By calculating your own churn rate, you can determine, precisely, how effective you are and how this effectiveness changes over time and different types of projects. The details of this calculation are as follows:

1. Make a list of active projects that are important to you to complete. These should not be projects that have deadlines. Instead, make them the optional work that would really help you get ahead if completed. Each should require around 1 – 2 weeks of fairly regular attention to complete. If it requires more, break it up into smaller chunks. If it requires less, don’t include it — it’s a task, not a project. Overall, you should have between 4 – 8 projects on this list.

2. Over the next 3 -6 weeks, try to work only on the active projects on your list. You’ll still have to complete deadline-driven work, of course, but don’t get seduced by a new idea and add it to your list until you’ve completed what is already there.

3. After around 3 weeks you can start calculating your churn rate as often as you like. The formula is as follows:

CR = [(number of completed projects from list)/(days elapsed since start of list)] * 100

Source

For practical step-by-step tips on how to overcome dissertation inertia and a great guide for taking those initial steps in the writing and research process you will want to check out this wonderful resource on dissertations, which I’ve found very helpful.

There’s so much useful info in that article, but one of the thing I learned is there are a few roadblocks that commonly pop-up with dissertation writing that prevent us from getting the deed done:

• Not knowing how to do it. Does it help to know that every grad student feels that way? A dissertation is not just another research paper, but it’s a completely new level of writing that few of us have ever encountered before. It’s comparable to writing a book, with no one watching over us setting deadlines or evaluating how we’re coming along. This is our first significant independent project, and the thought of it can be overwhelming.
• Procrastination. Probably the hugest reason why we procrastinate is because we’re not sure how to move forward, we don’t know what to expect or what’s expected of us, and so we push our start date back further and further. Resisting the dissertation marathon that lies ahead only creates stress. It’s important to do something to start the process. By taking one baby step in the direction of starting the dissertation, we can get the ball rolling in our favor and the steps after that become easier.
• Not having enough time. I guess another way to think about this would be to say that we have not organized our schedules in a way that would allow us enough time to do the dissertation work. All grad school students are busy, some have jobs and families and for everyone it’s hard to find the time, but it is possible. It takes reorganizing our priorities so that we’re able to consistently work on this project rather to completion.
• Doubt. Writing and presenting our dissertations is a huge mountain to climb, and on the way up that mountain we’re bound to get tired and think “What am I doing up here? I wanna go home.” There is nothing wrong with having some doubt creep up–in fact it’s completely normal. It’s an opportunity for us to re-examine what our goals are, why we wanted them in the first place and what we’re willing to do to achieve them.

I’ve heard it said that writing the dissertation marks the transition from student to scholar. It helps to know that whatever anguish you’re going through as you run the dissertation marathon, that it is serving the purpose of transforming you into the academic that you want to be.

Photo Dissertation

Then, before we know it it’s 2am and we have a major paper due in 8 hours and we’re scurrying to the finish line again! Or it’s the weekend before an exam, and it’s like “What? How did this sneak up on me?”

Does this sound like a familiar scenario? Unfortunately for most of us it is . Take heart–even the most organized, productive students sometimes fall prey to the procrastination monkey jumping on our backs. Mere mortals that we are, it seems like we’re constantly in danger of falling into a downward spiral of avoiding things that we know we should be doing.

Sometimes it helps to sidestep the dreaded procrastination monkey if we understand why it’s there in the first place. JohnPlaceOnline lists the top 11 causes and cures of procrastination as being:

• Complicated-task anxiety: Break big, complicated tasks into smaller pieces. Complete a starter task, no matter how small.
• Fear of imperfection: Accept that perfection is
  rarely attainable and seldom necessary. You’re a person, not a robot.
  Use the 80/20 rule whenever appropriate.
• Indecision: Determine your decision-making criteria, then set a deadline for your decision. Ask a friend to hold you accountable.
• Priority confusion: Distinguish obligations from options. What are you really responsible for? List and prioritize tasks.
• Boredom from minutiae: Automate simple repetitive tasks whenever possible.
• Lack of focus: Minimize distractions. Check e-mail and voicemail only twice per day instead of every 5 minutes. Find aquiet room where you can concentrate. Resist the urge to keep taking breaks.
• Poor organizational skills: Clean your work area. Put tools and utensils in their proper place so you can find them when you need them.
• Laziness: Remind yourself of the consequences of procrastination. Resist the urge to be a couch potato. Try to complete several small tasks to provide a feeling of accomplishment. Reward
  yourself.
• Lack of energy: Maintain a regular sleep routine. Eat healthy. Exercise regularly. Do not skip breakfast.
• Early morning lag: Before you stop working each day, make a list of the tasks you want to begin first thing the following morning so you can hit the ground running the next day.
• Post-lunch fatigue: Before leaving for lunch, make a list of the things you plan to do when you get back so you can pick up where you left off. Avoid eating a heavy lunch.

I can say ditto to all those great observations and cures. For myself with writing papers and such the thing that causes me to procrastinate is that I sometimes feel overwhelmed by all steps needed to complete the task–the research, the outline, the first draft, the everything.

I conquer this by just forcing myself to dive in right away–I have the goal of getting the paper done before the due date. It’s just a mental game I play with myself to spur me to action. Really the first step is the hardest, and it’s downhill from there.

What about you guys–What are the things that cause YOU to procrastinate and what do you think the cure is?

Photo: Squirrel monkey

Professional writers will tell you, organizing your writing time is paramount to a successful writing project. Especially if you’re working on a huge project like your dissertation, you need to get serious about scheduling your writing time.

There’s an excellent article at Study Hacks called How to Schedule Your Writing Like a Professional Writer, and they’ve done an amazing job of collecting advice from several masters of long form non-fiction.

Apply the professional writing tips to your college or grad school writing (or any writing at all) by following these steps:

1. Spread out work on an assignment over several days. Coming at it fresh increases its quality.
2. During these days, get up early. Probably earlier than you are used to. Say, around 7 or 8 am. (This means these days will be weekdays, probably early in the week so you can avoid temptations to party the night before).
3. Have a mini-ritual to jump start the day. It should probably involve coffee. Breakfast. Maybe the morning paper. Don’t take too long.
4. Go to the most isolated place possible.
5. To get your mind ready to think, review the last pages you wrote.
6. Work for two or three hours. Then stop.
7. Follow this habit regularly. Don’t write during other times. Don’t write in public places. Don’t start writing the day before.

Truly, as someone who writes for a living I found the Study Hacks post very helpful, and I encourage you to read over the whole thing. For myself I find that early morning writing with a little ritual like tea, breakfast, mediation or exercise, creates an atmosphere of optimum concentration and creativity. I could definitely benefit by taking their other tips to heart though .