Focus, brain.

October 26, 2009 3:35 AM

I've written 10 of 20 pages of dense literary research in short spurts here and there. How do I spend all day tomorrow finishing up the rest? As a lifelong procrastinator I'm fixated by the fact that my paper isn't due for another 7 weeks, but I'd rather complete the bulk of the work tomorrow. How should I prepare to do challenging intellectual work for long stretches of time?

Tomorrow I am taking off a whole day to write at the local library from 9AM until 8PM. The entire project is due December 13th. Deadlines are my academic drug, and since my brain knows the entire body of work isn't due for another seven weeks, it has a hard time snapping together and focusing now. It would much rather dawdle until December 7th rolls around and then grandly rise to the occasion. I've been getting up early in the morning and going to the local Starbucks before work and writing a paragraph here and there. This helps me focus because I know I have to be at my desk by 9:30 to do completely unrelated work, and the mini deadlines give me a tiny push to actually concentrate. Yet my work is a little incoherent because I keep writing in spurts, so I'd do well to just bang out the rest of the rough draft tomorrow and spend the rest of my time tightening the work. Furthermore, I'd like to spend Halloween guilt-free and not worrying about how I've wasted another weekend (I always waste whole weekends) out with my friends.

I'm easily, powerfully distracted by internet searches, which I've combated using LeechBlock. I cannot do work at home, as I'll wander into other rooms, take multiple showers, flip through books, etc, so I'm going to the library. I will pack meals to eat in the library pavilion. I will wear comfortable clothes and not drink too much coffee. I will bring a not-terribly-interesting book to skim when my brain starts flagging.

What else should I do to ensure that I won't idiotically squander a day off from my job by weaseling my way around LeechBlock? Put another way, how can I squash my procrastinating habits for one damn day so I can rid myself of weeks of incremental, social life-killing work?

posted by Viola to health & fitness (20 comments total)

Also (and this is far less of a concern than anything in my original post) if any of you NYC mefites are reading this, I'd love recommendations on the best libraries in Manhattan or Brooklyn to work. Preferably a library where rowdy kids get shushed. Meanly.
posted by Viola at 3:43 AM on October 26

You've asked a fundamental question about motivation.

I am studying 16-18 hour days as well and I understand how you feel. (like right now!)

Motivation is so critical to achieve anything significant.

Here are things I find useful:

1) Build a schedule and fill in every hour. Put it on paper. That will be your reference for each hour. Ideally, each hour will have a concrete goal achieved.

2) For every hour, take a 5-10 minute break and do something entirely different. Go for a walk, stretch, do some push ups, do some deep breathing. Let the brain rest before you tense it up again.

3) Do an hour of exercise a day, cardio, aerobics, pilates, whatever. A gym is not mandatory. Get a few good DVDs and put them on and sweat. Exercise is good for the brain - it is proven. Do some yoga in the morning.

4) Clean up the area where you study. I study at home and it clears the mind when I have a clean place.

That's it for now.

I also have to ask myself the reasons I am working so hard for. Do I really love what I am doing?

I am also interested in other people's ideas on how to motivate oneself. Its so critical.

For people of ALL ages...children to adults to seniors..

You can do SO much in life if you are motivated.

Just imagine yourself highly motivated in the past...how can one keep that feeling?
posted by simpleton at 4:01 AM on October 26 [2 favorites]

Don't know if you're on a Windows or Mac machine, but Darkroom/Wrietroom (Lifehacker post about Darkroom with link to their article about Writeroom) gives you a background color and text when using it full screen.

Since mini deadlines seem to work for you then give yourself some throughout the day.

Finally, find a friend who will hold you accountable. Have them punish/reward you (whichever way works better in your head) for the amount of work you get done.
posted by theichibun at 4:04 AM on October 26

Put another way, how can I squash my procrastinating habits for one damn day so I can rid myself of weeks of incremental, social life-killing work?

Sounds like you've got it figured out, for tomorrow at least. Before you go to the library though, I'd make sure I have all the reference materials and papers I'd need for the day - that way you DO NOT have to get on the internet or go gather books and get distracted. Also, l'd focus on the quantity instead of the quality of your writing for the day - aim for 25-30 pages and revise as you go along, as you've planned. As you've said, you aren't worried about making your work perfect tomorrow - go in expecting it not to be - just meet your goal.

I will bring a not-terribly-interesting book to skim when my brain starts flagging.

