Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘accountability’ Category

Not too long ago, when my adult son mentioned how busy his work and life have become,  my husband was reminded of an annual planning session he had attended at which a facilitator presented a workshop on how to organize your time.  As my husband drew a diagram from that workshop, I realized that he [...]

Read Full Post »

Is there too much to do?  Are you not getting enough done? Do you jump from task to task on your to-do list but never seem to make progress on your main writing goals? Is your dissertation still on your to-do list? As a client said to me, “Which end of the tube am I squeezing?” [...]

Read Full Post »

Is there a writer who isn’t lured and waylaid by the distractions of the internet and email? Is there a writer who hasn’t written about those same distractions? How about you? How well did you do today? Did you stay on task and reach your writing goal for the day? Or did procrastination and Facebook [...]

Read Full Post »

 Mental toughness, self-control, willpower, grit— I turn again to these compelling strengths. Why? Because distractions, especially electronic distractions, complicate the writer’s life.  The struggle for self-control over distractions takes up more and more of your mental space.  What can you use to free your mental space in order to concentrate on your writing? What can [...]

Read Full Post »

What could help you have an easier time starting to write and sticking with the writing? In the new book Willpower, psychologist Roy F. Baumeister and New York Times science writer John Tierney present research that willpower is limited, in part because you use the same resource for so many different things.  Since you can’t [...]

Read Full Post »

You have a long-term goal—say, writing a dissertation or a book.  And the going gets tough.  This is one huge project. It’s a long haul—it may mean months or years of coming back to that same project. It’s been going on for quite a while.  Have you stuck with it?  Have you kept coming back [...]

Read Full Post »

 In a recent blog, I sang the praises of writing whenever you are taking a plane somewhere.  The quiet, distraction-free atmosphere makes flying perfect for writing, or so it seems to me.  I heard from a dissenting reader. She said, “I’d love to be able to devote myself to writing while on a plane, but [...]

Read Full Post »

A caller asked if I had ever coached someone who had become stalled on a house renovation project.  My answer was no, but what came to mind was how similar all big projects are.   How difficult it can be to keep going.  How crushing the project can become.  But it doesn’t have to be this [...]

Read Full Post »

Do you think if only I had nothing to distract me, nothing else to do but write, no choice but to write… then I’d write?  How about flying somewhere? Whenever a dissertation coaching client tells me she’s flying somewhere—on a vacation or a business trip or to see her mom—I sit up a little straighter.  [...]

Read Full Post »

Dissertation writers tell me they often find themselves writing in chaos.  It’s not clear to them where they’re headed or how long it’s going to take to get wherever it is they’re going. Occasionally a cultural ritual, like the summer vacation, is a marker that writers use to cut through the chaos. The vacation can [...]

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 81 other followers