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The Deadline Five?
On Friday, Tasha asked GG blog readers to recall the last time they stayed up all night. And while my last sleepless night was less than six months ago (for work purposes), it got me thinking…
About a time when pulling an all-nighter was a common occurrence.
You remember those, don’t you? The all-night cram fests before the mother of all tests in your philosophy, sociology or whatever-ology class?
Uh huh. Those.
Twenty years later, I can’t recall anything that was on the tests, yet I remember—quite clearly—what got me through the night…
Pizza and No Doze. Lots and lots of pizza and No Doze.
Today, my version of an “all-nighter” comes in the form of weeks and weeks of writing as a deadline looms. Sometimes I write late into the night. Sometimes I simply park my backside in a chair and don’t move for eight to ten hours until I’ve hit my goal for the day or made up for the goal I failed to meet the day before.
Either way, the pressure is still there.
Only now, instead of pizza and No Doze getting me through the night, it’s Milk Duds, candy corn, and the promise of a paycheck that guide me toward my deadline.
Lots and lots of Milk Duds and candy corn.
But it works.
And if something works, why mess with it? Unless, of course, you factor in the few added pounds that come with this method of meeting a deadline (think “freshmen five”).
Gulp.
That’s right. Take it from me—a couple of bags of candy corn each week for a month made quite the appearance on the scale in my neurologist’s office. And while my mouth was gaping in astonishment, my nurse was grinning like the proverbial cat who swallowed the canary (she takes perverse pleasure in seeing my weight increase). 
But that’s okay. Because once the deadline has been met, the candy corn is put away and I make a conscious effort to avoid junk fo—
Don’t think I can’t hear that snickering, people!
Seriously. I try to be good. Truly.
And then the editorial notes come in. All quite minor (TG)…yet something that comes with another deadline…
Which means the candy corn comes back out (the Milk Duds never left 
).
Sigh.
It’s a conspiracy, I tell you. A c-o-n-s-p-i-r-a-c-y.
So come on, ’fess up… What got you through cram fest in school? And what gets you through a deadline/project now?
Hugs,
~Laura
