A giant construction project disrupts the lives and the commute of many people who use the Washington DC (or Capital) Beltway and the business routes between the Beltway and the Dulles International Airport. This same construction project also raises hope among many travelers that one day they can take the metro the full 30 miles [...]
Archive for the ‘self-discipline’ Category
A Bad Commute and Your Writing
Posted in anxiety, distractions, family, focus, following through, getting started, mental toughness, perseverance, planning, re-group, re-start, reasons for not writing, resilience, self-discipline, setbacks, using your strengths, write more easily, writing schedule, writing, dissertation, tagged coaching, commute, dissertation, Downton Abbey, Rush hour traffic, writing on December 11, 2011 | 2 Comments »
If your goal is to work on your dissertation or your article, what gets in your way and eats up your time and energy? Every writer can find a million more important things to do, such as watching all the episodes of the first season of Downton Abbey in one day. But what else derails [...]
Precommit to Write: The Nothing Alternative
Posted in accountability, boundaries, commitment, determination, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, finishing the dissertation, following through, getting started, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, planning, productivity, resilience, restart writing, self-discipline, self-sabotage, showing up, using your strengths, writing schedule, tagged decision fatigue, dissertation coach, John Tierney, nothing alternative, plan for writing, precommitment, Roy Baumeister, schedule, setting boundaries on September 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
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 [...]
Decision Fatigue: When It’s Finally Time to Write, What Have You Got?
Posted in commitment, demands, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, finishing the dissertation, following through, getting started, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, planning, productivity, re-start, resilience, self-discipline, self-sabotage, using your strengths, write more easily, tagged decision fatigue, dissertation, dissertation coaching, ego depletion, John Tierney, mental toughness, Roy F. Baumeister, self-discpline, willpower, writing on September 25, 2011 | 2 Comments »
When did you first hear of “decision fatigue”? Perhaps, like me, it was when the New York Times Magazine published an article on decision fatigue and you started getting emails from your friends and family with links to that article. In fact, you probably received many links, and maybe the term “decision fatigue” has even [...]
What you need to finish your dissertation
Posted in accountability, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, finishing the dissertation, following through, goals, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, resilience, self-discipline, showing up, success, using your strengths, tagged dissertation, dissertation coaching, grit, Hailee Steinfeld, long-term goals, mental toughness, perseverance, resilience, True Grit on September 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
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 [...]
What’s mental toughness got to do with it?
Posted in basketball, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, self-discipline, Steve Nash, take charge, zest, tagged dissertation, motivation, National Basketball Association, self-control, writing on July 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Many readers of Successful Writing Tips are looking for help with motivation. And they also are interested in what mental toughness has to do with motivation. As a dissertation writer, you may often find yourself in chaos, frustrated, with no easy way out. You’re not alone. Many other writers find themselves in a similar predicament. A [...]
Hard Choices: What finishing the dissertation requires of you and what it can give you
Posted in academic, accountability, advisor, choice, determination, dissertation advisors, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, family, finishing the dissertation, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, resilience, self-discipline, setbacks, writing, tagged dissertation, dissertation advisor, dissertation coach, grit, hard choices, juggling dissertation with work and family, Memorial Day, mental toughness, writing on May 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I have coached many people who write dissertations while juggling the demands of family life. It’s difficult to juggle the daily demands, but to give up a holiday with one’s family is a particularly hard choice to make. As the Memorial Day holiday approaches here in the U.S., I am thinking back to a Memorial Day weekend [...]
