I was poking around the internet, seeing what peeps are suggesting about techniques to gather ideas. Lucky me– I came upon a discussion in answer to the question “What is the best way to gather good ideas?” And, for a bonus, the discussants are IT people. Given the innovation and productivity within IT, some of their approaches [...]
Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Sleep on it
Posted in academic, creativity, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, self-care, strategies, tagged Brain, dissertation, gathering ideas, self-care, self-discipline, sleep, Writer, Writer Resources, writing on June 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Cut through writing in chaos
Posted in accountability, deadline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, focus, getting started, mental toughness, momentum, planning, productivity, realistic goals, take stock, tagged clear goals, concrete approach, dissertation coaching, make a plan, marker, thesis, track the argument, vacation, Writers Resources, writing, writing in chaos on June 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Dissertation writers tell me they often find themselves writing in chaos. It’s not clear to them where they’re headed or how long it’s going to take to get wherever it is they’re going. Occasionally a cultural ritual, like the summer vacation, is a marker that writers use to cut through the chaos. The vacation can [...]
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 [...]
Full time job? And trying to write a dissertation, too?
Posted in academic, boundaries, commitment, determination, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, family, mental toughness, motivation, planning, restart writing, self-sabotage, time management, writing, writing schedule, tagged dissertation, dissertation coach, full-time jobs, juggling dissertation with work and family, scheduling dissertation time, writing on May 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A few months ago a person who had finished her course work for her Ph.D., but had not done much toward her dissertation, wrote to say that as someone who worked full-time away from home, she couldn’t fathom how she could add writing her dissertation to the mix of not only working full-time, but also being [...]
Careers outside of academia: The Versatile PhD
Posted in dissertation coach, dissertation writing, higher education, planning, realistic goals, teaching, tagged Academia, Career, careers outside of academia, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, Employment, versatile Ph.D., writing on May 16, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Are you interested in careers that might not be in academia? Have you found it hard to find people in the academic environment who know about other careers? Just a few days ago I learned from a dissertation coaching client of a great service that may interest you. The Versatile PhD is a free online service [...]
Change failure to success
Posted in academic, beliefs, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, perfectionism, self-criticism, setbacks, tagged change, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, failure, success, writing on May 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
What do you do when you have a plan for a writing project in place, but it goes terribly wrong? What is your response? When you slip up, do those powerful feelings that you’re not allowed to make a mistake overwhelm you? If you tend to be a perfectionist, it can be hard to take [...]
Store Your Dissertation in the Cloud
Posted in academic, dissertation writing, productivity, Smart Tips, time management, write more easily, writing, tagged academic, access to your files, cloud computing, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, DropBox, Smart Tips for Writers, Washington Post, writing on May 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Do you work on multiple computers? How are you dealing with the need to make optimum use of your time and to make headway on your dissertation no matter at which one of those multiple computers you find yourself? Have you heard of cloud computing? “Cloud computing isn’t merely on the way; it’s already [...]
Be inspired to write
Posted in brave, courage, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, mental toughness, motivation, tagged bravery, courage to write, dissertation coaching, dissertation writing, inspired to write, motivation to write dissertation, Special Olympics, using quotations, writing on April 25, 2011 | 1 Comment »
What inspires you to action? What inspires you to believe? Are you inspired by random quotations? Does the unfamiliar or even familiar quotation give you the evidence you need to trust a writer? Or does it cause you to wonder? Successful writers know that a quotation doesn’t speak for itself. If you’re using a [...]
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 [...]
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 »
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 [...]
