Is anyone finding that it is even harder to motivate yourself for the summer months, with no-one about and the feeling that you shouldn't be either? Of course the weather ain't helping either (without giving too much away, its chronic at the mo - so much for "it'll be a good August")
Really feeling bad as got into a habit of not getting out of bed until 10.30-11.00 and then doing sweet FA for the rest of the day - ya wouldn't mind but I actually know what I am meant to be doing (which was a big problem for a while) but just can't force myself.
I don't know about ye but if it was a case that you knew your work was somehow valued, you'd put a bit of effort in i.e. no good you being regimental about routines and deadlines if your work is only subjected to a cursory glance 5 minutes before a meeting that meanders all over the place.
Ch**t - I'm bitter! Maybe I should change my name to Lemon :-s


Gonna break down the major tasks into ones I can do in an hour (even if it is as simple as editing one paragraph) and do that on a daily basis.

I have a lot of problems to work in the summer... During the day it is too hot to concentrate, so there only stays the evening. But then I usually stay awake very long to enjoy the coolness and of course - I sleep in the early morning hours and wake up when my flat is a boiling hell :-s and it starts again
But I have a good trick for getting up in the morning: I put my mobile (I use it as alarm clock) next to the waterboiler in the kitchen - yes, my flat is VERY small - so when it is making noise I have to get up and when I am already close to the waterboiler, I can make coffee ;)

Neena - Crafty indeed. Where are all those alarm clocks/coffee makers from the '70s when you need them?

Think the whole thing of setting and recording your progress might work - perhaps on a weekly basis rather than a daily basis. At least it will show where you are slipping up

Well, a bit prouder of myself - I think I know how somehow to interpret Impact Factors (why the fudge don't they have the "stars" rating for journals or is it the academic case of complicating the obvious??). Sorry for the digression.

Record my work? Well, I skip the work easily... What do you think how fast I skip the work to manage the work? :D I think I have to accept my strange way of working. It is very impulsive, I get obsessed and I read and write like crazy and then there come times of inactivity. I was always like that, maybe I should keep it. See if it brings me through this Ph. D - process.
There are machines that wake you and give you coffee at once?

Well not religiously record it but at least be a rough guide to what is done and not done (at least at the end of the week you don't feel as if it was a total waste!). I suppose complaining about lack of supervision and so forth could be a quick and easy way to apportion blame but in truth it is really down to us and getting stuff done. I think the nature of the beast is that you don't really feel you've achieved anything except for a handful of times during the research and as a result the whole monotonous nature of reading one topic does get boring (well that's how I feel). A change now and again to the routine helps to keep interest. Along with the odd break or three
8-)
As for the coffee/tea machines, here is one http://www.johnlewis.com/230434519/Product.aspx?source=22567 - I'm sure they have coffee makers, but tea is healthier for ya anyhows. The parents used to have the same brand but as crude as a shovel type of thing ... think the whole thing made for more scalding incidents rather than refreshing cups of Tetly's.

I think a collective kick in the a**e and try to get at least a few "To Do/By when" lists - even achievable stuff.

Oh, I like the tea-maker :-)
And I start to like your idea of making a list what I have done. I really have the feeling, that I make no progress, even if I do a lot. When I talk to my supervisor about my latest results I am surprised that something happened in my work!
How do you manage that? You have different lists? And you compare at the end of the week? Do you save it in a file? Sorry for stupid questioning... I am so bad at bureaucratic issues

Trust me - I am just as bad ... I only give people advise by telling them to do the exact opposite to what I actually do :$
Idon't do it every week but basically even for 5-10 minutes on Mondaymorning, I just write down what are the main items to be done that weekin general (when I remember and am not distracted by youtube, myspaceor the various footie websites). Nothing elaborate - just a means ofmentally positioning yourself for the week. I don't think you can gotoo far into the week as you'd never know when that assignment getsdrawn out or those few pints on Thurs night creep into Fri morningslist. I suppose in saying that we all should by now know the generalrun of our weeks and could nearly assign general tasks per half daybasis (reading papers, coding or lab-work, hang-over recovery) and workfrom that. I find I have to do it during term with the extrateaching/part-time work
One of the post-docs (who just recentlyfinished his PhD) uses Digital Post-it notes on his computer ... theystay on the desktop until you cross them off - will find out where hegot them for free. He is one of the most sorted guys and yet in no wayparticularly fussy (he has a huge workload but yet manages to stayorganised and down to earth). A digression but just giving an exampleof where ya don't have to change the person in order to becomeorganised.

