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8 Most Effective Ways to Increase Motivation for Thesis Writing

Writing a master’s or doctoral thesis is a tough job, and many students struggle with writer’s block and putting off work. The journey requires not just skill and knowledge but a sustained motivation for thesis writing. Here are eight essential strategies to help you find and maintain your motivation to write your thesis throughout the thesis writing process.

Know why you lack motivation

It’s important to understand whether you’re just avoiding writing (procrastination) or if you genuinely don’t feel interested in it (lack of motivation). Procrastination is when you delay writing even though you want to finish it, while a lack of motivation for thesis writing is when you have no interest in writing at all. Knowing the difference helps you find the right solution. Remember, not feeling motivated doesn’t mean you can’t write; it just might be less enjoyable.

Recognize external vs. internal motivation

In the early stages of your academic journey, things like job prospects or recognition may motivate you to write your thesis. These are external motivators. Over time, they might become less effective. That’s why it’s important to develop internal motivators, like a real passion for your topic, curiosity, or wanting to make a difference in your field. Shifting to these internal motivators can keep you energized about your thesis writing for a longer period.

Develop a writing plan

As you regularly spend time on your thesis, you’ll start to overcome any initial resistance. Planning and thinking about your work will make the next steps easier. You might find yourself working more than 20 minutes some days. As you progress, plan for longer thesis writing periods and set goals for completing each chapter.

Don’t overwhelm yourself

Getting stuck is normal in thesis or dissertation writing. Don’t view these challenges as impossible obstacles. If you’re frustrated or unsure, take a break for a few days. Then, consult your advisor or a mentor to discuss your challenges and find ways to move forward effectively.

Work on your thesis daily

Try to spend 15-20 minutes daily on tasks related to your thesis or dissertation. This includes reading, researching, outlining, and other preparatory activities. You can fit these tasks into short breaks throughout your day, like waiting for appointments, during commutes, or even while cooking.

Understand that thesis writing motivation changes

Realize that thesis writing motivation isn’t always the same; it changes over time. Your drive to write will vary with different stages of your research and life changes. Knowing that motivation can go up and down helps you adapt. When you feel less motivated, focus on small, doable parts of your work instead of big, intimidating goals.

Recharge your motivation regularly

Just like you need to rest and eat well to keep your body energized, your motivation for thesis writing needs to be refreshed too. Do things that boost your mental and creative energy. This could be talking with colleagues, attending workshops, or engaging in hobbies that relax you. Stay aware of your motivation levels and take action to rejuvenate them. This way, you can avoid burnout and keep a consistent pace in your thesis work.

Keep encouraging yourself

Repeating encouraging phrases like “I will finish my thesis by year’s end” or “I’ll complete a lot of work this week” can really help. Saying these affirmations regularly can focus your energy and keep you on track with your thesis writing motivation .

Remember, the amount you write can vary each day. Some days you might write a lot, and other days less. The key is to keep writing, even if it’s just rough ideas or jumbled thoughts. Don’t let the need for perfection stop you. Listening to podcasts where researchers talk about their writing experiences can also be inspiring and motivate you in your writing journey.

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What to do if you lack motivation in your PhD

May 4, 2020

Motivation is elusive. Some days you have it and others you don’t.

What gives?

Well, having fluctuations in your motivation is normal and to be expected. If you took ten PhD students, how many do you think would say that they’re highly motivated all the time? Not many, I imagine.

But it can also seem that motivation becomes harder and harder to find as you go through your PhD. With good reason. Studying for a PhD is an inherently lonely endeavour and the workload is considerable.

On top of that, the day to day routine can soon become boring, and you’re often undervalued, receive little acknowledgement for your expertise and frequently feel overwhelmed. Plus, the further you go on the PhD journey, the more uncertain you become about the quality of your work or where you’ll end up when you finally finish.

If you’re reading this and having trouble finding your own motivation, know that you aren’t alone. It’s okay to not always be highly motivated, and instead recognise that fluctuating motivation is a normal part of the PhD process.

Motivation is something you can control. Given the right tools, you can find motivation when it otherwise is missing. Here, I want to share with you a number of tips you can use to boost your motivation levels.

These tips have been shared by readers of this blog and from my own experience navigating my own PhD and coaching PhD students . Not all may be suitable for you, because everyone works in different ways. Instead, see them as a list you can pick from to suit your current situation.

Know that your lack of motivation is completely solvable. The first step in that process is changing your expectations.

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Stop expecting so much from yourself.

Ask whether you’re expecting too much from yourself. It’s fine to have goals and ambitions, but it’s not fine to expect 100% from yourself all day every day. You’re going to have days when you don’t feel up to the task, or where your heart really isn’t in it. If you expect 100%, these days are a problem. If instead you recognise that you’re human and humans have off days, these days aren’t such a big deal.

Try and lower your expectations for what’s possible within a given day and acknowledge that having a bad day every now and again isn’t the end of the world, it’s just part of the journey.

