Indulgence in Stress
I have been inundated with papers. I have just a few weeks left of college (!) but at the moment all my energy is focused on writing term papers. Two of which happen to be due tomorrow. An additional challenge: write and illustrate a children’s book. Writing it was a breeze, and a lot of fun. Illustrating? Awful. I hope my professor doesn’t mind stick figures and awkward, handless people.
Overall, it’s not a truly terrible workload. I’m lucky that I don’t have to worry about a capstone or thesis like some of my friends. I’ve been dedicating most of my free time since Friday, and am about 3/4 of the way there. Mostly I’ve been getting through the hours sitting with my laptop in front of me by treating myself. I take breaks, I’ll have some chocolate, I give myself free time to read a romance novel. I know that I’d never get through this marathon paper-writing without indulging myself, which is why I started relatively early– almost a whole week in advance of the due date. I could have started yesterday, but then I wouldn’t have had time to rest, and would have been much more miserable.
But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel: on Thursday, I hand the papers in, will probably stop for a bottle of wine on my way home from class, and then can settle in with a new episode of Bones and the two Reeses Peanut Butter eggs I’ve been saving for that moment. And I can relax… until finals, at least.
When you’re busy, do you treat yourself? How? Or do you prefer to wait until it’s finished before rewarding yourself?