Are you making it easy for yourself to put things off?
"How do I stop putting things off?"
This is by far the most common question I get from professors and graduate students. As a dissertation and tenure coach, I've learned that everyone in academia has trouble putting things off, whether they're writing a dissertation, finishing an article, or doing research. Why does this happen so often in a population with so many smart, educated people?
You're not in the right frame of mind.
It could be that your beliefs are getting in the way. Most academics still believe that in order to write, they need to set aside a lot of time, do a lot of work, and be in the right frame of mind.
This means that when you finally sit down to write, it's going to be a long, hard, and frustrating process. You've put so much stock in this writing time that you're worried it won't live up to your hopes. And you already know it'll be hard. After all, there are some tough issues you haven't talked about, articles you haven't read or reread, and your thoughts don't make sense. You have to find answers to those problems. And if you don't do it right away, you'll be very upset with yourself. How horrible! What a waste of time!
What should you instead believe? Or "What a coincidence!"
Robert Boyce's research shows that first- and second-year professors who took part in a writing productivity study were able to write more pages that could be published in a year by
- Write every day for 30 minutes
- I only write when I'm at work
- Trying to fit writing into small gaps in their busy schedules.
It turned out that getting these professors to try this low-key method in the first place was the hardest part. Ironically, they all said that the only way to get real work done was to do it in a marathon like I described above.
The second irony was that, before the intervention, Boyce measured how much they wrote each week and found that it was less than 30 minutes per week! This was a lot less than what they said in their reports about how much time they spent writing.
The third irony was that people who thought you had to write a lot were also the least productive.
The fourth irony was that these professors thought writing was a private thing to do, but they did best when they had to answer to someone for keeping their 30-minute writing habit.
"Just do it already!"
So what's stopping you from taking what these professors teach you and writing a little bit every day?
Here are some common ones:
- Writing small amounts just isn't worth it. I feel like I've gotten
I got nothing done.
- I need to figure out a big problem. It will take longer than half an hour.
- I always feel bad if I don't work more.
At that rate, I'll never finish my dissertation, paper, or research project.
- I waited until it was too late, and now I can't buy that small thing.
number of hours per day.
- It just doesn't feel right.
- It's so much that I don't know where to start, and by the time I do, it's already too late.
- I have more time than that, and I should be making good use of it all.
figure it out, because I only have 30 minutes left.
What's my answer to those? Bull! Unless you are in a hurry, there is no reason not to try this method. Give it some time to see if it helps. If you're like every other academic I've worked with, you'll be against the idea. I think that the more stubborn you are, the more trouble you have probably had in the past with putting things off.
A plan of what to do.
Give it a week. Choose a time each day to write for 30 minutes, preferably not in the evening unless you're a night owl. Don't check your email, read, or do anything else that will distract you. Don't listen to the voices in your head that say "you should be getting more done" or "you should be writing more than this." I bet that by the end of the week, you'll be happy with how much you've written and surprised at how easy it is for you to sit down and write. You'll start to see that your dissertation or article is getting better, and you might start to think that you'll finish it one day.
Also, don't forget that you have to answer to someone. Tell someone that you're going to be writing every day. You might be able to find someone to write with or talk to someone in your dissertation group. Or, you can join one of my coaching groups. Our listservs make it easy to hold people accountable all week long. My membership site, CafeAcademia.com (keep an eye out for updates), will have a place for writers to find each other.
Don't forget that if you always do the same things, you'll always get the same things. Start putting yourself in a position to succeed right away!