By the way, if your supervisor is complimenting youon progress, kudos and how bad! The meetings I have with the supervisordoes help in that way whereby he will give me about 3-4 tasks to havedone by the next meeting, which does focus the mind and gets someroutine in. Only problem is that these meetings tend to go from beingevery two weeks to every two months (the latter is when things go a bitastray)

Sorry for the meandering - I will look up those post-its tomorrow and post on the forum.
Now stop dossing and get back to work ... :p

I was reading this post and have the same problem with a twist, I organize and write down deadline BUT don't mange to keep them. As someone mentioned digital post it on this post I went and did a search on that. I download this one-
(www.CrawlerTools.com/FreeNotes) looks cool and yellow (I like the colour) they can be made to be on top even when you visit other websites or docs, so makes you remember that its there no matter if you FB etc. (up) I also found that
www.download.com has this for free as well. I trust that website. Hope this is the way forward. Now should go back to work !;-)

i do exactly this - work ridiculously erratically, waste time making plans to feel productive and then ignore them. Some people are just disciplined and some arent. My husband used to work 9-5 every day during his undergrad and then take weekends and evenings off! - he was religious about it whereas i would sleep in and then end up in the library at midnight - i still havent managed to catch his work ethic from him!.
As long as you get it done in the time I guess it doesnt matter - I find the problem is that because i dont work regularly i never get to take proper guilt free relaxing time when i dont feel I ought to be working. the time i waste is not relaxing either because I am still worrying about not doing what i said i would do...
one day Ill get there!

i'm with Cheep on this one... erratic work efforts interspersed with time wasting internet based social life (helpful for the late nights .. this is where time zones come into their own).. lmao.. when the deadlines finally crunch down then i switch off the internet, place myself under house arrest sit in front of the pc and stare at the blank screen (or the wall) until i manage to produce 'something'. since i live by myself there is no imposed routine other than the monthly meeting with the sups and any deadlines which they might set.... this has its good points in terms of flexibility but it can also mean that it becomes easy to loose track of time and get stuck in self-perpetuating feedback loops in your own brain which consequently lead to procrastination.

i've always found routine scary and depressing (it reminds me of a white picket fence and the 2.4 kiddies nightmare scenario)...instead i find comfort in navigating chaos.. the most frigthening experience is going into the pg rooms and seeing how 'organised and efficient' everyone else appears to be.. hence i only haunt the uni corridors at ungodly hours of 11pm plus when all is quiet and i can do my free printing and photocopying

now if i could only persuade the uni library to have 24/7 access then life would be sweet.. lol :-P

======= Date Modified 26 Aug 2008 13:47:35 =======
Good question Neena (up)

i pretty much wake up and say to myself, right i am going to write all day long ... which doesn't always turn out that way.

so instead, i say to myself, okay work for 15 minutes and then take a break. usually the 15 minutes turns into an hour. and then i take a quick 15 minute break and then get back to my desk again. and i also keep track how many hours of "productive time" i am spending on my thesis, by using an online stop watch. i press the go button everytime i am working, anytime i am procrastinating, i have to hit pause.
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch/

but i do try to get most of my work done during the day time, so that by the evening around 9ish i can slow down and relax as my brain wants to rest..

the only thing that works for me. is really telling myself, to work for 15 minutes. even if i hate it or am stuck. and then if i've accomplished that. i can then take a break or continue working for another 45 minutes or so, and then take a break after an hour.

i never was a believer of taking breaks. i thought i should just be working all day long, with NO breaks whatsover. but i found taking short breaks every hour or so, does actually help in clocking in more productive time.

this is a great website also, http://davidseah.com/tools/ett/alpha/

to track what you are doing all day. you fill in the bubbles for every activity you are doing, whether its working on your thesis or procrastinating.

what really works for me, is to set myself a small thing to do. and just concentrate on that for the 15 minutes. if i havent accomplished it in 15 minutes, thats okay, and i continue working on it.


how are things going now for you Neena?