Lately, I’ve been trying to get my work-filled life under control. I recently realized that I’ve been going about this the wrong way. My problem is not that I am not a hard worker. My problem is that I am a vastly inefficient worker.

If I give myself a whole weekend to do a paper, and I end up doing it on the last day anyway, do I really need a full weekend to do the work?

I constantly distract myself with the Internet. It is impossible to do a task with constant interruptions. I assume there is something wrong with me, and I was just not focusing enough, but the real solution is to remove the interruptions.

I thought I wanted to be a hard worker; I thought that was a virtue I wanted to instill within myself. No, what I really need to be is an efficient and effective worker. I need to get a task done and make sure that I’m not just spinning my wheels.

One other thing to get off my chest: schoolwork sucks and is very unfulfilling. How come I can devour certain books within the span of a couple days, but take obscene amounts of time to finish my class reading? I blame my classes. I write an essay but for what purpose? A grade? I write a paper that will be read once and then tossed aside forever. My life essentially consists of writing these papers. It is an unfulfilling life.

The first step towards breaking the pattern is eliminating my inefficient work habits. Then, I can use the free time to do something that’s worth the time.