See the bigger picture

An effective way of managing your expectations is to see the bigger picture. Remind yourself why you started out on your PhD journey in the first place, what motivates you, and what your goal is with the thesis and beyond. Focusing on the bigger picture means you can see each day for what it is: a small component of that bigger objective. Having an off day and periods where you’re not motivated isn’t so important, as it’s just one tiny step in a much longer journey to get you where you want to go.

Focus on what you can control

But what about your daily habits? Have you formed effective daily routines that promote self-care? Do you make sure that your phone is turned off, you’re otherwise free from distraction as much as possible and that your place of work is the kind of place you could actually expect to get some deep concentration going?

Your PhD Thesis. On one page.

Make specific to-do lists.

Take it a step further and control the way you approach your day-to-day tasks. At the start of each day, you need to know clearly what it is you want to accomplish that day.

You need to be specific. Often a lack of motivation stems from not breaking down bigger tasks into smaller, more manageable components. If you wake up, look at your to-do list and all you see is ‘write literature review’, no sane person would be motivated to do that. Instead, if you saw ‘write the literature review introduction’ or ‘write 300 words of the literature review’, you’ve suddenly got something much more manageable on your hands.

On top of that, you’ve got clear, measurable deliverables. If your task is ‘write your literature review’ you aren’t going to finish it in a day so how will you know when you’re done for the day? If you instead write ‘write 300 words of the literature review’, you will know exactly where you stand.

So think to yourself: is this task broken down into small, more manageable components and am I being realistic about how many of those components I can achieve in one day?

Make your work place a place you actually want to work in

Once you’re sure you’ve broken down your tasks into manageable chunks, it’s time to think about how you actually sit down and work.

We’ve talked already about avoiding interruptions by doing things like turning your phone off. Your aim is for big chunks of uninterrupted time in which you can find your flow and focus on the job at hand.

Be realistic about how long you will be able to concentrate. A popular time management technique is the Pomodoro Technique . This simple productivity tool involves you setting a timer for twenty-five minutes, during which there’s no Facebook, no messages, no disruptions of any kind. At the end of that time, you take a five-minute break. You repeat that process four times (for two hours) before taking a longer, thirty-minute break.

Once you finish tasks, don’t just delete them off of your to-do list. Instead, shift them over to a ‘done’ list. That way, you can get a little motivational boost when you see how much you’re accomplishing in any one day. Also, because you’re working to a timer, you may find that you work more quickly because you want to get things wrapped up into neat twenty-five-minute packages.

Work out what’s important and urgent. Then work on that.

Choosing what to focus on in the first place is half the battle when it comes to increasing motivation. You need to bear in mind the distinction between something that is or isn’t important and something that is or isn’t urgent. You can have an urgent task that isn’t important, and an important task that isn’t urgent. Focus on what’s important and urgent first. Don’t waste your time on things that aren’t important and aren’t urgent.

This reflects the fact that 20% of your work is going to produce 80% of your outputs and outcomes in any given day. Spot what that 20% looks like and focus on that, as you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck. Don’t waste your time on the 80% of things that only lead to 20% of the outcomes.

The Eisenhower Matrix can help you understand what it is that is important or urgent and will help you better structure your workflow and to-do list.

Reward successes

Okay, so you’ve cleaned your desk, turned your phone off, set your timer and you’re moving stuff off your to-do lists. Good job. Here’s another important step.

Reward yourself. Life wouldn’t be any fun it is was all work, so be sure to reward yourself when you get things done, particularly if you’re doing things you didn’t particularly want to do in the first place.

There are two ways of doing this. On a day to day level, give yourself credit for getting stuff done. Have a slice of cake, take a long bath, do whatever it is you do to show yourself some love. On the grander scale, celebrate the successes. Each day adds up to the bigger goal you’ve set, so it isn’t enough just to celebrate getting through each day, you need to celebrate when you reach those goals. Get good feedback on a chapter? Celebrate! Got your fieldwork done? Celebrate! You get the idea.

Navigate Shit Valley

Inevitably though you are going to reach a stage where you can’t possibly face doing any more work. Everyone reaches this stage eventually. I call it Shit Valley .

In Shit Valley, everywhere you look is covered in shit and there doesn’t appear to be a way out. This stage normally comes about halfway through a PhD, when you’re about as far from a way out as it’s possible to be. You’re deep into your data, but you’re far away from the end of the tunnel. You still don’t really know what’s going on and you’re riddled with more self-doubt than you’ve ever had. It’s at this stage that motivation becomes a real struggle, as you’re too far invested to give up and too far away from the end to see what comes after.

Because the only way out of Shit Valley is to wade further through it, you need to really step up the techniques you use to foster motivation.

It’s at this stage that investing in your own health becomes particularly important. Resist the urge to eat junk and be lazy. Instead, eat well most of the time, eat junk only occasionally and make sure you’re moving around every day. Find something that suits you. Just move.

It’s also at this stage that having a life outside of your PhD becomes useful. Too many PhD students (myself included) make their PhD their entire life, at the expense of a sensible work-life balance and a healthy distraction away from your thesis. It’s important to cultivate your hobbies (or to find some if you don’t have any) and to maintain a friendship circle that isn’t full of PhD students. Having this external distraction may be the only thing that keeps you sane.

