Try a New Location

Got writer's block? Just can't get motivated? Try working in a new location.

Generally, throughout university, I was able to write my papers and study from home, sometimes at a desk and sometimes at my kitchen table. There were times, however, when nothing I did could actually get me going in that environment. On these days, I joked that I needed to "institutionalize" myself by going to the library. The change of surroundings was often enough to help me get writing again or begin committing to memory the historical details of musical compositions.

Today, things haven't changed much. I still often write from home (following my writing ritual), but if I have a looming deadline or there's a hint of procrastination brewing, I'll go to my office to work on my personal research projects. I try to make it as enjoyable as possible, bringing along a French Vanilla from Tim Hortons or going out for lunch to break up the day. Being in a dedicated work environment helps me to be productive, eliminates any distractions that may exist (like laundry or other housekeeping tasks), and allows me to enjoy my free time when I return home after a productive writing session.

So, if you're having trouble powering through in your usual location, why not try something new? A new coffee shop, the local library, a friend's office, the cafe of your local museum -- there are lots of options!

Where's your favourite place to get work done?

Power Through

Are you avoiding reading or writing? Has procrastination taken over? Try a power hour.

I first heard about the "power hour" as a time management strategy and procrastination buster about a year ago. As I recall, it was described to me as a way of completing tasks that you really don't like. You commit to working on a particular task for one hour and at the end of the hour, you can choose whether you continue or not. And if you decide that you're done like dinner, it's a guilt free ending because you were hyper-productive for an hour. I thought this was a great approach for my most hated cleaning tasks (aka all of them).

I really hate cleaning – washing dishes, vacuuming, dusting. Consequently, I avoid it like the plague. The result of this procrastination is that I just end up with a bigger job to tackle – more dishes, more dust, more recyclables to struggle with. Then it becomes overwhelming, which makes it even more difficult for me to get started and I start feeling bad about the situation. To break the cycle, I commit to a power hour. I’ll clean as much as I can in a one hour period and when the hour is up, I’ll do other things I enjoy doing without feeling any guilt. But sometimes I find that I end up cleaning for several hours because once I start and see improvements, I become more motivated to continue. 

Of course, the power hour can be applied to other types of work, including your writing project. Here's one description of how it works.

You could do a power hour of reading, a power hour of planning (preparing an outline), a power hour of writing, a power hour of editing, a power hour of typing your bibliography in the appropriate citation style... you get the picture. You can do a power hour of anything. And then go about the rest of your day guilt-free.

So, if you're overwhelmed by your project or feeling guilty about your lack of progress, why not try committing to one power hour each day? You'll get something done that moves you closer to your goal and for the other 23 hours of the day, you can enjoy life without having to beat yourself up.

Have you done a power hour?

Ask Your Friends for Help

Let's face it, even the most productive and disciplined writers sometimes find it difficult to get motivated. Even I -- the person writing a blog to help you achieve your writing goals -- sometimes hit a wall.

Take Monday, November 2nd, for example. I'd been away for more than a week, I'd had a busy weekend, and the clocks had fallen back, making it dark very early in the evening. I arrived home from work around 3:30pm and was supposed to attend a writing session at 7pm. As it got darker and darker, my sofa got more and more comfortable. By 5:30, I knew that if I didn't get moving soon, I would be trapped in a sofa vortex and I wouldn't go at all.

So, I sent my friend and colleague a message asking if we could change the start time of the writing session. Lucky for me, she agreed that we could meet at 6pm instead of 7pm. I jumped off the sofa, grabbed my laptop, and headed immediately to the car. Soon installed at our writing session, we chatted a bit and wrote a bit and ate a few delicious cookies. Two hours later I had 3 pages of an article written.

It's important to know yourself -- to be able to recognize the signs that you're losing motivation -- and then take action to change things up.

And when motivation fails you, don't be afraid to ask your friends or colleagues for help.

Holidays Are For Writing

So you've got a writing deadline and you need to make some progress on it, but you're finding it difficult to carve out the necessary block of time to really get into it? Lucky for you, Wednesday is a holiday in most areas of Canada.

There's no question that you should take time to remember and to attend services in your community. But for the rest of the day, when classes are cancelled and many stores and offices are closed, you should write. (And if the stores aren't closed in your area, pretend they are!)

A holiday is a big gaping hole in your schedule. Your usual commitments aren't there. You can roll out of bed, stay in your PJs, make a cup of coffee, and get down to business. You can be wildly productive even if you dedicate only half of the day to your writing project (and the other half to a worthy endeavor, like watching a marathon of Suits).

So make the most of your holiday time -- remember and then write!

