How to Beat Procrastination

and Finally Write Your Thesis

1. Change the way you think about your thesis
a. Stop thinking about the result (commit to a schedule and the result will
take care of itself)
b. Nonattachment to results is the single most powerful mindset switch you
can make (think something huge, like writing 50 pages or 30,000 words,
this is what puts you in a state of overwhelm)
c. Think:- "I need to commit to one hour per day”

2. Instill a habit of writing, make it work every single day

a. Find trigger that instill the habit (make a routine like after watering plant, I
have to start writing)
b. Reward yourself after 1 or 2 hours of writing (massage, watching a movie,
skipping)

3. Visualize your productivity -writing hours (Paperclips strategies)

a. One glass of full paperclips and one empty glass. Put one paperclip into
empty glass if you do 1 hour of writing thesis.

4. Beating resistance
a. Simple just go through the motion of getting started and start as small as
possible
i. Open the laptop, open the Word document and write a sentence.
ii. If you really don’t want to do, just sit down and do 5 minutes of it or
just read notes.

5. Bouncing back
a. When you fail to stick to the schedule, make the failure as small as
possible. If you fail to do your 1 hour writing for the day, then at least sit
down and write a paragraph or do ten minutes. Even if it's just writing a
sentence, just get it done.
b. Make a commitment to someone (submit draft to SV)
c. Design your environment for success - you need to make it as easy as
possible to follow through on your dissertation.
i. If possible have a dedicated work area
ii. Leave the dissertation file open on your computer so that as soon as
you turn it on, it's there.
iii. Remove all communication apps and log out of facebook and
Instagram
iv. Have water on your desk.