Statistics

Boy, where's mindfulness when I need it?  Have started the last semester of my doctoral program and it's all about data analysis.  I spent 3 hours reading, studying, listening to podcasts, etc. and felt completely overwhelmed.  Funny thing is, I used this program for a research project I did and did well, even taught fellow case managers how to use it.  HOWEVER...that was 20 years ago!!!  Granted, stats doesn't change, no math does right? But if you don't use it every day, it's gone. At least for me anyway.  Math is not now nor ever has been my strongest quality.  I'm great at keeping track of my money and paying bills, but that's about the extent of it without utilizing a whole lot of brain power. 

It's times like this that I'm sure I have ADD, I'll do almost anything (cleaning toilets) to distract myself from the pain of stats.  So what do I do to get away and clear my mind?  No not knitting, I needed to move, really expend some energy and exhaust my body so I could get my mind to focus.  I went for a 5 mile run.  Worked great.  Lovely, sunny day and it felt good to return to mindfulness.  When I run, I really do have to focus and although my mind is known to wander, it's fleeting thoughts nothing deep and certainly not trying to figure out math in any form, especially statistics! 

I was able to come back and work 5 hours on it and have a little bit better handle on it.  At least don't feel as overwhelmed.   Phew, this is gonna be a L O N G 4 month semester but I'll sure be in great physical shape. :)