Yay I am working again :)
This 10 minute malarky is great stuff!
Yesterday I did a total of 1 hour, 10 mins work and by the end of the day had written 500 words. That is brilliant. The amount of time I spent working was disappointing, until I realised that I am not marked on hours spent at my desk, but on the work I produce!
I think not writing to a script I had in my head has helped too. Bolker (15 mins a day lady) advocates freewriting a lot, which is really the opposite of my strict writing and editing style which has actually managed to strangle any creativity I might have - because nothing I write is right. Now, however, I have to tell myself that I have my subheadings and am now filling them in with my notes, quotations and arguments, and will edit it all and sort it out later. For now, it is about getting the text down.
It is quite easy, although I am not cocky and am aware of how hard it is to stay on task. My concentration is better today though, and my general awareness of my chapter and what I want to say. Momentum really is the key.
I have also decided to discard my self imposed deadline of 12 Nov, as it is stressing me out. Instead I will hand in when I can, or 31 Dec and we will move in the middle of editing. I have personal deadlines of wanting my lit review and methodology chapters done for when we go on holiday in Sept (6 weeks tomorrow) which are achievable. I will then only have the intro and concl to write from scratch :) I can have my sup reading them while I am away. I decided to move while we are finishing because then I will have an extra 6 weeks to work. Even if I take two weeks off to move I would still have an extra month than if I decide to hand in early. Having the space really helps in my mind too, as I am not using a deadline as a whip to force myself to work (and failing) but instead am just concentrating on my small deadlines and every day targets of 10 mins a day, hopefully culminating in 500 words.
I feel so much better about it all.
DB and Bean are off to the South on Friday so I shall have the whole of Sat, Sun, Mon and I think Tues too to work. I am really, really looking forward to the freedom of being able to work as and when. I plan to work from 10-6, but doing the 10 mins thing until I think I can achieve a bigger goal without freaking out :)
x J
This 10 minute malarky is great stuff!
Yesterday I did a total of 1 hour, 10 mins work and by the end of the day had written 500 words. That is brilliant. The amount of time I spent working was disappointing, until I realised that I am not marked on hours spent at my desk, but on the work I produce!
I think not writing to a script I had in my head has helped too. Bolker (15 mins a day lady) advocates freewriting a lot, which is really the opposite of my strict writing and editing style which has actually managed to strangle any creativity I might have - because nothing I write is right. Now, however, I have to tell myself that I have my subheadings and am now filling them in with my notes, quotations and arguments, and will edit it all and sort it out later. For now, it is about getting the text down.
It is quite easy, although I am not cocky and am aware of how hard it is to stay on task. My concentration is better today though, and my general awareness of my chapter and what I want to say. Momentum really is the key.
I have also decided to discard my self imposed deadline of 12 Nov, as it is stressing me out. Instead I will hand in when I can, or 31 Dec and we will move in the middle of editing. I have personal deadlines of wanting my lit review and methodology chapters done for when we go on holiday in Sept (6 weeks tomorrow) which are achievable. I will then only have the intro and concl to write from scratch :) I can have my sup reading them while I am away. I decided to move while we are finishing because then I will have an extra 6 weeks to work. Even if I take two weeks off to move I would still have an extra month than if I decide to hand in early. Having the space really helps in my mind too, as I am not using a deadline as a whip to force myself to work (and failing) but instead am just concentrating on my small deadlines and every day targets of 10 mins a day, hopefully culminating in 500 words.
I feel so much better about it all.
DB and Bean are off to the South on Friday so I shall have the whole of Sat, Sun, Mon and I think Tues too to work. I am really, really looking forward to the freedom of being able to work as and when. I plan to work from 10-6, but doing the 10 mins thing until I think I can achieve a bigger goal without freaking out :)
x J
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