Now is also the time to frequently remind yourself why you are doing what you’re doing. Picture what it’s going to feel like once you’re done, when you’re graduating and when you’re able to move on with your life.

One day you’ll finish, and you’ll look back and be incredibly proud of what you have achieved. That long term perspective is a powerful one, and should make you reflect more kindly on yourself on the days where you’re not so motivated or where you’re not at 100%. Be kind to yourself, particularly when you’re not as motivated as you wish.

But also be proactive. When you’re not motivated, look at your current situation and ask yourself what it is about current arrangements that don’t lend themselves to productivity. What can you change? The advice and tips above are a good start. Explore them, see what works for you and slowly chip away until you start to find the routine and short-cuts that work for you.

Keep doing that and you’ll be calling yourself Doctor in no time.

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10 tips to motivate you to write the bachelor's or master's Thesis

Toni was no longer motivated to write his thesis. He's stuck waiting for it to come back. Unfortunately, it's not coming back on its own. Toni's gotta do something.

Here are some effective methods and techniques to overcome any lack of motivation. You can start using them right now, and they will even continue to serve you later in life. Surely you are already familiar with one or two of the techniques.

Motivation 1: "Intermediate wins"!

Success is fun... Many small successes can even make the thesis fun. So try something: quickly search for 20 sources with Google Scholar, design the first outline, collect the questions for the questionnaire or for your interviews, format the tables and figures, sort the English articles, make appointments with your supervisor or contact persons etc. then celebrate each of your small and quick successes as they will help you get past blockades!

We once made a whole list of so-called no-brainers here. These are small routine jobs that require little intellect but must be done. No-brainer functions as tangible little rewards because your success is quickly apparent. Enjoy getting things done!

Motivation 2: Processing small tasks in batches

They are annoying, but they must be done: Small necessary tasks like scanning and copying, ordering books, making appointments, formatting, checking something or filing web pages...

If you don’t have enough motivation to write, analyze or do something similarly strenuous at the moment, then complete these tasks. Checking items off will bring new motivation very quickly! And this flow of tasks brings you back into the “getting things done” mood!

Motivation 3: Set an appointment with your thesis supervisor

A task that is wonderfully suited to be completed when you’re stuck in the motivation hole: making an appointment with your supervisor. All you need to do is give them a quick call or send them a short e-mail. You don't have to meet right away. Appointments like this need a few days' notice. What luck! You can be sure that the days leading up to the consultation will be very productive. And what should you discuss with your supervisor? Show and discuss the results of your latest efforts.

Motivation 4: Fixed times for the hard tasks!

We all prefer to postpone hard tasks. And that makes it even harder... Set fixed times for a task. Designate each morning from 8.00 to 12.30 to writing and use the afternoon for research and reading. Habits help break excuses. You'd be surprised.

Motivation 5: Big rewards for success!

Immediate motivation comes from the achievement of intermediate goals. Treat yourself then! For example, you could go to the movies after 10 pages of writing, buy new shoes after you've finished all the expert interviews or go out to dinner when that darn bibliography is finally finished. Enjoy getting things done!

Motivation 6: Do something besides the thesis!

A second project other than the thesis can help motivate you to work on the thesis. Sounds weird but it's true. If you limit the hours you work on your thesis to fewer hours per day, you can be more productive. Work on other issues like polishing your application, learning another language or programming a video game (just kidding…). If you have less time to work on your thesis, you will increase the "pressure in the boiler" and thus your focus.

Motivation 7: Celebrate your "rituals" during the thesis!

We as humans are creatures of habit and love rituals. When working on your bachelor's or master’s thesis, listen to a power song over and over again (try power songs on Spotify). Organize your desk in the morning, go for a walk at 1pm, browse YouTube in the morning to dispel sorrow and worries, etc...

If you don't have to worry about your daily routine, you can spend more time thinking about your thesis. Enjoy getting things done!

Motivation 8: Define and eliminate obstacles and distractions that will prevent you from writing

When you are stuck in the motivational hole, ask yourself: "What exactly is stopping me from continuing to write this chapter now? Why am I allowing the conclusion chapter to put me in a bad mood?"

Extra tip: Record a description of your current problem to an audio file and listen to it again tomorrow! You’ll be laughing at yourself. Do that every day and you don't be such a crybaby anymore.

Motivation 9: Compare yourself!

This is not the best advice for every situation but it can help when you’re stuck in the motivation hole. This is the so-called pilgrimage effect: you see others who are much worse off, who have critical diseases...

So go to the library, browse the shelves and calm down. You are not suffering alone. The thesis is not the end of your life but only the end of your career as a student! Enjoy getting things done!

Motivation 10: Follow-up project - life after the thesis

Everything has an end! Even if it is absolutely unimaginable for you just now: The moment will come when your bachelor's or master's thesis is printed and in front of you. Close your eyes and dream about it. You might want to do that every day...

Follow-up projects are very different for everyone. You could be going on a trip, searching for a new job, applying for an exotic internship, planning a wedding or starting a business. Thinking about what’s next will give you new energy and motivation. Write down that project and stick it to the pin board!

