Dear Sherpa,
It was 75° on Tuesday and it’s getting to be that time of the year where I spend all my time in the classroom staring out the window and longing for the beautiful outdoors. I pray that a professor will hold class outside and frankly can’t stand to spend more than five minutes working in the library. Spring fever has set in and I have completely lost focus. How can I get back on track?
Sincerely,
I Gotta Fever
Dear IGF,
This is a very real concern. It’s easy to get distracted by the beautiful weather and find your mind wandering, but it’s important to not give in to the temptation of the great outdoors.
I myself wrestled with this exact challenge my senior year of high school, driven delirious by Spring Fever on a beautiful April day. My best friend and I stole his father’s car and we picked up my girlfriend from school while I pretended to be her father (the principal even watched us make out. You’d think there would have been some follow up there…). We wandered, traipsed, even galavanted throughout Chicago, visiting the skydeck at the Sears Tower (not to be confused with that time I climbed the Washington Monument), eating at Chez Quis, and doing something with stocks that I still don’t really understand. We caught a baseball game, went to a museum, and tried not to think too hard about how I could afford all this stuff as a 17 year old. Things got a little out of control and long story short my sister started dating a drug dealer now and if my best friend had any sense at all he’d have never spoken to me again.
Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Remember the importance of moderation. Don’t completely suppress your urges for nature (natural urges?), but don’t lose your sense of responsibility either. If the distraction will inhibit your productivity, it’s better to spend an hour sitting in the grass than to spend it staring at a book, feeling like you’re reading the same lines over and over without making any progress staring at a book, feeling like you’re reading the same lines over and over without making any progress staring at a book, feeling like you’re reading the same lines over and over without making any progress.
If it works for you, try to negotiate with yourself. Finish one class reading and reward yourself with some fun in the sun. Also, don’t forget to keep your eyes on the finish line. It’ll help you stay motivated! The end of the semester is just around the corner, and if you power through the next few weeks you’ll be able to enjoy those May flowers all the more. And always always ALWAYS remember, driving a car backwards will not remove miles from the odometer. That’s idiotic. Who would ever think that would work?
