Written during British Lit on Tuesday

Sometimes when I'm in class and not wanting to really pay attention, I get really frustrated that I've left two essays* that I've already started at home. I've got more to say about each of them and would love to feel a bit productive if I'm going to tune out my teacher, but I also don't want to change the point that I'm making by joining two separately written pieces. I've done that before and it's a very ineffective way to attempt to prove a point. Some would take the leaving of the other drafts at home as a bit of a sign to actually pay attention in class, but not I! I see this as a challenge to distract myself by discussing the lack of things to distract me. I feel like I should receive some sort of an award or at least acknowledgement of this accomplishment.

Not quite yet though! I'm only 30 minutes into class and we're discussing poems that I actually enjoy. You never know, I might just cave and participate!

Okay, that was a little misleading. I've actually already participated, much like I normally do when writing during class.

I'm not sure why, but having something else to focus on during class sometimes allows me to pay attention better than attempting to force myself to pay attention. It probably has to do with the role of television in my life.** I've done so much homework and socializing while watching TV that I'm used to trying to focus on two forms of stimulation at the same time.

This is something I've been more aware of lately because I often feel as though I'm not really taking in either source while trying to focus on both. In an attempt to curb that problem I've cut down on some of the shows that I watch and try to do more listening to music while working on homework. The music is another form of stimulation, but slightly lesser with the lack of the visual. Sometimes I go as far as to put on something instrumental and eliminate the intellectual distraction of the lyrics.

Cutting back on the shows I follow has done a lot of good though. With only a handful to watch each week and all of them being online I'm able to set aside time to watch without doing much else. My infatuation with social media gets in the way of that sometime, but I'm getting a little better with keeping that compulsion at bay as well. One day I'll be better with all of it and maybe be more efficient in all aspects!

I think that this has quite adequately twisted and turned all over the place in the hour that I've been writing. Maybe I'll look like I'm paying attention for the next 12 minutes!

*I say essays because it sounds a bit more intellectual than blogs.
**Here I go getting all insightful and intelligent again.