A New Mantra

As I'm fully in the throes of the "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MARY FRANCES, WRITE YOUR THESIS" project, yesterday morning before I began the day's thesis mania, I decided I needed some inspiration. And within a few minutes I had a chart above my desk in which I reward myself for an hour of work with a star sticker (because hadn't you heard? I'm actually eleven). Every time I amass eight stars (i.e. complete eight hours of work*), I get to watch an episode of Mad Men Season three. So far I've watched two episodes, and am already thoroughly engrossed in the third season, except when I am totally distracted by a) the fact that Betty Draper drinks and smokes while pregnant, and b) Jon Hamm (in general).

Today, however, I remembered something I had seen in my friend Morgan's room while I was visiting her roommate Keenan a few weeks ago in New York (p.s. Morgan - I didn't actually go in your room - this was simply in full view when I stepped into the bathroom. I promise I am not a creep/your stalker.).

Morgan, you see, is also in grad school, and thus understands the special kind of hell that opens up when you have a paper to write RIGHT NOW. When the end of the semester approaches and we are each in said frantic paper-writing mode, our facebook status updates tend to mirror each other (which, of course, I notice because duh what better time to spend 13 hours a day on facebook than when you have a paper to write?). These status updates are mostly along the lines of: "I HATE THIS PAPER WHY IS IT NOT FINISHED YET" or "My paper is due in three days, and all I have is a blank word document entitled 'Final Paper.' Boo." Moral of the story: Morgan understands how hard it can be to find the motivation to produce an original piece of academic prose.

SO ANYWAYS, when I was in New York, I spotted this in Morgan's room:

And as of this afternoon, gentle readers, I too have this poster above my desk. Which means that not only do I have a new mantra, but also I am using motivational posters, Jon Hamm, and stickers to get me through my thesis. Which is, upon reflection, a rather odd combination, but if it works (and BY GOD it will work), that's all that matters.

I also love this poster, but will refrain from ordering or printing it out for now, for fear that I will actually become that woman with all the posters. But maybe as a reward for finishing my thesis...no. Now I'm getting ahead of myself. Onwards!

*I define my working hours as 45 minutes of work + 15 minutes of not-work. Not-work can be making a cup of tea, writing a thank-you note, working on a blog post, or watching "The Hills" online. I will not disclose which of these activities occur most frequently. Ahem. But I will say this: I STILL BLAME YOU, SPENCER.