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I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

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Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#31

Post by kettleballroll »

pasiaj wrote: post #4

Memorable, for the last year two years I've been working on identifying structural causes of procrastination caused by working from home and working on a digital device. While I'm sure there are personality factors that are affecting your productivity, there are a number of factor in play that are beyond your control. I've worked closely with a number of CEO's and thesis writers helping them out of the slump. I'f you…

> i'd love to have a call with you to give a number of pointers how to get more productive immediately

Why not share with the group, a lot of us might benefit from such pointers. I know I would, too : - )

Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#32

Post by MattPalmer1086 »

shikshake wrote: post #27

Hey, I'm the author of this blog post. I didn't think anyone would even read it, let alone post it on HN. To be honest it's a little scary how many people are seeing this post since it's basically my 2am anxiety-fueled cry for help. But it's also motivating reading all these comments from people who've had similar experiences and are offering encouragement. I'm reading every one of your replies and they're giving me…

My dad, who is a professor, used to say "Don't get it right, get it written!".

I would always feel there was more I had to research before I properly started. I missed the deadline for my MSc dissertation and had to start again. In fact, the act of writing it changed my thoughts and led me down more productive paths in the end.

Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#33

Post by bubblethink »

KVFinn wrote: post #2

If you're not just making slow progress but literally unable to make a single bit of progress, my goto strategy is similar to what writers call a vomit draft. For writing it conventionally means means writing words without stopping to plan or edit, no corrections allowed, the rule is you just have to keep typing, no matter what. It's about something being better than nothing, creating momentum, and also avoids being…

This works well for writing. Writing, though, comes at a later stage after you've done at least some of the actual work (code, experiments, whatever). It's the work that people have most trouble with. The ideal trajectory is something like MVP -> write -> iterate. People usually get stuck in the MVP phase.

I don't have a good solution to this, except that at least from personal experience, prolonged procrastination is an indication that you don't like the work. And this can be difficult to acknowledge because maybe you liked it earlier, or thought that you did. And then ego becomes involved. Knowing what you like and don't like can also be quite tricky. Sometimes, the only real solution is to quit and do something else.

Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#34

Post by lazyasciiart »

bigfudge wrote: post #28
KVFinn wrote: post #2

If you're not just making slow progress but literally unable to make a single bit of progress, my goto strategy is similar to what writers call a vomit draft. For writing it conventionally means means writing words without stopping to plan or edit, no corrections allowed, the rule is you just have to keep typing, no matter what. It's about something being better than nothing, creating momentum, and also avoids being…

I do something similar. There even used to be a lovely website that had a text entry box which would delete words if you didn’t keep up a certain words per minute. It sounds daft but it was actually useful to use at least a couple of times to train yourself to keep writing, even if it was garbage. I think now I might be tempted to use dictation to reduce barriers ti getting words down even more.

Sounds like The Most Dangerous Writing App! https://www.wired.com/2016/03/sadistic-writing-app-deletes-w...

Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#35

Post by fwsgonzo »

I have a similar problem. I have 3 projects that I have done that are 3 finished papers ready to be written. But I can't make progress on any of them. Not sure what to do. One paper is starting to look complete, but I just don't want to write. Where is my help? Am I really supposed to write all the papers alone??

Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#36

Post by Schroedingers2c »

shikshake wrote: post #27

Hey, I'm the author of this blog post. I didn't think anyone would even read it, let alone post it on HN. To be honest it's a little scary how many people are seeing this post since it's basically my 2am anxiety-fueled cry for help. But it's also motivating reading all these comments from people who've had similar experiences and are offering encouragement. I'm reading every one of your replies and they're giving me…

Hi mate, just mentioning that I'm having similar experiences with dreading supervisor meetings, not making progress for long periods of time, getting frustrated, questioning myself and my career choices, feeling my research is not good enough etc.

I also haven't figured it out yet.

Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#37

Post by yomritoyj »

shikshake wrote: post #27

Hey, I'm the author of this blog post. I didn't think anyone would even read it, let alone post it on HN. To be honest it's a little scary how many people are seeing this post since it's basically my 2am anxiety-fueled cry for help. But it's also motivating reading all these comments from people who've had similar experiences and are offering encouragement. I'm reading every one of your replies and they're giving me…

I procrastinated on my thesis. I got the usual advice: 'perfect is the enemy of the good', 'just get it written' etc. but it made no difference. With hindsight I now realize that I was working on an unfeasible project with inadequate preparation but did not want to accept that. How do other experienced people, not just your advisor, react to your project? If they are skeptical it may be a worth taking a cold hard look at the entire plan.

Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#38

Post by shikshake »

mourner wrote: post #29
shikshake wrote: post #27

Hey, I'm the author of this blog post. I didn't think anyone would even read it, let alone post it on HN. To be honest it's a little scary how many people are seeing this post since it's basically my 2am anxiety-fueled cry for help. But it's also motivating reading all these comments from people who've had similar experiences and are offering encouragement. I'm reading every one of your replies and they're giving me…

Rooting for you get through this! How did the meeting go?

It actually went really well! It was sort of an informal review of my progress as a researcher in 2022, so it was a great opportunity for me to be straight up about my faults throughout the year. I spent a lot of time before the meeting thinking about where I went wrong, why I did what I did and how I will be trying to improve myself in the coming months (writing this post really helped with that process). Coming in with all that thinking made the conversation more honest and productive. I'm a lot more excited and motivated about pushing forward my projects once I drive back to college this weekend.

I'm also lucky to have a super understanding advisor who is invested in my personal growth.

Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#39

Post by MayeulC »

shikshake wrote: post #27

Hey, I'm the author of this blog post. I didn't think anyone would even read it, let alone post it on HN. To be honest it's a little scary how many people are seeing this post since it's basically my 2am anxiety-fueled cry for help. But it's also motivating reading all these comments from people who've had similar experiences and are offering encouragement. I'm reading every one of your replies and they're giving me…

I've been having trouble writing my PhD manuscript for more than one year, so the title clearly resonated with me :)

I'm nearly done, I've been doing regular meetings with my advisor and keeping track of progress to help me write. At some point, I guess I realized that any progress is progress, that the thesis isn't going to write itself, and that I don't have to hand over a perfect work.

I wish you all the courage to do the same!

Re: I've procrastinated working on my thesis for more than a year

#40

Post by atoav »

The first ~70% of the time I worked on my thesis were reading, taking notes and organizing them. It felt like procrastinating at the time, but after that the thesis basically wrote itself.

For all projects where getting going scares the heck out of you I recommend this quote by Franz Kafka:

> Beyond a certain point there is no return. This point has to be reached.

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