Schedule Zero

At 7pm last night, I was the closest I've been to catching up to the required hw since I started. Three more hours would have put me at the cusp of being proactive instead of reactive. Sadly, at 7:01 my brain just completely gave up. It was a bit disheartening to know all that work would carry over to the next day. I feel that part of the reason was the switchover last week to completing a lecture fully, instead of alternating every 30 minutes as I originally had planned. I've sequestered into blocks of 30 min, with 10 minutes between (of which I expect 5 minutes to be a break). My current schedule for the day looks as such:

• 10:30 - 11:00  =  watch anatomy of forearm lecture
• 11:10 - 11:40 = dr yin's lecture
• 11:50-12:40 = watch remainder of connective tissue lecture i was reviewing this morning
• 12:40-1:00 = lunch, relaxing walk on beach
• 1:00 - 1:30 = work on PBL assignment
• 1:40-2:20 = review arm/cubital fossa/forearm lecture

and so on and so forth until probably 8.

The other main difficulty I've been trying to overcome is just mood and happyness in general. I feel that general mood plays a huge role in my daily performance, and exploring new factors that stimulate it is a large and potentially useful area. However, happyness differs for everyone. I've found that studying around people instead of alone is much more stimulatory, and keeps me going for hours past the point at which I would otherwise give up. On some days, instead of going to the library I stuck on a deck that overlooks the ocean and distant parts of the curved island (though, not being a study area, this can be a loud area with annoying mosquitoes and dogs begging for food. and apparently spiders...). Sunlight and walks on the beach are also nice. I also found that even just the smell of coffee improves my mood.

Music is on and off, as it can be distracting for the brain (ever notice how in difficult traffic you always turn down the radio?) and I don't have the time to constantly search for new music that stimulates me. Going to the gym should work, but I have to haul everything on top of my heavy backpack, and not every workout is relaxing. Last night, for example, I sent an hour trying to tire my body out, but couldnt even get a good 20 minutes worth of exercise.  Food is good, but that can also be a stress response as well. Playing a few sports would be great, but takes more organization, and I don't know many students that currently participate in them. I find cooking to be somewhat relaxing, but haven't had a decent 30 minutes to myself in weeks now.

One last issue: the last few days I have been experiencing extreme dehydration. I would finish a liter of water, and my mouth would still feel dry, my throat parched. After ruling out several possible factors, I stopped drinking from my water bottle, and within a few hours the symptoms had dissipated. Overall a very odd experience. Despite their supposed new non-BPA formula, I dont think I will be returning to my Nalgene anytime soon.
Anyways, back to work. There goes my next three breaks.