How do you keep focused on your writing goal? Our Lizard Brains can make it all too easy to let a goal slip, and with each deadline or marker you miss, it’s that much longer before you finish your dissertation. FutureMe at www.futureme.org is a helpful tool for accountability as you write your dissertation. You can [...]
Archive for the ‘following through’ Category
FutureMe–The one who met her dissertation deadlines
Posted in academic, accountability, coaching, commitment, deadline, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, email, finishing the dissertation, focus, following through, Lizard Brain, perseverance, planning, resources, self-discipline, self-sabotage, tagged accountability, check up on yourself, dissertation and accountability, do what you said you would do, focus, praise, support on October 17, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Make the paradigm shift: See yourself as a writer
Posted in academic, accountability, choice, commitment, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, following through, habit, mental toughness, perseverance, productivity, self-discipline, showing up, take charge, time management, writing schedule, writing, dissertation, tagged do what you say you’re going to do, finding time to do dissertation, seeing yourself as a writer, Teaching, writing on September 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Are you one of the millions of instructors or professors back in the classroom this September? Are you also trying to meet a writing goal? So how are you doing? Keeping all of the balls in the air? Maybe you’re like some of my coaching clients who have returned to their fall teaching jobs [...]
Delivering the Dissertation: Dissertation Writer as Showrunner
Posted in acting as if, coaching, deadline, discipline, dissertation advisors, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, finishing the dissertation, following through, goals, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, planning, self-discipline, showing up, structures, take charge, time, time management, top strengths, using your strengths, writing schedule, tagged dissertation writer, leadership, organize, plan, project manager, schedule, showrunner, time management, use your strengths on August 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Have you heard of a “showrunner”? Writers in the TV industry are now expected also to manage—or to have the skills and strengths that would allow them to manage. According to John Wells, Writers Guild of America West president and writer/producer of E.R., Third Watch, and West Wing, it is virtually impossible to be just a writer [...]
Is Your Dissertation One of Your Big Rocks?
Posted in accountability, coaching, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, following through, mental toughness, planning, self-deception, self-sabotage, showing up, structures, take charge, time management, tagged Big Rocks, dissertation, distractions, late summer chaos, prioritize, self-sabotage, summer writing, time management, where you have control on August 15, 2010 | 1 Comment »
August can be a time of scrambling A friend who was taking her family on a trip to Europe was rushing to get everything done. She said, “All I have to do is just get to the plane.” I know what she means—what a wonderful feeling it is to settle in and stare into space, [...]
Assess Your Dissertation Writing Habits and Make Some Changes: Time for Spring Cleaning
Posted in academic, accountability, choice, cleaning, coaching, courage, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, finishing the dissertation, following through, getting started, habit, housecleaning, mental toughness, perseverance, practice writing, productivity, re-group, re-start, regrouping, restart writing, restarting, self-deception, self-sabotage, showing up, start writing, take charge, take stock, time, time management, time theft, write more easily, writing, writing schedule, tagged change writing process, develop a writing habit, distractions, find time to write, make time to write, mentally tough, self-sabotage, take control, time management, write daily on dissertation on March 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Change is happening in the Washington DC area, not just in Congress, but here in my backyard. Spring is here. Tulips are pushing their way above ground. The trees are dropping all sorts of little colored pellets on my deck and front walk. The first days of Spring are a great time to assess your [...]
Three Quick Fixes to Jolt You into Action on Your Dissertation
Posted in academic, coaching, deadline, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, following through, mental toughness, perseverance, planning, self-sabotage, Smart Tips, structures, take charge, television, time, time management, time theft, writing breaks, writing, dissertation, tagged dissertation, plan breaks, quick fixes, small changes, Smart Tips, take charge on February 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This is an encore of a blog post that appeared here April 30, 2008. Note: If you haven’t signed up for my free e-newsletter, Smart Tips For Writers, you can take care of that by going to my website at www.nancywhichard.com or www.smarttipsforwriters.com. The next Smart Tips e-newsletter goes out this week-end. Thanks so much. I [...]
Re-group and Take a Big Step Forward on Your Dissertation: Re-establish Contact with Your Dissertation Advisor
Posted in academic, advisor, brave, coaching, courage, discipline, dissertation advisors, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, finishing the dissertation, following through, getting started, re-group, re-start, regrouping, resilience, restart writing, restarting, self-sabotage, Smart Tips, start writing, writing, writing, dissertation, tagged contact your dissertation advisor, dissertation coach, get on with your dissertation, maintain self-respect, re-group on September 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Have you ignored your dissertation and your dissertation advisor for some time? Entertaining the idea of restarting the project and of contacting your advisor may cause more than a few fears to surface. Are you afraid what the lapse in time may say about you? The truth is that it doesn’t say much of anything, [...]
Road Blocks to Finishing Your Dissertation: Slacking off, Celebrating too Soon, Determined to be Perfect
Posted in academic, advisor, coaching, discipline, dissertation advisors, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, finishing the dissertation, following through, getting started, mental toughness, perseverance, productivity, reasons for not writing, resilience, restart writing, self-deception, self-sabotage, setbacks, using your strengths, tagged challenges, completing, distractions, finishing the dissertation, letting your strength get you in trouble, messing up, momentum, overwhelm, paralyzed, perfectionist, slacking off, slowing down on July 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
When the end of your dissertation is in sight, what will you do? If you’re struggling just to get started on your dissertation, the question “What will you do when the end is in sight” must sound rhetorical at best and silly at worst. Nevertheless, I’ve learned from my clients that minefields await writers when [...]
“We are what we repeatedly do”: Are You a Writer or . . . . Something Else?
Posted in academic, acting as if, advisor, coaching, commitment, determination, discipline, dissertation advisors, dissertation boot camp, dissertation writing, following through, getting started, goals, inertia, perseverance, procrastination, re-start, research, restart writing, Smart Tips, structures, writing, dissertation, tagged daily routines, get started writing, habit, practice, repeat, write daily on April 21, 2009 | 4 Comments »
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” —Aristotle How are you doing with building your writing habit? Are you writing your dissertation? It’s easy to play around on email or to read and even respond to blogs, but sitting down and starting a writing session is hard. [...]
