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Archive for the ‘distractions’ Category

Have you heard the sarcastic references to Obama’s having written two books?  Of course, it’s politics to make a negative out of what would ordinarily be a good thing, but I’m wondering if the people making the jabs believe that large numbers of voters denigrate writers and writing.  I don’t know what large numbers of [...]

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August, for many people writing dissertations, is the month of if-not-now-when?
Other responsibilities are on the horizon, but what can you do to make use of the time August offers you?  If you use the time you have now, you’ll very likely be controlling the space where you will be working and living later on.
1.  How [...]

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Dissertation writers, professional writers and editors, bloggers–we all fight the good fight against email.
Seth Godin, famous marketing blogger, asks, “Do you spend your day responding and reacting to incoming all day… until the list is empty? “  He says that unlike the days when he could sort his mail in minutes the “old-fashioned way,” he [...]

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This morning as I was reading a paragraph here and there in Newsweek, I swear I saw the words “put off finishing his dissertation” rise off the page in 3-inch-tall block letters, or so it seemed. 
Procrastinating on one’s dissertation isn’t unusual, but to get your name in Newsweek because what you’re doing to procrastinate is [...]

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Are you writing at a snail’s pace?  Are you stopping short of making your deadlines?  Are you still not meeting your goals?  What’s it going to take at the end of the day to have completed what you said you were going to do? 
Try a fast, easy adjustment — making a small change can sometimes [...]

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When you’re going nowhere fast on your dissertation, it’s time to try something different.
In a blog post a few months ago I asked what bold action you would take for the sake of your writing (“What Bold Step Would You Take to Gain 2 Good Writing Days?”).  In today’s blog I want to share with [...]

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A client who is moving ever closer to actually finishing her dissertation tells me that she is focusing on what she can do in the moment. 
She has found that being in the moment takes work.  There’s nothing airy-fairy about it.
And there’s much to be gained from staying in the moment. 
By focusing on the present, she [...]

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Dissertation writers occasionally come to an impasse, unsure of which way to go next.  You’ve probably been in this position.  You want to move forward, but it may seem prudent to wait—wait to see what your committee chair or mentor says, wait until you have a lot more time to read or go through your [...]

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If you are still on the fence about re-starting your dissertation, the truth is that it doesn’t have to be hard.  Make it easy.
For the first session in re-starting your dissertation, you just show up.  You don’t have to write.  You don’t have to search for articles or read.  You just show up.  And we [...]

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There’s still time for a January surge on your dissertation.
In this time of fresh starts, you first need to decide on the where and the when of your dissertation writing.
Where?  Where will you work?  Do you have a place at home where you won’t be interrupted and where you won’t give in to taking naps [...]

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