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Somebody help me please. I don’t know what to do. I can’t focus. I can’t focus I can’t focus I can’t focus. I’m all over the place, writing a little of this, writing a little of that, editing photos, playing Scrabulous (god help me), starting and not finishing queries … And goddam Google Reader. Does Jezebel really need to update every 4.2 milliseconds?

Do you know how long I’ve been doing my laundry? I started on Tuesday. I don’t have that much laundry, I just keep forgetting about. My whites are currently wrinkling in the dryer, a cold water wash is mildewing in the washer.

A few minutes ago, I stepped out of the shower, thought of an e-mail I needed to send, and wrapped in towel and turban started to sit at my computer. I stopped myself, though.

For god’s sake, finish dressing first.

What’s wrong with me?

This happens to me from time to time and I’m not sure what to make of it. The more I do, the less I do. I walk around with a nimbus of half-finished projects and chores floating around my fevered brow, trying to focus …

…ok, here I am again. I scuttled off to look for a query I remembered that I wanted to try out on another editor…

I added to prices to a story and had much email discussion with the editor about it. I wrote and emailed a query. I tied up loose ends on, printed out and submitted a scholarship application, mixed up the dates on a trip to Austin (classic Sophie, Tom is thinking) and then straightened it out. I talked on the phone to the friend I’ll be staying with and mixed him up, too.

I watched a couple of seconds of a Pink video. I chased Jack out of a flower bed multiple times, finally creating yard art with a patio chair and a flower pot to keep him out of it. (I need only one Jack-shaped hole in The Flower Bed of Death, thank you very much.) I cooked and ate a quesadilla. I made my move in each of four games of Scrabulous I ill-advisedly have underway. I showered.

Research shows that multitasking is a big waste of time. Our minds can’t switch as quickly as we think and we lose time every time we shift from one task to another. I suppose that’s why chaotic days seem to fly by. And why I’ve been working on this blog post since 8:30 this morning and only have something even remotely publisher now, at 12:47.

Time to bring out the kitchen timer. It’s the only tactic that works for me. I set it for an hour and make myself concentrate on one task, and one task only, until it rings.

Or maybe I’ll call today a bust and start fresh Monday.