What I need is a snorkel.

Most of the time I use a 'treading water' metaphor to describe my efforts to stay relatively on top of graduate school demands. Occasionally, times get tough and I have to adjust the drowning metaphor alert level to 'keeping my head above water.' For the last week, it's been more like coming up for a gulp of salty air whenever the polluted tide swarming with jellyfish recedes. I'm approximately 50% through what looked like my certain death a week ago when I realized I had 3 presentations (2 major, 1 minor) 3 papers (2 major, 1 minor), and one final exam to complete in the upcoming 3 weeks. All this and trekking downtown several times a week to collect data for a research project I need to finish this summer. And sell my furniture. And locate a storage facility. . .

The bad part is that because I've been so overwhelmed lately, as soon as I realized I could potentially get everything done, I'm back to my old ways - searching for apartments I don't need right now, finding my parents a place to stay when they visit me in NYC, and reading my USAA magazine telling me how to save for my kids' college.

FOCUS.