Good luck writing your text! Silvio and the Aristolo Team

PS: Check out the Thesis-ABC and the Thesis Guide for writing a bachelor or master thesis in 31 days.

Stop Procrastinating to Complete Your Dissertation

Part 1: Initial Steps

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Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, Fordham University
M.A., Developmental Psychology, Fordham University

Are you an ABD (All-But-Dissertation) student? Doctoral dissertation looming over your head like an ominous black cloud? The dissertation is the most difficult and time-consuming academic requirement a doctoral student faces. It's way too easy to procrastinate and put off writing your dissertation under the guise, "I need to read more before I can write." Don't fall into that trap!

Don't let your dissertation drag you down. Stop your procrastination. Why do we procrastinate? Research suggests that students often procrastinate when they perceive the dissertation as an overwhelming task. Big surprise, huh? Motivation is the biggest problem that grad students face in writing the dissertation.

A Lonely Time

The dissertation is a time consuming and lonely process that usually takes about two years (and often longer). The dissertation often is a major blow to a graduate student's self-esteem. It is not uncommon to feel as if it's an insurmountable task that will never be completed.

Organization and Time Management are Key

The keys to completing the dissertation promptly are organization and time management. The lack of structure is the difficult part of the dissertation because the student's role is to plan, carry out, and write up a research project (sometimes several). A structure must be applied in order to complete this task.

One way of providing structure is to view the dissertation as a series of steps, rather than as one mammoth task. Motivation may be maintained and even enhanced as each small step is completed. Organization provides a sense of control, holds procrastination at minimal levels, and is key to completing the dissertation. How do you get organized?

Outline the small steps needed to complete this large project. All too often, students may feel that their only goal is to finish the thesis. A goal this large may feel indomitable; break it down into the component tasks. For example, at the proposal stage, the tasks may be organized as follows: thesis statement , literature review, method, plan for analyses.

Each of these tasks entails many smaller tasks. The list for the literature review may consist of an outline of the topics you wish to discuss, with each outlined as detailed as possible. You may even wish to list relevant articles in the appropriate places within the outline. The method will consist of the participants, including items on locating them, rewards, drafting informed consent forms, locating measures, describing psychometric properties of the measures, piloting measures, drafting the procedure, etc.

The hardest parts of writing your dissertation is starting and staying on track. So how do you write your dissertation? Read on for tips on how to write your dissertation and successfully complete your graduate program .

Start Anywhere

In terms of completing your list of dissertation tasks, it is not necessary to start at the beginning. In fact, believing that one starts the dissertation proposal by writing his or her introduction and thesis and ends with the plan for analyses will detain progress. Begin where you feel comfortable and fill in the gaps. You will find that you gain momentum with the completion of each small task. Feeling overwhelmed by any particular task is a sign that you have not broken it down into small enough pieces.

Make Consistent Progress Writing Every Day, Even if Only for a Short Period.

Set aside periods of time to write on a regular basis. Establish a firm schedule. Train yourself to write in short blocks, for at least an hour a day. All too often we insist that we need large blocks of time to write. Blocks of time certainly help the writing process, but the ABD often lacks such resources.

For example, when we were writing the dissertation, we taught 5 classes as an adjunct at 4 different schools; blocks of time were difficult to find, other than over the weekend. Aside from pragmatics, writing at least a little every day keeps the thesis topic fresh in your mind, leaving you open to new ideas and interpretations. You may even find yourself thinking about it and making conceptual progress as you complete mundane tasks such as driving to and from school and work.

Use Incentives to Assist You in Overcoming Procrastination.

Writing requires consistent, well-organized effort and a system of self-imposed incentives to overcome procrastination . What kind of incentives work? Although it depends on the individual, a safe bet is taking time off from work. We found vegetation time such as time spent playing computer games to be helpful as an incentive to reinforce progress.

Methodically Break Through Writer's Block.

When it is difficult to write, talk through your ideas to anyone who will listen, or just talk out loud to yourself. Write out your thoughts without criticizing them. Take time to warm up, by writing to clear your thoughts. Get the ideas out without scrutinizing each sentence; it is often easier to edit than it is to write.

Work through your ideas by writing, THEN edit extensively. You will write many drafts of each section of the dissertation; a first (second, or even third) draft need not approach perfection. In addition, it is acceptable to use dashes to mark when you cannot find the appropriate word to express your idea, but want to go on; just remember to fill in the dashes later. The important thing is that you develop a pattern of producing some output regularly that output can be edited or even thrown out, but it is important to produce something.

Recognize and Accept the Fact That Writing Is a Time-consuming Process. Don't Rush Yourself.

No draft will be perfect that first time around. Expect to go through several drafts of each section of your dissertation. Once you feel comfortable with a particular section, take time away from it. Ask others to read your writing and consider their comments and criticisms with an open mind. After a few days or a week, reread the section and edit again; you may be quite surprised by the impact of a fresh perspective.

