This can be especially true in the field, where you can spend several hours or days waiting, and then suddenly, within minutes, it's over. In reference to this pattern of events, a colleague of mine once said"Fieldwork is 80% boredom, 20% sheer terror".
This problem doesn't go away after you've finished the fieldwork, it can also be an issue when you are working on the analysis and writing. There are times when you are really jazzed about a project and don't need any help focusing, just get the heck out of the way and let me work. But, sometimes you find yourself in one of these waiting periods and it can be hard to do anything more than twiddle your thumbs. This doesn't mean there is nothing to do, more likely, there are a thousand things to do, but you are not immediately jazzed about any of them.
Before returning to academia I was not a to-do list kind of person. But lately I have been a list fanatic. Mostly, I use these lists when I'm in one of these waiting periods and don't have a lot of motivation. I've gotten into the habitat of keeping a running list of the many little things that need to be done. Makes me a little bit rust resistant.