Coding Your Readings

I was recently asked by a student how to tackle a stack of readings. She was writing a term paper. She knew exactly what questions she had to answer in the essay and basically how the essay would be organized according to sections (thanks to a very detailed assignment description). She had all of her research gathered (articles, chapters, web resources) and I had advised her to print them all to read. But how should she read and take notes to quickly accomplish her task?

I suggested coding. I described a very basic approach that I thought would work. Since she already knew what questions she had to answer and the sections that would be in the paper, I suggested she assign each question/topic a letter (A, B, C) and then make a quick reference sheet that provided an overview of the coding (A = general history, B = business strategy, C = competitive advantage, etc). While reading, if she came upon anything that answered a particular question or fit in a certain section, she could highlight it and make note using the coding established. Then, when she actually went to write the various sections of her term paper, she could quickly scan her readings and pull out all of the pertinent information.

For some people, colour-coding helps here as well. The basic principle remains -- you assign a colour to a question, topic, or theme and then use that to help you pull together information. You can use different coloured highlighters, coloured pencils, or your favourite pens or fine-tip markers. Of course, if you have several different items coded, you have to be sure you have enough different colours in your chosen medium, since you can only use each colour once.

How do you keep track of what you're reading and how it relates to the topics you're researching?

Now is Not the Time to Save Trees

So, you're writing your thesis (or major research paper or dissertation). You've probably got a tonne of articles, book chapters, and other resources to read. Maybe you're trying to save money by reading them off your computer or iPad. Maybe you're trying to avoid "wasting" so much paper. Maybe you're trying to save your back because paper copies are heavy to carry... But really, you should just print them and get on with reading, analyzing, thinking, and writing.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm the first person to say that you should only print what you must, that you should use recycled paper, that you should print on both sides (shrinking the pages so that two can be printed on each side), that you shouldn't waste paper. I'm a big fan of the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle). But this is one of those times when I say, "Print! Print it all!"

There's a practical reason for this: with a print copy, you can highlight important parts and make notes to yourself in the margins. You can colour-code and label. Now, I know many people will say that they can highlight and make notes on electronic copies -- and that is true -- but it's really not the same. Returning to the annotations in an electronic copy of an article can be quite clumsy and time-consuming. The benefit of the hard copy is that after you've done the reading, highlighting, and notating, you can then physically rearrange your sources for the writing process. You could pile them according to topic area, you could stack them in the order you intend to cite them, you could arrange them in any number of ways that suit the task at hand. And as you work through a stack for a particular section of your thesis, you can move them to a discard pile, which can be surprisingly motivating as you actually see your progress (with fewer and fewer articles left to reference).

There is something about the way that we physically interact with our readings and hand-write notes that helps with recall and thought processes. And it certainly can't hurt to give your eyes a rest from all of those glowing screens. Maybe I'm old school on this point, but I really do believe hard copy is better.

So take it from me: now is not the time to save trees. And if you feel guilty, then plant a tree or two when you're finished your thesis.

Writing Rituals

I have a confession to make. It is impossible for me to get any writing done in my office. There are distractions everywhere. Even with the door closed, I can see movement in the hallway. It breaks my concentration. I sit and stare more than I type. The phone rings. The temperature isn't right. Students want to chat. Colleagues pop by. Emails ping. Papers beg to be filed away. There can be no quick trips to the cafeteria to caffeinate because people I haven't seen in months seem to come out of the woodwork on writing days.

And so on writing days, I am most productive when I am home. I have a writing ritual. It developed during my PhD and has served me well. Sure, some say you should write everyday and perhaps that does work for some people. But for me, the blitz marathon writing session works. I'm in a hyper-focussed state. I'm productive. I get it done.

Writing for me is best done at a dining room table. I attribute this to the fact that as a kid, I sat at the dining room table with my sister and mother (a teacher) while we all did our "homework." At the same table, my father (an entrepreneur) balanced the books or prepared estimates related to his construction business. That's where I developed study habits and learned to focus on the task at hand. During my undergraduate degree, I installed myself at an aunt's dining room table when writing papers. She totally got it. And I admit to being a little lost in my master's degree when there was no dining room table at which to work (I lived in residence). Large tables in libraries served as substitutes.

The space is helpful. I spread out my materials around my laptop and still have room for a notepad to write ideas and reminders.

I also have a particular coffee that I drink when writing: Illy. It's delicious, but expensive. It's saved only for special occasions — like writing. I make a pot and a promise: I will begin writing before I start the second cup. It hasn't failed me yet.

And then I transform into a marathoner, writing for hours on end. I write from the outline in my head or notes scrawled on paper, and then revise and expand. I always print a copy when editing because I can more clearly see how to re-order arguments, sentences, paragraphs, and sections.

It's my writing process and it works for me. And so I feel very strongly that it's important to establish your own writing ritual -- something that works for you and makes the process more enjoyable.



* This blog was originally published on the Cape Breton University website in February 2014.