I'm not sure this is the right strategy to pursue. Your breaks, that you should schedule - should be a reward for what you have accomplished during your concerted mental effort it is taking you to write the paper. While I wouldn't reward myself with an internet break, I would choose something that is not punishing.

You focusing on the revision process is going to be the hard part though - as much as writing is tough work - good revision is tougher. To keep yourself on focus for that, I'd set the paper on the desk each night before you go to bed and when you wake up commit at least 10 minutes a day to working on the revising part. Some days, you'll naturally work more than 10 minutes, because you are engaged with it, but just meet that 10 minutes each morning and I'm sure you'll be done in time.
posted by bigmusic at 4:13 AM on October 26

Make a minute by minute agenda. When I do what you want to do, I have a notepad/textedit document open that looks similar to:

09:00-09:20: Work on outline
09:20-09:30: Internet
09:30-10:00: Work on outline
10:00-10:15: Internet, make tea
10:15-10:40: Introduction

....and so on.

I find that if you seriously plot out your day and then stick to it religiously, then you get more work done in each 20 minute burst than if you just sit down and vow not to use the internet/move/rest for 11 hours. Also, time built in for internet/tea/stretching is good for giving your mind a break.
posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel at 4:15 AM on October 26

Also, don't drink coffee. Drink green tea and constantly. That way you have a constant low-level stream of caffeine, and maintain a sort of alertness AND have something to sip on at all times.
posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel at 4:17 AM on October 26

Is it necessary to set the bar so high as to set yourself up for 11 solid hours of writing? Why not four hours a day for each of three days, or some such breakdown? The marathon session idea sounds like you're trying to write exactly as you would if you'd procrastinated, only sooner. Why?

Check out Tim Pychyl's iProcrastinate podcast.
posted by jon1270 at 5:16 AM on October 26

Make a minute by minute agenda. When I do what you want to do, I have a notepad/textedit document open that looks similar to:

09:00-09:20: Work on outline
09:20-09:30: Internet
09:30-10:00: Work on outline
10:00-10:15: Internet, make tea
10:15-10:40: Introduction

....and so on.

Also, make sure that you record how you actually spend your time. That way, you can hold yourself accountable by having a record of how much slacking (or, hopefully, not) that you did that day. It's the same principle as recording what you eat: people can snack and snack and snack and not be aware of how much they ate until they actually start writing it down and say "oh god that's a lot of food."

When I lived in NYC, I was always enamored of researching and writing in the Rose Main Reading Room in the main NYPL at 42nd and 5th. It was always quiet, but maybe a bit too bustly. YMMV.
posted by The Michael The at 5:19 AM on October 26

What works best for me is Pomodoro/InstantBoss.

It is a pretty simple technique that basically involves just starting a timer and spending the next small time frame (15-30 minutes) advancing the project in some way - even if just a little bit. Then take a 5 minute break. Rinse and repeat. I generally find that this is all I need to build momentum. Once I get a sense of progress my resistance to getting stuff done is much lower. Starting is the hard part.

At the end you can count the pomodors/work sessions and feel good or bad depending on how you have done.
posted by srboisvert at 5:49 AM on October 26 [1 favorite]

Do you have a really good outline yet? I don't mean like:

1. Introduction
2. Body 1 (topic)
3. Body 2 (topic), etc.

but more like this (say you're writing about the representation of social institutions in the Odyssey):

4. Marriage examples in the Odyssey: is there a single archetype?
4a. Agamemnon and Klytemnestra: cautionary marriage tale
4a1: show up at X,Y, Z (page or line numbers)
4a2: repetition of the story of A.'s death shows X,Y, and Z
4b: Menelaos and Helen: resilience of marriage
4b1: show up at X,Y, Z (page or line numbers)
4b2: is their marriage as solid as it appears? Evidence: X,Y, Z
4c: Odysseus and Penelope
4c1: evidence for or against the strength of their marriage: X,Y,Z
4c2: how does it compare to other marriages?
4d: can these pieces of evidence be used to support my thesis? why or why not?

