Post-productive slump / fuckery-aroundery

[mrs quoad]

I've written about 15,000 (good) words in the last week or so.

And there's more work I should be doing - the 15,000 was a bloody interesting tangent, but also involved avoiding what I should really be doing. Which is a chapter I've been struggling with for a month or two.

However, now that I've been productive, I find it nigh-on fkn impossible to get work done. It's almost like an 'oh, you've done some work, why not fuck around for a week until you feel raddled with guilt and apathetic lethargy and compelled to re-engage?'

This is why I'm on urban. Instead of on facebook, which is where I was until I came over here.

Anyone got any useful ways around this...? Or similar experiences?

 

[kabbes]

Oh, I completely empathise with this. I'm lucky if I can do one good week on for every two off.

I didn't used to be so bad, but my working world positively encourages such thinking. If you do things too much in advance, you'll almost certainly find the goalposts being moved on you, or a change in data or circumstances that renders what you've done pointless. So that has taught me to have extra tendency towards procrastination on top of my inherent lethargy.

I feel really bad and guilty though, when I'm on a slump. I wish I wasn't like it.

 

[5t3IIa]

I find that as long as I am producing within deadlines then how and when it gets done matters less. I might wind myself up with last-minute panics and procrastination cycles of doom but it all gets done satisfactorailityryttyryyryr at some point.

Note: I am not in academia and my demands are probably less, lot less.

 

[kabbes]

An exmple: we're currently working on an acquisition of another company. This involves a tonne of due diligence, analysis, the works. Last Thursday was supposed to be the culmination and we stayed (moderately) late putting together the offer letter. No sooner had we finished the final word of the letter that we got an email -- all the data we had been looking at was wrong and the process was being delayed until they sorted it out. I might as well not have bothered.

 

[mrs quoad]

An exmple: we're currently working on an acquisition of another company. This involves a tonne of due diligence, analysis, the works. Last Thursday was supposed to be the culmination and we stayed (moderately) late putting together the offer letter. No sooner had we finished the final word of the letter that we got an email -- all the data we had been looking at was wrong and the process was being delayed until they sorted it out. I might as well not have bothered.

So now you're in a slump...?

I had a ridiculously positive supervision this morning... Outstanding writing style, coming together beautifully, well ahead of schedule, doing everything right...

Which is lovely, but I'm fucked if I'm going to do any more work for the next coupla days having gotten that kinda feedback

I could do with a more critical supervisor, sometimes.

 

[Shevek]

Its sounds like a nice situation to be in! I work for a data processing company 5 days a week, 4 hours a day. I have a set routine and I have to stick to it. I start work at 15:00 and really I should get up at about 8:00 and do some reading/writing/researching for my partner's TV and radio production company and for my own future academic courses. I'd love to be able to take a week off to do something completley different but my life is not really like that. I don't have creative peaks and troughs. My partner who is creative director of his company has many cycles during the year when he is going through commisioning processes and these are very intense after which he has to rest but his work is pretty non stop, generating ideas, meeting people, building relationships.

 

[Kanda]

I've never written more than 2000 words and that was lines at school

 

[equationgirl]

Ok. Enough with the flagellating for not working Mrs Q.

Over the next two days, I want you to get up normally, go to the computer, fire it up and try to write. If it doesn't happen, fine, go and do something else.

Quite quickly you will get into the habit of trying to write and once you're over that hurdle, you'll find that you can write.

Don't worry, the second year slump will be properly upon you soon

 

[laptop]

Ok. Enough with the flagellating for not working Mrs Q.

Over the next two days, I want you to get up normally, go to the computer, fire it up and try to write. If it doesn't happen, fine, go and do something else.

Quite quickly you will get into the habit of trying to write and once you're over that hurdle, you'll find that you can write.

Don't worry, the second year slump will be properly upon you soon

Yes Miss

 

[equationgirl]

Don't you start, the guys in the office like to joke that I'm a dominatrix, I don't need you starting the whole internet off doing the same thing...