Writing the dissertation is much like running a marathon. The seemingly insurmountable may be attained through a series of small goals and deadlines. Accomplishing each small goal may provide additional momentum. Make consistent progress each day, use incentives to assist you in attaining your goals, and acknowledge that the dissertation will require time, hard work, and patience. Finally, consider the words of Dag Hammarskjold: "Never measure the height of a mountain, until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was."

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Asking Faculty to Sit on Your Dissertation Committee
Graduate School Papers and You
A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing a Ph.D. Dissertation
Procrastination and Homework
What Is the Zeigarnik Effect? Definition and Examples
The Whys and How-tos for Group Writing in All Content Areas
How To Write a Top-Scoring ACT Essay for the Enhanced Writing Test
How to Write the Graduate Admissions Essay
How to Develop a Research Paper Timeline
How to Get Started on a Literature Review
How to Outline and Organize an Essay
4 Tips for Completing Your Homework On Time
What is Grad School Like?
GMAT Exam Structure, Timing, and Scoring
How to Write a Response Paper

How to tackle the PhD dissertation

Finding time to write can be a challenge for graduate students who often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities. Mabel Ho provides some tips to make the process less daunting

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Writing helps you share your work with the wider community. Your scholarship is important and you are making a valuable contribution to the field. While it might be intimidating to face a blank screen, remember, your first draft is not your final draft! The difficult part is getting something on the page to begin with.

As the adage goes, a good dissertation is a done dissertation, and the goal is for you to find balance in your writing and establish the steps you can take to make the process smoother. Here are some practical strategies for tackling the PhD dissertation.

Write daily

This is a time to have honest conversations with yourself about your writing and work habits. Do you tackle the most challenging work in the morning? Or do you usually start with emails? Knowing your work routine will help you set parameters for the writing process, which includes various elements, from brainstorming ideas to setting outlines and editing. Once you are aware of your energy and focus levels, you’ll be ready to dedicate those times to writing.

While it might be tempting to block a substantial chunk of time to write and assume anything shorter is not useful, that is not the case. Writing daily, whether it’s a paragraph or several pages, keeps you in conversation with your writing practice. If you schedule two hours to write, remember to take a break during that time and reset. You can try:

The Pomodoro Technique: a time management technique that breaks down your work into intervals
Taking breaks: go outside for a walk or have a snack so you can come back to your writing rejuvenated
Focus apps: it is easy to get distracted by devices and lose direction. Here are some app suggestions: Focus Bear (no free version); Forest (free version available); Cold Turkey website blocker (free version available) and Serene (no free version).

This is a valuable opportunity to hone your time management and task prioritisation skills. Find out what works for you and put systems in place to support your practice.

Resources on academic writing for higher education professionals
Stretch your work further by ‘triple writing’
What is your academic writing temperament?

Create a community

While writing can be an isolating endeavour, there are ways to start forming a community (in-person or virtual) to help you set goals and stay accountable. There might be someone in your cohort who is also at the writing stage with whom you can set up a weekly check-in. Alternatively, explore your university’s resources and centres because there may be units and departments on campus that offer helpful opportunities, such as a writing week or retreat. Taking advantage of these opportunities helps combat isolation, foster accountability and grow networks. They can even lead to collaborations further down the line.

Check in with your advisers and mentors. Reach out to your networks to find out about other people’s writing processes and additional resources.
Don’t be afraid to share your work. Writing requires constant revisions and edits and finding people who you trust with feedback will help you grow as a writer. Plus, you can also read their work and help them with their editing process.
Your community does not have to be just about writing! If you enjoy going on hikes or trying new coffee shops, make that part of your weekly habit. Sharing your work in different environments will help clarify your thoughts and ideas.

Address the why

The PhD dissertation writing process is often lengthy and it is sometimes easy to forget why you started. In these moments, it can be helpful to think back to what got you excited about your research and scholarship in the first place. Remember it is not just the work but also the people who propelled you forward. One idea is to start writing your “acknowledgements” section. Here are questions to get you started:

Do you want to dedicate your work to someone?
What ideas sparked your interest in this journey?
Who cheered you on?

This practice can help build momentum, as well as serve as a good reminder to carve out time to spend with your community.

You got this!

Writing is a process. Give yourself grace, as you might not feel motivated all the time. Be consistent in your approach and reward yourself along the way. There is no single strategy when it comes to writing or maintaining motivation, so experiment and find out what works for you.

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How to keep motivated when working on your dissertation or final project

Is your summer filled with research and writing rather than relaxing? Motivation for a long-term project can be challenging to maintain, especially when it feels like everyone else in on a break. So we’ve put together our top tips on keeping motivated when writing your dissertation.

Write something every (work)day

On the days when you plan to work, aim to write a set number of words a day without fail. Giving yourself this target will do wonders to keep yourself motivated, slowly seeing yourself finishing up section after section while nearing the word count will give you an immense sense of progress. You can always go back and edit, but getting the words down is often the hardest part.

Plan your working hours throughout the day

Doing a 10 hour shift without any objective may seem like a productive session because of all the hours you’ve done but in reality it isn’t. Instead, work out what you want to achieve each day and break your day down into sessions. Give yourself a time in which you’ll get a certain task done. Depending what you want to achieve that day you might have one session, or you might have three if you’re really busy.

