things I noticed when I started school again was how different attitudes had become about being late to class. Now listen here, children. Way back in my day, students made a serious effort to be on time to class because it was really embarrassing when your prof called you out for showing up ten minutes late with a Starbucks cup in your hand.

Apparently times have changed. I'm continually amazed not only at how often students are late to class, but many of them are. It would be amazing if it weren't so annoying. And I'm not talking trying to sneak into class a couple of minutes late. No. I'm talking about showing up 20 minutes late for a 50 minute class. Can that even be classified as tardy?

The profs during my first degree would have taken none of this garbage. I had one professor who used to give you the hard stare down if you were more than two minutes late and would flat out ask you to leave if you showed up more than five minutes late with a coffee cup in your hand. Have professors gone soft?

In real life, I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to punctuality. I personally try to be as on time as possible and I understand that sometimes, shit happens. But a class is something that is scheduled. You know it's coming. You know where it is and when it is. For a whole four months. In other words, get yo' shit together people! Being five minutes late for a coffee date or a meeting is not the same as being late for a class you theoretically attend three times a week for four months.

This time, I'm not alone in my annoyance. There was a really good article in the paper at school on the very same subject and when I read it I said to myself, "FINALLY!". Granted, I think the author is in the same mature student category as I am, but I was relieved to know that I wasn't alone in my cranky pants reaction.
But as annoyed as I am at it all, when I really think about it, does it even matter? Is my frustration wasted. After all, my experience in the work world has really not been all that different. I can probably count on one hand the number of meetings I've attended that have actually started on time. Are we all turning into Spaniards? Should just chill out about it? I could live with being a Spaniard. Especially if there are siestas involved.

Extra-curricular: Things that are good

It's a new month and gosh darn it, doesn't it feel like it?  The days are getting longer and the air is filled with a strange haze (oh wait, that's pollution trapped by an air inversion).  Things are looking up.  It's no secret that school has had me down lately but in the spirit of a new month and one seriously awesome pep talk, I've decided to focus some positive energy in the direction of some awesome extra-curricular activities that I've got going on.

What might these super awesome things be, you might ask? And how am I managing to fit them into a schedule that barely accounts for 8 hours of shut-eye? The first question I can answer.  The second - not so much. As my friend Laura says, "minor detail, minor detail". Here's what I'm doing to create a bit of awesome in the world:

1. Volunteering

I've sat as a board member for Habitat for Humanity Camrose for just over a year now and it has been an awesome experience.  I've stayed on the board for now even though I've relocated to Edmonton because I want to honor my commitment to them but also because I've also met some really great people and am gaining some fantastic life experience. It's because of this positive experience that I didn't hesitate when I was asked to join the board of interVivos. 

So now I've got two board meetings a month plus a committee meeting for interVivos.  Scheduling is going to be tight but I'm really excited to get involved in something fun now that I'm back in Edmonton. To me, it's part of being a citizen and not just a body on the census tally.

2. Git'n'er done!

When I decided to go back to school, I realized I was really interested in becoming my own boss. I will admit that I like calling the shots and eventually, I'd really like to have my own communications agency.  It's funny to me that throughout the entirety of my business degree, I wasn't remotely interested in entrepreneurship. It was like they wanted to give me the tools but the message was always about how to be a cog in the giant machine of someone else's company.

So here's the thing, why should I wait until I'm done school? I have skills that I can use now! Last summer I helped the Camrose Family Violence Action Society do a communications strategy, I've got strategic planning experience, and today in my strategic communication planning course, I realized that I'd done it all by the book without knowing what the book said. Huzzah! I've decided to get this freelance show on the road and I've already got my first client all lined up.

3. Summer of the Nerds!

This one's a doozie.  I was a little afraid of how my dad was going to take this one but he was surprisingly cool. How about instead of working full-time this summer, I take my research project from last term and turn it into a full blow study? Are you nerding out the way I am just thinking about it? Okay, maybe you aren't but trust me, this is pretty cool stuff. I might get to study Twitter all summer! My little research project was a content analysis of Twitter trending topics to see if political topics trend more frequently in Canada than the U.S. and my results said yes.  It was only a week's worth of data but my professor is helping me apply for research funding so we can expand the project. I'm pushing up my nerd glasses as I type.  Eeeeek!

So I think it's safe to say I've kicked my funk. I'm still can't seem to keep my sassy mouth shut in class but what can I say, I'm a work in progress.