I could really use a Time-Turner

I doubt it would surprise anybody who knows me that Hermione Granger is the character with whom I most relate.  I was even a bit jealous when she got to take extra classes in The Prisoner of Azkaban, because I would have done that when I was back in school.  (And sort of did since in my junior year I took a 0-hour class--a period that ran before the official day began--followed by a full day of academic courses, ending with  an independent study after school.  Eight courses in a normally six-period day.)

I could use a Time-Turner right about now.  Not for academic over-achievement, but for simple achievement.

I am officially back on the clock for my doctoral program.  I have set up a work area, read some secondary literature, figured out a direction for some immediate writing.  But the time I have set aside on paper has a tendency to shrink and disappear.

Part of it is spent multi-tasking.  Pumping so that J. can have a bottle (that he won't drink) at daycare.  Grabbing some lunch.  Making coffee.  And yes, checking in on Twitter and the like since I have no opportunity to do that until after I finish teaching.

Part of it gets eaten up by the pull of my other identities.  I tutor a couple hours a week--math right now--in my role as public-school teacher and small-town resident.  I've been doing daycare pick-up for J., something that takes about an hour total.  On occasion, I time it so that I can get J. early enough to then pick up E.

I have been trying to figure out how to shift some of my work to the evening, after both boys are in bed.  But J. still sleeps inconsistently.  At bedtime, I never know how long I will have before I'm needed back in the bedroom.  And it takes me a while to get settled back into my planned task, to get my head back into that realm.

I should have done a little work just now.  There's a section of my paper that I can envision and for which I have the foundation laid.  I just need to turn it into academic-speak with appropriate footnotes and formatting.  I have some citations to throw in, marked out in my notes.  I want to do this soon, as a follow up to my latest correspondence with my supervisor, as proof to us both that I can still do this.

I figure just a few turns and I could have those pages in no time.  Those pages and a good nap too!