Forcing yourself to work in designated time slots with specific aims will help you be more productive (and give you time to do other things too).

Take a proper break/ do other things

Taking a break could be the best thing to get your motivation back. Try taking a walk outside if the weather is nice,meet your friends in the park, or switch off and enjoy some well-deserved Netflix – you won’t regret it and you’ll feel even more recharged for your next bit of work.

Find study partners

In many cases, having a study partner(s) will keep you motivated and accountable to each other to keep going. Additionally, having someone else read your work could help identify any mistakes you missed.

Partnering up with someone who is committed as you will also make your study sessions go faster.

Create a progress chart

One of the most demotivating things is the feeling of putting the hard work in without seeing any return.

By tracking your efforts, the progress chart will remind you of where you are doing well and where you need to focus more. It could be a visual reminder that you are moving in the right direction. Do this however suits you – tick off a to do list, something bright and colourful – whatever will make you feel that sense of achievement as you progress.

Take a look at MLE courses on over summer and our pieces on writing productively, and proofreading for more advice.

Resources for Dissertation Writing

Getting Started
Proposals and Prospectuses
Literature Reviews
Humanities and the Arts Resources
Social/Behavioural Sciences Resources
Sciences Resources
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Formatting and Submitting Your Dissertation
Tips: Making Progress, Staying Well, and More!

Tips for Making Progress, Staying Well, and More!

There's no question that writing a thesis or dissertation is a long process, and it's often challenging and tiring in a variety of ways. It can be difficult to keep your spirits up and stay motivated to write, especially when it might seem like you'll never be finished. You're not alone: many, many dissertation writers before you have felt the same way. Below are some resources that can help you to stay on track.

Resources at UBC

Graduate Pathways to Success has a range of resources and workshops to help you with a range of graduate school concerns, including

Graduate School Success: topics such as submitting your thesis, preparing for your doctoral exam, presentation skills, learning about statistics, building an effective relationship with your supervisor, and more;
Professional Effectiveness: topics like communication and presentation skills, overcoming procrastination, teamwork, translating research into policy, networking, and beyond;
Self Management: topics like resilience, conflict resolution, assertiveness, wellness, and more;
and Career Building: topics like finding your strengths, exploring entrepreneurship, exploring non-academic career paths, improving career confidence, and beyond.

The Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication offers writing consultations for graduate students. These are 50-minute consultations with graduate-level peer consultants who understand the specific concerns involved in graduate writing, including theses and dissertations. They also partner with other UBC units to offer a range of workshops , including Graduate Writing Communities and Dissertation Boot Camps, and have a number of online writing resources .

Dissertation writing can be hard on your physical and mental health. Student Health Service is an on-campus family medical clinic. Counselling Services has a variety of support personnel and resources. Both are open to all UBC students, including graduate students.

Motivating Yourself to Write

Sometimes, it's hard to get yourself into a chair in front of your computer to just start writing. But the only way your thesis or dissertation is going to get finished is if you write it. Here are some links that might help you to get started, get back at it, or get finished.

Chronicle Vitae's "no-fail secret" to writing a dissertation (hint: it's writing)

Using Writing Groups to Help You

Sometime, what you really need to help you through the writing process is a support network of people who are also in that process. Many students find that writing groups can be a big help in keeping themselves motivated and on track.

The Research Commons has partnered with the Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication to create two regular writing groups that will be meeting throughout the 2017-2018 school year. These groups are designed to provide a supportive writing environment, and to help students build a community of fellow writers to help get them through the difficult parts of writing. You can find out more about these workshops or sign up here .

You might decide that you'd like to start your own writing support group. The Graduate Student Resource Center at UCLA has collated a number of resources that can help you as you get started. Stanford University also has a "starter kit" that you might find useful.

If you're a Twitter user, you'll find that there are lots of people who talk about academic writing in general, and dissertation and thesis writing in particular. Check out the hashtags #acwri, #AcWriMo (Academic Writing Month, every November), #phdchat, #getyourmanuscriptout or #amwriting; or follow accounts like @Acwri, @academicswrite, or @WriteThatPhD.

Making Progress on your Thesis

Sometimes it's not motivation to write that's the challenge; there are lots of other things that can keep you from making progress on your writing. Here are some common problems, and resources that can help you with them.

Perfectionism

One of the things that can keep you from making progress on your thesis or dissertation is perfectionism - and it's very common in academia! Here are some resources that can help you to break out of the negative cycles this can create.

Inside Higher Education series on Overcoming Academic Perfectionism
Psychology Today on Grad Students and Perfectionism
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) Early Career Researcher Blog on Anxiety and Perfectionism in Academia
University Affairs' Career Advice column on Combating Perfectionism

Procrastination

Sometimes it's hard to focus on writing when there are so many other things you could be doing, or reading, or thinking about...but eventually, you will need to get to work and get your dissertation done!

The American Psychological Association website has an essay on dissertation procrastination you should read (but not to avoid writing!).
GradHacker has a recent post on cutting down on "monkey mind" (jumping around between many different tasks or thoughts).

