Lock-down, terms and conditions of

Writing the chapter means going into a lock-down of sorts—withdrawing socially and being more disciplined and focus. The last few days have not been particularly productive. A reminder of the terms and conditions of dissertation-writing lock down are in order:

Rule 1: No minor socializing
Broken by: attending group meeting*; going to another workshop group meeting where no-one else showed up*

Rule 2: Attend no more than one (1) major social event per week.
Broken by: planning and attending good-bye festivities for a good friend; two days later, attending the department year-end party and then hosting the after-party and then attending the after after-party

Rule 3: Do not allow the previous night's festivities to interfere with ability to be productive the following day
Broken by: Forgetting that red wine+beer=three-advil hangover

Rule 4: Prepare for a seige
Broken by: running out of coffee and fresh fruit; refusing to walk to grocery store in -20C windchill and blowing snow to replenish

Rule 5: Limit length of blog posts
Broken by: you're reading it

Caveats to applying lock-down rules too stringently
a. Leave the house/apartment briefly at least once a day to avoid cabin fever. Coffee runs are an excellent excuse for venturing outside.
b. Have a conversation with a real human being, no matter how short (the conversation, not the human), once a day to remind self of what own voice sounds like. Ordering a coffee and making small talk with barista counts. Talking to self does not.
c. Negative impact of breaking above rules somewhat mitigated if coffee is consumed at some point.

*both meetings occurred in coffee shops. See caveat c.

Running page count: a meagre 5