Writing your thesis - tips for this and other writing projects
Start back asking yourself three questions:
- Am I on track?
- What's holding me back?
- How can I make a positive change?
1. Am I on track?
Maybe you don’t know the answer to this question because you don’t have a plan. Map out a game plan with a timeline to help you decide if you’re on track. Get input from your mentor, labmates, your thesis advisory committee. Refer back to this plan regularly and revise if the plan is not working.
2. What’s holding me back?
Rarely in life are there times when we find ourselves in a state of Flow when the work emerges from us fully-formed and without effort. Usually there are things that hold us back. They tend to fall into general categories:
-
Technical errors
- You don’t have designated time set for writing
- You haven’t created the right atmosphere for writing
- You don’t know how much time a particular task will take
- The task you have set out to accomplish it too complex for the allotted time
- Your space is disorganized
- You can’t find the files you need
-
External constraints
- Your workload is too large
- You have health challenges (either your own or your loved ones)
- You have other life transitions or stressors
- You are working in an environment with high interruptions
- You have someone in your environment who is negatively impacting you
- You have a lot of conflict around you that takes up your energy
-
Psychological blocks
- Perfectionism (the idea that the work has to be perfect on the first go-round)
- Feeling disappointed in the writing or the data or your own capabilities
- Caregiving responsibilities that take up mental and physical energy
- Fear or failure
- Fear of success
- Fear of implications
- Fear of completion
- Unrealistically high expectations
- Unclear goals and priorities
- A loud inner critic
3. How can I make positive change?
We all have resistances that hold us back. We need to develop approaches to keep these resistance at bay.
There are several things we can do to increase our ability to move forward, even when there are numerous sources that may hold us back.
- Set time on the calendar every day to write
- Map out a game plan
- Find a writing zone: a time and place that feels right. You may not find it right away. Experiment with options
- Make this time sacred - put it on your calendar and protect it ruthlessly
- Write without criticism or judgement. Just write. You can always edit later.
- Treat yourself. Every day with something. You deserve it.
If you are finding that your progress is unsatisfactory to you, examine why. See what resistances may be getting in the way and how to avoid them.
- Get a writing buddy. Be accountable to each other.
- Be grateful. During a stressful time, it’s easy to take for granted those things for which we should be grateful. Think about how far you’ve come, something that you’ve learned that you didn’t know before, and something that has changed you.
- Don’t give up - if things aren’t working, talk to friends, mentors, and find ways that work for others and experiment.