Time Management

Even if you're not procrastinating, time management can often be a problem, especially when you're trying to balance writing and the rest of your life.

The American Psychological Association website has tips from grad students and procrastination experts on better managing your time .
GradHacker has a recent (Sept. 2017) post on re-thinking how much you commit yourself to doing during the dissertation-writing process.

Staying Well During the Writing Process

It can sometimes be hard to stay positive while you're writing your thesis or dissertation: it's a long process, it has many challenges, and it's very tiring. You'll want to make sure that you find techniques and support systems that will help you to stay mentally, physically and emotionally well while you're writing. Here are some resources we've found that might be useful for you.

Work-Life Balance: Don't Let Your Dissertation Define You (Carleton University)

Books and E-Books in UBC Library

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Use the 15-Minute Rule to Progress Your Dissertation or Thesis – It Works!

The “15-minute rule” is one of my favorite motivation and productivity strategies. Bolker (1998) recommended that students begin by writing for an absolute minimum of 10 minutes everyday and then expand to 15 minutes and then to longer periods of time. Bolker suggested that students make a commitment that no matter what, they will absolutely write for 10 minutes a day. Bolker said, “anyone can write for 10 minutes a day, particularly if one is freewriting” (p. 41). I usually recommend that students work for a minimum of 15 minutes but the number is somewhat arbitrary so long as it is enough time to help you get warmed up to working on your dissertation.

Making the transition on a daily basis from not being engaged in dissertation work to actually sitting down and putting words on a page, analyzing data, reading, etc. can be very tough. Many people find that committing to dissertation work for a relatively short amount of time such as 15 minutes makes it easier to make the transition to a meaningful work session. The 15-minute rule means that you commit every day (at least the days you plan to work) to work for at least 15 minutes no matter what. Here is how it works. You commit to working on any relevant part of your dissertation for an absolute minimum of 15 minutes. I recommend setting a timer if possible. Some of my clients actually buy an egg timer at the supermarket or use a sports watch as their 15-minute rule dissertation timer. You set the timer and then start working. If you are writing, write with abandon, letting go of concerns about sentence structure, flow, spelling, or grammar. You just write your ideas as they come out of your head. If negative critical voices pop in your head you can write down what they have to say. If you extraneous thoughts pop into your head, write them down too with the aim of getting back to your dissertation and staying on task as much as possible. When the 15 minutes is over, you can stop and highlight what you want to keep and the rest you will ignore. Or you can keep going if you are so inspired. Often, my clients tell me that once the 15 minutes are over, they feel “warmed up” to writing and it is easier to continue. A short period of forced writing, where you commit to writing no matter how much you do not feel like working, can often get you over the motivational hump and lead to a productive writing session. Sometimes, students need several planned 15-minute periods in a day to help them stay on course as motivation and energy because writing ebbs and flows throughout the day for most writers.

The 15-minute rule can be a great way to deal with the basic fact that warming up dissertation work can be unpleasant. No matter how detailed your action plan and timelines or how inspired you felt the night before, when you wake up in the morning you may feel like a thick fog of apathy rolled in during your sleep. The next thing you know, hours, even days go by and you have completed little or no meaningful work. Inspiration and motivation rarely come from inaction. Every day you intend to work but do nothing puts you at risk of becoming disengaged from your dissertation and makes it that much harder to get started in your next work session. It is often the act of writing, making discoveries, articulating and connecting ideas, or analyzing data or sources that will inspire and motivate you.

Am I saying that you need to work first before you are motivated and inspired? Yes. Sure there are times when you are rearing to go first thing in the morning. But if you wait for those days to just happen to you, your dissertation may to take a long time to complete. I suggest that you commit to working a minimum of 15 minutes two to three times a day as a way to get your intellectual juices flowing and to motivate yourself when you are struggling to work consistently. Staying connected to your dissertation, outlines, ideas, argument, intellectual quandaries, data, what you have written, and what you hope to write on a regular basis are important ways to keep the fires of motivation and inspiration alive. Do your best to write or do other dissertation work for at least 15 minutes. When the 15 minutes is over, push yourself to go for 5, 10, or 15 more. Stretch out the work for as long as you can. Then plan another 15-minute session later in the day and repeat your efforts to stretch the work session longer. If you consistently engage in the 15-minute rule, you will likely be able to work for longer periods of time on a regular basis.

References:

Bolker. J. (1998). Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. New York, NY: Henry Holt

This article was written by Alison Miller, PhD, owner of The Dissertation Coach, a business dedicated to helping doctoral and master’s students successfully earn their graduate degrees.

How To Be A Productive & Motivated Graduate Student

910.250.8767
Write Beginner Drafts to Make Writing Happen
Learn to Let Go of Perfectionism
Maintain a Rational, Positive Outlook
Learn to Better Tolerate Ambiguity
Stop Competing with Others
Make Your Dissertation Your Priority
Use the 15-Minute Rule to Progress Your Dissertation or Thesis – It Works!
Plan Small Actions to Start the Day
Make the Transition Into Your Work
Get Set Up For Each Work Day
Manage Your Work Environment
Minimize Distractions
Increase Your Sense of Accountability
Read Other Dissertations
Conduct an “Email Intervention”
Push Through
Seek Support
Revise With A Strategy
Back Up Your Work
Take Good Care of Yourself
Acknowlede Yourself & Your Accomplishments Along the Way

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Ten things I wish I'd known before starting my dissertation

The sun is shining but many students won't see the daylight. Because it's that time of year again – dissertation time.

