Riding the motivation wave

Procrastination is not the way to go in this field.  Reports will start to pile up, rating scales will need to be scored, meetings will have to be prepared for, and deadlines will always get closer.  Now, I am not perfect and have been known to put a few things off until the night before.  However, I am trying to sharpen my time management skills in grad school so that I can decrease the likelihood of future procrastination when I’m on the job.  But, every once in awhile, I feel extra motivated to get all my work done at once.  While I do not recommend for anyone to do this on purpose, I try and ride that wave of motivation until it comes to shore.  So that’s just what I did on Friday afternoon.  It took me 5 hours (with a few breaks to make tea and check Facebook) to hand-score 1 Vineland parent interview, 1 Beck Youth Inventories (self-report inventories used to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger, disruptive behavior, and self-concept), and 2 full sets of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (parent, teacher, and self-report rating scales).  I know it won’t take this long in the future but I was really trying to understand the process and rationale behind these behavior rating scales.  These assignments are not due until Tuesday but I was on a roll and determined to finish before the weekend began.  Afterwards, I was so tired of adding numbers and looking at tables, but I still felt accomplished.  After this experience, I realize that procrastination is not an option when I become a working school psychologist because once the work piles up, it can feel like you’re drowning and there is no way out.  Sometimes it can be hard to sit down and write that report or interpret that protocol.  So ride that motivation wave while it strikes, because you never know when you’ll get motivation like that again.