How to write a paper...

About 2 hours ago, I finally finished the last individual paper of my MBA career. I still have a group project, and a few smaller assignments, but this is the last major paper I will have to write by myself.

It wasn't a difficult paper - 5 pages, plus another 6 pages of attachments. I think I was actually disadvantaged by the fact that I had several weeks to write it, and no other classes to worry about - I'm only taking one this semester. But that meant I had more time to procrastinate, more time to think about how hard it would be, more time to feel bad that I wasn't working on it, but not bad enough to actually do it.

I nibbled on the paper last weekend and throughout the week - making the outline for a a chart, writing a couple paragraphs. I worked on it for a while on Friday night while frozen rain fell from the sky. But I set aside Saturday to do the bulk of it. My schedule went something like this:

6AM: Wake up to alarm.

8:30 AM: Wake up to snooze button for the 36th time. Finally get out of bed.

8:31- 11:30: breakfast, TV, internet

11:30- 12:30 work on paper

12:30: Get call from bsom. He's making corned beef and green beans (his fiance doesn't like cabbage). Do I want to come over tonight? Sure.

12:30-1:30 - work on paper

1:30- 3 - Dump several pounds of salt melt on sidewalk. brush snow off truck. Chip melted ice off steps and sidewalk. Drive to Giant and the liquor store to get the essentials of bachelor life - 6 packages of Hot Pockets and a six pack of Guiness.

3:30-5 - work on paper.

5-6 internet

6-7 work on paper

7- 11 - corned beef

11- midnight - paper

midnight - bedtime.

By then, I gotten almost everything done except the recommendations and executive summary - you know, the whole point of the paper, the part that I'll probably be graded on. I crapped that out in an hour, and I don't think it makes any sense. Printed out the mess, stapled it together. It actually looks pretty good, but I have no idea about the content - I hate reading my own writing, I'm a poor judge of what's good writing, especially when I have a bias against the author, ie myself, and I'm not really sure what the prof is looking for (it's based on a case study, but he mentioned a few times he wants us to downplay the two major issues in the study, which doesn't leave much left. Plus, I had to keep it down to five pages, which made it difficult to say much of anything. I did cheat a little - it's 1.5 spaced and size 11 font).

I feel like I put a fair amount of work and stress into it, so I'm hoping I get a decent grade. On the other hand, I've kind of stopped caring. It's almost over, and then I wont' have an excuse to do all the other shit I need to do (ie I'll read these books, clean the basement, sell this stuff on eBay, get my ham license, get more exersize, work on the house, develop a social life, ect once I'm done with class, like class takes 30 hours a week instead of 3).