Vivek's Info

“I put all my shoes in front of me and polished them”, “I cleaned my curtains”, “My house was never as clean as it was when I had to write my dissertation”. These were the most interesting revelations by a panel on surviving the dissertation that was organised as a part of a course I audited recently. The tendency to putt-off writing is just incredible. I never feel prepared enough, and when I do get to writing, I never quite feel as if I’ve done a job good enough. Every now and then I do a reasonable outline but never get to finish it since there are parts that I am unhappy with. As a result I’ve all those unfinished papers and unsent assignments. It’s not that I don’t work reasonably hard, but the lurking unhappiness makes me put off things forever. And very often, when this cycle gets on me, I reach the office in the morning and start on an elaborate routine of reading e-mails, newspapers and get totally distracted for the day.

When my cycles hit a low (that it does every now and then) I need a dose of revisiting and taking stock of my time management. Normally I do this by reading a book on time management or something around it. This time, I turned to You Tube and found this nice discussion with Julie Morganton on her book Never check email in the morning. The talk was pleasant and it was nice to refocus on some of the mistakes I keep slipping into. Most of the ideas she discusses are not entirely new, but I guess one does not revisit such talks or books to just learn new things – but to create a space to think and review what one’s doing. I’ve linked the talk below so that I can revisit and so can other friends who share the problem with me.

The talk is not directly addressed to a grad student, but some of the issues she discusses are of relevance.

[ev type="youtube" data="D3iwcU7lLx4"][/ev]

Related posts:

1. Frust444rat4ion Frustration is all about small things Frustration 4444i4s a4l444l44 4a4bou4t 44small thin4gs444 44 444444444444444444 444444444444444444444444444444444444444444. For example your key board going bonkers and typing 4...
2. Lantern & the sea: a dream to make dissertation writing fun This is the fourth post I am writing today when I should be writing my paper. The term is about to end and I just...
3. I don’t feel like reading For the last three or four months, I have just not felt like reading anything. I have not stopped reading…but that which I read has...
4. Dissertation troubles & the importance of knowing oneself Ph.D. is a long haul & often a tiresome journey. Knowing oneself well can make the process fun, quick & worthwhile I audited a wonderful...
5. Time Management for an undisciplined fellow! My efforts to set priorities and work by a schedule were constantly defeated – often leading to a sense of desperation. But funnily, each time...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.