Coffee Shops

Every morning when I don't have class, I have to ask myself "Where will I actually do math today?" The answer isn't easy.

If I stay home, then I don't have to think about lunch, and I can stay in my pj's, and I have all my books close at hand, and access to the Internet. Of course, this means that e-mail and facebook are my constant companions, and lunch might turn into cooking 2 different meals and a desert, and then cleaning the kitchen, and by books, I mean fun novels as well as math textbooks...

If I go to school, this minimizes some distractions, but there's still the Internet, and then there are people too, and I go have tea, or take an hour long lunch break. Plus, that means that I have to get there and back, another 2 hours... so if I only have a 4 hour window, this isn't a good option (especially since it takes me a least a half hour in Irmacs before any math starts to get done).

Which brings me to coffee shops. For about a month now, this has been my solution to my procrastination problems. I only bring my laptop if it is strictly necessary to the work that needs to get done, so usually I don't have easy Internet access. There's good tea, and I sometimes meet interesting people. But, most of all, I get work done. Why? Well, there's really not much else to do! Granted, sometimes I look out the window, or stare at other people, imagining their lives, but I get bored of this within minutes... and there's nothing else to do but math, so it gets done! This working technique works especially well if I have an appointment to keep afterwards, like a yoga class, or supper plans: I get to the coffee shop 2-4 hours before said time, and though I'm bored after 1 hour, well, I'm stuck there! So instead of watching tv, or creeping somebody on Facebook (yes I do that, as does everybody else I know!), or whatever else, the only thing I have to pass the time is math!

Anyways, all this to say that today I wrote 3 pages of my first ever essay in math, on the transendence degree of field extensions (believe me, it is as gross as it sounds), in a lovely coffee place on Broadway and Kingsway, and I'm proud of myself! Slowly getting ready for that thesis... yikes!