Study Lockdown (or how I work on improving my procrastination skills)

10 sleeps...

Not until anything exciting happens, no, it's ten sleeps until my Herbal Medicine Materia Medica exam.  So like all good full time workers doing uni part time, I have put myself into what I like to call 'Study Lockdown.'  It's a time for meticulously planned study sessions, with the aim to maximise time and minimise freak outs.

Well, that's the aim, and a well written aim is halfway there, right?

I was studying now, until I read the words 'renal catarrh.' Catarrh is phlegm, it is usually expelled from the lungs via the mouth.  I don't want to know what renal catarrh is.

I mean that.  No renal catarrh discussions please.

Ah study lockdown, how do I do it?

• Study at every opportunity; the tram ride to work, my lunch break and if it's quiet, study at work too;
• Leave work right on 5 no matter what the boys have or haven't done that day;
• Ignore the state of my house and hope for no visitors who will judge the state of my bathroom (thankfully I don't have friends as fussy as I am);
• Eat microwaveable foods that do not require washing up, all dishes go into the dishwasher or the recycling bin (I don't lose weight though, I think it's the high salt content in Lean Cuisine that does it);
• No alcohol (before 9pm, I'm still human);
• Avoid social gatherings, and fail;
• Drink copious amounts of herbal teas to warm the cockles;
• No television but the radio is allowed, dancing in my finest trackies is encouraged;
• Reacquaint myself with my nicotine addiction often;
• Treat every beep from my phone with the utmost importance, except for phone calls, unless I want to speak to you, if it's important you'll call back;
• Suddenly decide to rearrange my wardrobe, bookshelves, cupboards, fridge or take up knitting again;
• Become addicted to a TV show recommended that I should be waiting until after the exam to watch (Damn you Battlestar Galactica);
• Write a blog post about life in a study lockdown.

This isn't the greatest plan, all I'm doing is reading and writing and hoping that the information finds a cosy little spot in my brain to reside and hopefully present itself at the right moment.  The right moment being during the exam, not at 3am the day after.  Waking up and screaming, "Mitrial Valve" is not a comfort to me or anyone else.

This is not an ideal situation, if I actually managed my time consistently throughout the 15 week term I wouldn't need to do this.  I would be coasting my way to the finish line.  I've started relationships that ended due to the lockdown but hey if you can't handle the fact that I have an addiction to studying and getting good grades and I don't want to see you for two weeks then it's not meant to be...

I'm going back to the books.  This is a poor post, apologies.  I'm frantic, and possibly still hungover from the weekend.

I do have one more thing to add.  It's my pre-exam mantra, "If I don't know it now, I'm never going to know it so it doesn't matter."