When I procrastinate on academic papers, I've found that it's usually because I'm not totally sure of my argument. Once I think through every point I want to make and am convinced that I'm proving something interesting, I start to really enjoy writing. A really detailed outline is the way to get to that point for me.
posted by oinopaponton at 6:18 AM on October 26 [9 favorites]

Motivational quotes don't hurt either....

http://www.quotationspage.com/mqotd.html
posted by simpleton at 6:33 AM on October 26 [1 favorite]

A strategy which works for me is to just "assume the position", as in, the writing position. Once all source material is collected, tea made, email off, sit down, feet nailed to the floor, fingers on the keyboard for a solid hour or two. This is something akin to "90% of success is just showing up".
posted by hannahlambda at 6:40 AM on October 26

When I need to get work done, I head for the stacks in my university's library.
Old school desks with nothing to distract you but amusing graffiti. The traffic in and out of the stacks is pretty light and when I need a break, I can walk up and down the rows for a couple minutes.

I find that location makes a huge difference in my productivity.
posted by mmmbacon at 7:15 AM on October 26

Get away from anywhere that has internet access. If you need to search something, do it later when you're done your work and just put a square bracket placeholder in your writing to remind you to do it later. The internet is totally the bane of my existence and my academic writing, so much so that I've had my partner take away our ethernet cable during the day so I could get some work done at home. I work much better when the internet isn't right there to distract me.

I've also used a Mac app called Self Control which locks you out of the internet for a pre-set amount of time that I've found pretty helpful.
posted by pised at 8:44 AM on October 26

The best work library, bar none, is the main branch of the NYPL in Midtown. It's quiet but not so quiet that you'll get annoyed by someone with a scratchy pencil sitting three tables over. It's impressive. It's got free web access. And you can do all sorts of additional research there, if you need to.

I'd suggest setting up a "challenge" for yourself if you hope to accomplish so much tomorrow. You could tell some close friends what you're doing, and add a consequence/rewards system. Do something silly, like tweeting every hour about your progress. Ask someone you trust to check in on you (in a nice way).

As for rewards/consequences, you can always decide you'll do something nice for yourself or buy yourself a present if you meet your goal. You don't want the consequence of not meeting your goal to be too dire, but it shouldn't be something you can easily brush off, either.
posted by brina at 8:54 AM on October 26

This is all really excellent advice, thank you! I like the idea of sipping green tea, except I worry that I'm such a monstrous caffeine addict that I might crash early without my usual espresso. Also, I'll be at a library so I presume that unless it also has a cafe or allows outside beverages, I can't bring green tea from elsewhere.

I'm an outline freak, oinapapontan, which is the only reason I've managed to eke out 10 pages thusfar in random spurts during the morning.

I shall do stretches and breathing exercises! My boyfriend has been enlisted to enforce a rewards/punishment system, though we can't think of a decent punishment under the circumstances.

Also, I really really like the idea of getting 10 minutes of internet for every 50 minutes of work time. Does anyone know how to rig that up on LeechBlocker?

Again, thanks for all the pointers.
posted by Viola at 10:01 AM on October 26

Outlining helps me a lot with my academic writing (which I now do a version of professionally). It allows me to pick up at various places and see how all of my sections interact. If something isn't clicking for me, I can flag it and come back to it. I work up my outline to a point where paragraphs of prose start to form, and I eventually just end up cutting and pasting those paragraphs into the body of my document. Not having one giant thing to accomplish helps my procrastination quite a bit, especially since I can easily pick up where I left off if I take a break, say, to go check askmefi.
posted by craven_morhead at 10:22 AM on October 26

This has been a great thread! As someone recently returned to grad school. I need all the help I can get. Even if I'm not in New York!

If you go into LeechBlock options, you can select a time limit to block X minutes in every [time-period]. Sure, it'll let you browse at any point during that hour, but once your ten minutes are up, you're done.
posted by canine epigram at 11:51 AM on October 26

I did something like this with a 20-ish page paper when I was in grad school a few years ago, only I did wait until the day before it was due. What I did was divide the day into chunks: 3 hours of work, an hour off. I worked from 9-12, 1-4, 5-8, and 9 to midnight. And voila! I had a paper done. How you structure your day might depend on how long you know you can work at a stretch, and how good you are at getting back to work after a break. You might do better with shorter work chunks and shorter breaks, unless making yourself sit back down to work again is always a struggle, in which case fewer but longer, like I did, would be best.
posted by not that girl at 1:20 PM on October 26

With longer papers I ended up writing huge chunks by hand. I also would write down relevant quotes as a skimmed/read through source material. I just cannot be by a computer if I don't already have more than half of something written down.
posted by shinyshiny at 3:20 PM on October 26