* Do not press your computer until you know exactly what you should have it. I usually press it on

Myself and a few female graduate student colleagues had the great pleasure of spending a few precious days at Villa Salin to discuss our research. We talked a lot about motivation and how to do to keep it up, but also about what happens when you do not succeed. Because even if it feels as if it were the only one that goes down in depressions and watching cute cat videos instead of medieval records, we are all on the ground sometimes. It becomes, at least for me, quite quickly a vicious circle. I do not work enough so I have to feel guilty so I eat so I get a bad conscience so I can not be bothered to work enough and so on. After a few weeks, I am not just a few pounds heavier, but also so much of the work that I no longer remember where to start.
So we talked about how to break the cycle and work quickly and efficiently without for the sake of working himself to death. Julia told me about James Haytons lecture on how to write his thesis in three months (without going crazy, tjohopp) and we looked devoutly at. Now probably no one who works in the humanities pretentionen to write his thesis in three months. slub It assumes as well that you have a lab and a certain amount of verifiable data and results that can be completed slub fixed the day you sit down and write. In humanities, one can always continuously go back to their sources, discuss, check and read again.
But the point really is it that you have to take control of their own work and that the only one who can do it yourself. You have to return to it where the love for his subject that made it initially sought leave to spend four years with only the subject but it does not guarantee a job, money or sex life even when you are finished. And so should you break the cycle. Here are my top tips, which I as of tomorrow (Famous Last Words) will implement:
* Do not press your computer until you know exactly what you should have it. I usually press it on the way into the kitchen to make breakfast. Not that it can boil tea, but because it is a habit. What I should do now is additionally finish reading a book I must review, so the computer would not be needed at all (take it easy, breathe in the bag, can not live without Internet).
* Check email only after you worked two hours. Anyone who has something very urgent to call. I check my email on average maybe 70 times per day. But it must of course not (breathe slub in the bag, can do without email for a few hours).
* Set reasonable goals for each day and take the day off when you are finished with the case. Effective working when I'm in one of those doldrums, and now I am uncomfortably honest, maybe 1 hour per day. The rest of the time I slösurfar, cleans out of that cabinet is actually very messy, sorts the pens, check my fucking email, read what others write on Facebook and Twitter and blogs and the rest of the Internet. If I instead slub would work effectively for two hours to gain access to my email, I have before I fall down in prokrastinationsmönstret actually worked twice as long as I otherwise would have done.
* Time Objectives should whenever possible be writing a certain number of words. If you write 300 word dissertation per day (which is pretty low, 500 is no major problem) has filled its ordkvot of 300 days (about 250 pages dissertation - notes are not included in the 300 words). It is possible to do.
* Do not be afraid of hollows! Things happen that you can not help and that you have to get through, for example, such as that one's cat dies and you go down, but by taking control of their own work, you can avoid the vicious circle, stronger and more efficient and with a kitten on the other side.
Related This entry was posted on October 24, 2013, the historian's stories and tagged dissertation, Tip of the Day! , If my supervisor reading this, let me just say that I have written very effectively, Stipendiatliv. Bookmark the permalink. 16 comments Post navigation
The same applies if you are freelance. But then, there is often a deadline slub to ensure that they are working diligently. And I've learned not to feel guilty for calmer job periods when I sit and slösurfar. Besides, I can always excuse myself to general education and language development are important things in my work, so it is important to read eg blogs and magazines online.
Good tips! My problem is that I can be very good for some time and basically follow the tips to the letter, but once it begins to slip, do it properly and then it takes several slub months to come back again.
I have had problems with my arms for a while now (easily become slub so if you sit half the day at the computer day in and day out ...) which meant that I no longer sit at the computer at home to any great extent