Update
I'm not in good shape now because I've got to complete both my Honours Thesis and a 4000-word Nietzsche paper in 17 days. I would be in a better shape if I know what to write for the latter, but as of now I have no ideas. I kind of regret taking that module, because the readings are very very heavy and while I do like many of Nietzsche's viewpoints I don't find his works enjoyable. He is, by and large, either obtuse or painstakingly repetitive, and I don't quite see the beauty of his prose. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in particular, is a disappointment; the poetry is lost on me.
I thought I was in pretty good shape 3 weeks ago. Then, I had written 75% of my thesis, and I had 5 weeks to finish the remaining 25% and do any final editing. But I discovered (with the help of a prof) a few things I had not thought of before. Those things don't necessarily undermine my project, but they did create some extra work. I've had to - and still have to - do some advanced logical analysis and I've had to - and still have to - repackage a large part of my thesis. So my work completion dropped to 50% 3 weeks ago, and it's now at 75% completion with 2 weeks to go.
A large contributing factor to my lack of progress is that I haven't been very diligent. A few reasons for this. 1) I am by nature not a diligent person. 2) I've taken to very long jogs over the past 2 months. This has the effect of burning time directly, and the effect of making me irremediably tired after those jogs, such that I can put in at most 1 hour of work thereafter. 3) I've gotten a satisfactory offer from NUS regarding my future. With my future more or less set, I've lost some motivation to strive the best I can.
A few words on 2). My new exercise regime has caused a persistent pain in my legs. So I'm not in good physical shape either. I've tried resting for 5 days, but the pain still came back, and on top of that my fitness dropped back to square 1.2 after those 5 days, so that was pretty demoralising. I've asked 2 people about it. One said it was because I wasn't warming up my body properly; another said that the first thing I should do is to get a new pair of shoes, because for the kinds of distances I'm doing it's advisable to change my shoes once every 3 months. In any case, I'm going to have to cut back on my exercise now because I need to reallocate my time and energy to more pressing matters. Which is pretty demoralising because I'd probably go back to square 0.75. Or maybe I should cut back on the time but increase the intensity. But that might place more stress on my ligaments.
A few words on 3). I wish I've received the actual admission package with the full terms and conditions, because right now I only have an email offer. They would send it soon, at least according to the email. But there is at least a logical possibility that someone screwed up somewhere, and that logical possibility leaves me uncertain over my future. (There is also at least a logical possibility that the terms and conditions might be something I might not expect) I said earlier that I thought my future more or less fixed. That was what I felt during my initial jubilation of at least having a satisfactory safety net. On further introspection, like what I'm doing now, I feel more uncertain. Does this then motivate me to work harder? Probably. But it does demoralise me too, such that the overall net effect is that I feel less motivated than before. I will have more to say on this NUS offer another time.
I said that I wasn't in a good shape. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm in a bad shape. It means I'm either in an average shape, or a worse than average shape. Whatever the shape, I think I've been in worse shape before. I know that if I focus in the right ways, chances are good I will pull through. That doesn't necessarily mean I will pull through. It just means the chances are good I will pull through.
I thought I was in pretty good shape 3 weeks ago. Then, I had written 75% of my thesis, and I had 5 weeks to finish the remaining 25% and do any final editing. But I discovered (with the help of a prof) a few things I had not thought of before. Those things don't necessarily undermine my project, but they did create some extra work. I've had to - and still have to - do some advanced logical analysis and I've had to - and still have to - repackage a large part of my thesis. So my work completion dropped to 50% 3 weeks ago, and it's now at 75% completion with 2 weeks to go.
A large contributing factor to my lack of progress is that I haven't been very diligent. A few reasons for this. 1) I am by nature not a diligent person. 2) I've taken to very long jogs over the past 2 months. This has the effect of burning time directly, and the effect of making me irremediably tired after those jogs, such that I can put in at most 1 hour of work thereafter. 3) I've gotten a satisfactory offer from NUS regarding my future. With my future more or less set, I've lost some motivation to strive the best I can.
A few words on 2). My new exercise regime has caused a persistent pain in my legs. So I'm not in good physical shape either. I've tried resting for 5 days, but the pain still came back, and on top of that my fitness dropped back to square 1.2 after those 5 days, so that was pretty demoralising. I've asked 2 people about it. One said it was because I wasn't warming up my body properly; another said that the first thing I should do is to get a new pair of shoes, because for the kinds of distances I'm doing it's advisable to change my shoes once every 3 months. In any case, I'm going to have to cut back on my exercise now because I need to reallocate my time and energy to more pressing matters. Which is pretty demoralising because I'd probably go back to square 0.75. Or maybe I should cut back on the time but increase the intensity. But that might place more stress on my ligaments.
A few words on 3). I wish I've received the actual admission package with the full terms and conditions, because right now I only have an email offer. They would send it soon, at least according to the email. But there is at least a logical possibility that someone screwed up somewhere, and that logical possibility leaves me uncertain over my future. (There is also at least a logical possibility that the terms and conditions might be something I might not expect) I said earlier that I thought my future more or less fixed. That was what I felt during my initial jubilation of at least having a satisfactory safety net. On further introspection, like what I'm doing now, I feel more uncertain. Does this then motivate me to work harder? Probably. But it does demoralise me too, such that the overall net effect is that I feel less motivated than before. I will have more to say on this NUS offer another time.
I said that I wasn't in a good shape. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm in a bad shape. It means I'm either in an average shape, or a worse than average shape. Whatever the shape, I think I've been in worse shape before. I know that if I focus in the right ways, chances are good I will pull through. That doesn't necessarily mean I will pull through. It just means the chances are good I will pull through.