Most people I know speak of a recurring nightmare: –Having to take a test you haven’t studied for –Having to give a talk, but being unprepared –Not being able to get to the location where your talk or test is to be given –Feeling under great tension and wearing yourself out trying to accomplish something [...]
Archive for the ‘self-discipline’ Category
Manage your fears and write
Posted in academic, anxiety, basketball, beliefs, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, getting started, goals, gremlin, mental toughness, perseverance, self-discipline, student athletes, tagged Butler University, dissertation coach, Doctorate, high-stakes writing, manage your fears, manage your goals, performance, recurring nightmare, writing on April 6, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Typing with two fingers takes true grit
Posted in academic, acting as if, beliefs, brave, courage, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, Lizard Brain, mental toughness, perseverance, resilience, self-discipline, self-sabotage, using your strengths, writing, writing, dissertation, tagged Catastrophize, grit, internal obstacles to writing, Lizard Brain, mental toughness, persevere, thesis, writing, Writing and Editing, writing is scary on February 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Writing is not for the weak of heart. Writing is often a dangerous act, requiring all of the mental toughness and grit you can muster. And no one knows that more than my clients—those writing dissertations and those who are now pushing on with writing their books or writing grant applications or articles. Some of [...]
How Much Writing Did You Do Today? Track How You Are Spending Your Time
Posted in academic, accountability, boot camp, coaching, commitment, discipline, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, getting started, mental toughness, planning, productivity, resources, self-discipline, Smart Tips, take charge, take stock, time, time management, tagged accountability, Doctorate, spend time on writing, Thelma and Louise, thesis, Time, track your time, use small chunks of time to write your dissertation, write your dissertation in the time available, Writer, writing on January 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Perhaps what is true for one of my dissertation clients is also true for you. She says that sometimes a day will pass, and she hasn’t done any writing. How do you use your time? How are you spending your time? Do those two questions mean the same thing? It seems to me that we [...]
Yes, Virginia, you do have time to write this week–and then, enjoy your holiday!
Posted in demands, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, family, goals, grading, mental toughness, planning, self-discipline, teaching, time management, write more easily, writing schedule, tagged finish grading, write during Christmas week, write early before you're frazzled on December 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
For Christmas celebrants, we’re down to the final week. What are your goals for the week? 1. If you’re teaching, have you turned in your grades? Don’t belabor the choices. This isn’t the time to give lengthy comments on a writing project. Wind it up. 2. If you’re trying to get in a few more days of writing and [...]
To focus on your writing, get a cat
Posted in advice, boundaries, coaching, commitment, courage, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, distractions, flow, focus, mental toughness, self-discipline, start writing, take charge, trusting yourself, write more easily, tagged cat's effect on a writer, focus, Murial Spark, Publishing, trusting the process, writer's self-discipline, writing on November 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Can’t concentrate? Having trouble getting into flow with your writing? Get a cat! Advice to writers can come from the most interesting places. An unexpected, but most entertaining source of advice is A Far Cry from Kensington, a novel by British writer Muriel Spark. A Far Cry takes place in 1954 London. Mrs. Hawkins, the narrator, has a job in publishing. And yes, [...]
Recording TV shows is a hazard to your writing
Posted in academic, accountability, anxiety, choice, coaching, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, email, habit, Internet, mental toughness, momentum, perseverance, productivity, self-care, self-deception, self-discipline, self-sabotage, strategies, television, time management, time theft, write more easily, writing models, writing, dissertation, tagged digital stress, recording tv shows, tv torpor, watching tv instead of writing on November 2, 2010 | 1 Comment »
A dissertation coaching client said that she stopped watching TV and picked up her writing pace in order to meet a deadline. Now that she has met the deadline, she worries that she will be sucked into watching all of the TV shows that she recorded during her heavy-duty period of writing. Do you record TV shows? It’s [...]
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 »
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 [...]
The Writer’s Downfall: Time-Sucks and Lack of Courage
Posted in children, decluttering, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, family, fears, finishing the dissertation, getting started, housecleaning, planning, reasons for not writing, relationships, self-care, self-deception, self-discipline, self-sabotage, time theft, Uncategorized, writing schedule, tagged ask for help, carve out time for writing, get motivated, make time for writing, mindless activities, moms writing dissertations, negotiating, restart writing, time-sucks, writer’s downfall, writing on September 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Many times writers hire me to coach them because they’re stuck. They haven’t made substantial progress on their dissertation for months. What stuck often means is that the writers are having trouble claiming a chunk of time for the writing because of time-sucks. Time-sucks come in all sizes and shapes. Facebook and email will be your [...]
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 [...]
To increase motivation to write the dissertation, be curious
Posted in academic, accountability, curiosity, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, productivity, self-discipline, using your strengths, writing, tagged be curious, curiosity and writing, curiosity increases motivation, manage curiosity, motivation to write dissertation, problem solving, using curiosity on September 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Curiosity and love of learning are powerful motivators Todd Kashdan, author of Curious? Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life, advocates bringing your strength of curiosity to your work. He says that the higher the level of curiosity, the greater the analytic ability and problem-solving skills. Most of my dissertation coaching clients have “love of learning” and “curiosity” as [...]
