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 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘procrastination’
Perfectionism be damned!
Posted in academic, accountability, commitment, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, finishing the dissertation, getting started, mental toughness, perfectionism, procrastination, productivity, reasons for not writing, self-sabotage, tagged dissertation, excuse for not writing, fear, mental toughness, perfectionism, procrastination, self-sabotage, writing on April 10, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Perfectionism gives you a perfect excuse never to write. Perfectionism not only slows productivity, but it also makes sure that your dissertation will never meet your expectations. Put up with the messiness of writing You have to go through the stage of writing “abominably repetitive, colloquial sentences,” as a dissertation client once described the [...]
When Will You Start Writing Your Dissertation? How About Never?
Posted in academic, coaching, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, getting started, procrastination, restart writing, restarting, Smart Tips, writing, tagged never getting started writing, procrastination, putting the dissertation second on December 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Are you the person in the cartoon who in setting a date for a committee meeting says, “How about never? Would that work for you?” Is that the attitude you have toward your dissertation? When you have a big project—whether it’s writing a dissertation or a book or planning a big event—do you throw all [...]
Do You Use the All-or-Nothing Distortion?
Posted in academic, coaching, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, flow, getting started, gremlin, momentum, perfectionism, procrastination, re-start, reasons for not writing, restart writing, self-sabotage, Smart Tips, writing, writing, dissertation, tagged ABD, acknowledging success, all-or-nothing distortion, distorting experience, flow, perfectionism, procrastination, self-sabotage on September 21, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Even though you may have a stated intention of working on your dissertation and making steady progress, you do everything and anything to sabotage yourself. Could this be you? If this sounds familiar, read on. A dissertation client is having great trouble moving forward. Every week when we talk, there’s been another obstacle which has [...]
How to Finish Your Dissertation: Don’t Let Complacency Sabotage You
Posted in academic, coaching, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, email, gremlin, mental toughness, momentum, perseverance, procrastination, productivity, self-deception, self-sabotage, Smart Tips, writing, writing, dissertation, tagged complacency, dissertation sabotage, fear of success, overly confident, perseverance, procrastination on August 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
You’ve been working hard on your dissertation this summer, honing your process, becoming surer of your argument, and thinking about the end. And the end is definitely in sight. Yay!! A couple of clients who have just gone through an unexpectedly bumpy patch right toward the end of their work made a suggestion to pass [...]
How I Avoid Writing: Procrastinating on the Dissertation
Posted in academic, coaching, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, following through, goals, mental toughness, perseverance, procrastination, re-group, restart writing, self-deception, self-sabotage, top strengths, writing, writing breaks, tagged dissertation, procrastination, self-regulation, self-sabotage, writing on June 19, 2008 | 2 Comments »
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 [...]
Writing Matters and Others Matter—Prioritizing Fights Procrastination
Posted in academic, anxiety, brave, choice, coaching, commitment, courage, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, following through, getting started, goals, mental toughness, motivation, productivity, reasons for not writing, relationships, self-sabotage, Smart Tips, start writing, time, time management, using your strengths, writing, writing, dissertation, tagged dissertation coach, international coach, priorities, prioritizing, procrastination, responsibility to others, time management on March 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
If you’re like me, you don’t have uninterrupted time for writing. Maybe you work full time in a demanding job or work two demanding part-time jobs or you take care of your children. And when you get to the point when you do have time to write, you’re exhausted. Just brain dead. And that, of [...]
3 Strategies to Thwart Writer’s Flight and Emotional Eating
Posted in academic, anxiety, brave, coaching, courage, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, fears, following through, Lizard Brain, mental toughness, perseverance, procrastination, self-deception, self-sabotage, Smart Tips, top strengths, using your strengths, writing, writing, dissertation, tagged dissertation, dissertation coach, emotional eating, fear of failure, fear of success, feeling anxious, flee, making progress, procrastination, writing on March 9, 2008 | 4 Comments »
When my writing starts to come together, I am relieved, but I’m also anxious about what comes next. My first response to those feelings of relief and a fluttering of anxiety almost always is to flee and to eat. Be grateful if you don’t feel these urges. Or pat yourself on the back if once [...]
Whose Dissertation Is It?
Posted in academic, advisor, coaching, discourse, dissertation advisors, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, resources, Smart Tips, writing, writing models, tagged accepting help, commenting on writing, procrastination, revisions, rewriting, talk to your advisor on November 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
An ABD student wrote to me about her advisor’s generous rewriting of the dissertation text. According to the student, the advisor doesn’t change the thought, only the language. The ABD student recognizes that the advisor’s writing is superior to her own, Her question is if the advisor has rewritten a lot of the language of [...]
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