Procrastinators Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from chronic procrastination.

Finishing my Thesis

11 August, 2012 - 6:33am - thesis

Hi, I gave a (very long!) introduction in the introductions section - "Pulling myself back from the Brink". (http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/4281) I am going to keep a log here of each day. So that I have some encouragement and record of how I am doing with getting to the end of my long due thesis. 

11 August 2012

Most of the day was spent procrastinating watching tv or on the internet. I was worrying about not knowing how to start my final chapter of my thesis. It is 9.30pm now. My behaviour today has cost me $71 in tuition fees today.  

I read the The Little Guide to Un-Procrastination by Leo Babauta. I am have decided to face my fears and conquer this problem slowly but surely. 

I will start working in 10min slots from now for one hour and go to bed by 10.45, so that I can wake up at 6.30 everyday from tomorrow onwards.

Any other academics in here? 

 

‹ BEHAVIOR "A" FOR DO IT NOW MAKE A SCHEDULE DAILY 1-5 MINS hidden_motives' progress report ›

13 August 2012

thesis - 13 Aug 2012 - 12:32am

Yesterday I started well, but then i had an impulse to turn on my modem and then i kept surfing internet. I could not control my impulse and nip it in the bud. Then I felt more anxious and I tried to unrationally fix my anxiety by turning on tv. I ended up watching two movies.

When I calmed down by evening and started writing, I was able to write. I learnt that I should fight, fight and not give in to the impulse to cave in, especially when the thought is just forming in my head.

 I can come back at any time. And just do 10mins at a time.

 I was teaching today. My plan is to work from now 4pm onwards - which gives me 5 hours of solid work. I will try and break it down into smallest chunks and deal with just that. Will update tonight or tomorrow morning.  

So I did a little bit of

thesis - 13 Aug 2012 - 6:07am

So I did a little bit of work. I am at 515 words out of approximately 6500 which I have want to finish by Friday. This is the introduction of my thesis, so im meant to write it carefully. But at this point, I think I should be focussing on getting words on paper and then leaving the editing to the end, which is generally bound to be easier.

I haven't been keeping tabs of my 10min slots to monitor my productivity. I think I will start from now. Even if I prorastinate, i will still count the total 10min slots at the end of the day.

It's 8.05pm now , so I will try put in 4 more 10 min slots  (targetting 35 words each) before I take a break and head to the library and borrow out all the books I need for this chapter.

Update: Yay it's 9.05pm and I managed to put in 4 slots of 10 mins of work with a few minutes break in between. I'm so impressed by myself. It actually felt good as I ticked off 4 10min slots one after another. Excited and hopeful! I'm going to get some dinner and books from library. I will put in another 5 10 min slots tonight before heading home.  

 

unplug that modem

Hypatia - 13 Aug 2012 - 3:45am

Hi thesis.I so feel for you - I used to be hooked on an online roleplaying game, and it got in the way of all sorts of things I needed to do.  One thing that helped was when I had a task that I really HAD to do, I used to remove the cable from the modem to the computer and hide it at the back of a cupboard so I would only be able to get back online once I'd gone to the trouble of getting it all plugged in again.  I don't know if it would help for you

 

H.

Hi Hypatia, I do that

thesis - 13 Aug 2012 - 4:58am

Hi Hypatia, I do that sometimes, but the problem is most of my research work requires accessing academic articles, google books online. I now use a software called stayfocusd on google chrome to block all unncessary sites like youtube, familiar news sites etc, but i still get on random news sites that i hvnt blocked by searching for stuff on google when i really am propelled (it seems) by the urge to procrastinate. 

I will unplug the cable for the TV though tonight.  

12 August 2012

thesis - 11 Aug 2012 - 7:45pm

I couldn't get out of bed till 7.30 although I slept on time. I started work by 8.30. I did 3 10 min slots and then got distracted. it is 10.45am now.

 I was feeling anxious about the whole pile of work and tuitiion fees due to my procrastination and then I tried to fix that anxiety by turning on the internet. It did not make me feel better. I only feel better when I finish each 10 min slots. Trying to feel better by surfing internet is like trying to cool down by holding a piece of hot coal in my hand. Go back and see your bliss. Your bliss is in those 10mins. You feel good after each 10 mins. Nothing else matters.

 I am going to go and work on one 10 min slot now. That is easy. 

11 August 2012

thesis - 11 Aug 2012 - 7:51am

Well, after usually wasting whole day, I would feel desperate, terrible, anxious and sometimes almost in tears at the end of the day.

Today my determination to make a change made me productive even if it was for two 10 min slots with dinner sandwiched between. I wrote 130 words and have a beginning to the introduction of my thesis!

This strategy seems like a keeper - I have decided to write it by long hand and then copy verbatim on to Word without making any changes. Any changes will be made at the end, so I don't get stuck and can get as many words on paper as possible.

Facing my fears through 10 min slots. It made me feel reallly good to concentrate fully for 10mts. Tomorrow starts at 6.30pm. I will write 35 words every 10mts.