Overwhelmed

This is a good illustration of how I'm feeling these days. Work has been crazy busy and this stupid exam has already started keeping me up at night. I had a 12-hour review course last weekend and I spent most of yesterday studying. I have another 12 hours of class next weekend, too. My plan today was more studying. But then I woke up and somewhere between making eggs for breakfast and putting away laundry, I realized that between work and studying, my brain hasn't had a day off since Jan 8. If my brain reacts at all like my body, then it definitely deserves a rest day.

You know you're a little overwhelmed when doing laundry and dishes is an appealing weekend activity. I feel a little guilty for not hitting the books today, but I also know that I'm much more efficient and productive after a little rest. I've also noticed that when I focus this much energy into work and studying, that I can't focus on other things. Halfway into a conversation with John, I'll realize I have no idea what he's talking about. Or at work, I forget the second half of a list of things to do. Or I'll stop at Wal-Mart for something I absolutely needed and then forget what it was. When someone asks me where we should go to get lunch, I can't make a decision. Yesterday, I officially registered for 8 hours of the 16 hour exam and then immediately started having dooms-day-type thoughts. I'm not a forgetful person, so when I start misplacing things like my keys, then I know I'm in over my head.

So instead of working through sample problems and summarizing all of the important geotechnical and foundations-related equations, I went for a 6.2 mile trail run with some friends. I'm going to do a little more laundry, and I might even throw a nap in before the big game. The only numbers I looked at today were time and distance on my Garmin, and I'm OK with that.