Luckily for me, my D-Day (dissertation hand-in day) has already been and gone. But I remember it well.

The 10,000-word spiral-bound paper squatted on my desk in various forms of completion was my Allied forces; the history department in-tray was my Normandy. And when Eisenhower talked about a "great crusade toward which we have striven these many months", he was bang on.

I remember first encountering the Undergraduate Dissertation Handbook, feeling my heart sink at how long the massive file took to download, and began to think about possible (but in hindsight, wildly over-ambitious) topics. Here's what I've learned since, and wish I'd known back then…

1 ) If your dissertation supervisor isn't right, change. Mine was brilliant. If you don't feel like they're giving you the right advice, request to swap to someone else – providing it's early on and your reason is valid, your department shouldn't have a problem with it. In my experience, it doesn't matter too much whether they're an expert on your topic. What counts is whether they're approachable, reliable, reassuring, give detailed feedback and don't mind the odd panicked email. They are your lifeline and your best chance of success.

2 ) If you mention working on your dissertation to family, friends or near-strangers, they will ask you what it's about, and they will be expecting a more impressive answer than you can give. So prepare for looks of confusion and disappointment. People anticipate grandeur in history dissertation topics – war, genocide, the formation of modern society. They don't think much of researching an obscure piece of 1970s disability legislation. But they're not the ones marking it.

3 ) If they ask follow-up questions, they're probably just being polite.

4 ) Do not ask friends how much work they've done. You'll end up paranoid – or they will. Either way, you don't have time for it.

5 ) There will be one day during the process when you will freak out, doubt your entire thesis and decide to start again from scratch. You might even come up with a new question and start working on it, depending on how long the breakdown lasts. You will at some point run out of steam and collapse in an exhausted, tear-stained heap. But unless there are serious flaws in your work (unlikely) and your supervisor recommends starting again (highly unlikely), don't do it. It's just panic, it'll pass.

6 ) A lot of the work you do will not make it into your dissertation. The first few days in archives, I felt like everything I was unearthing was a gem, and when I sat down to write, it seemed as if it was all gold. But a brutal editing down to the word count has left much of that early material at the wayside.

7 ) You will print like you have never printed before. If you're using a university or library printer, it will start to affect your weekly budget in a big way. If you're printing from your room, "paper jam" will come to be the most dreaded two words in the English language.

8 ) Your dissertation will interfere with whatever else you have going on – a social life, sporting commitments, societies, other essay demands. Don't even try and give up biscuits for Lent, they'll basically become their own food group when you're too busy to cook and desperate for sugar.

9 ) Your time is not your own. Even if you're super-organised, plan your time down to the last hour and don't have a single moment of deadline panic, you'll still find that thoughts of your dissertation will creep up on you when you least expect it. You'll fall asleep thinking about it, dream about it and wake up thinking about. You'll feel guilty when you're not working on it, and mired in self-doubt when you are.

10 ) Finishing it will be one of the best things you've ever done. It's worth the hard work to know you've completed what's likely to be your biggest, most important, single piece of work. Be proud of it.

Blogging students
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Advice for students

2. Outline First

3. create small, attainable goals, 4. make it a daily practice.

5. Don't Be Perfect—Vomit on the Page

6. Focus on the Reader

7. practice self-care, 8. announce the book, 9. recognize and face your fear, 9 ways to boost your writing motivation (that actually work).

No one wakes up every single day with the motivation to write —not even Authors with major bestsellers under their belt (like me).

There will be days when you simply don’t feel like staring at a blank page.

As someone who’s been there, here’s my writing advice : push through and do it anyway.

Even on the days when you don’t feel like it. Otherwise, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of procrastination.

One day of “not feeling like writing” can easily turn into 2, then 10…until eventually, you give up entirely.

I’ve seen so many Authors give up the first, second, or even third time they tried to write a book—mostly because they lost their motivation and gave in to procrastination or fear.

If you want to publish a book , you have to dig deep and find the motivation to write every single day. Even if it’s terrible. Even if you hate it.

The only way to become a better writer—and to finish your book—is to push through those hard moments.

Here are 9 proven ways to motivate yourself to write—even when you don’t want to.

9 Proven Ways to Motivate Yourself to Write

1. don’t confuse motivation with passion.

Forget everything you’ve ever learned about writing “out of passion.” If you wait to feel passionate about what you’re writing, you’ll never finish writing your book.

You can’t rely on passion. It comes and goes too easily. You’re not going to feel passionate every single day.

The same goes for writing inspiration. There’s rarely a bolt of lightning that makes the words flow.

Writing is hard. That’s why a lot of aspiring Authors give up before they’ve finished their first draft.

Motivation doesn’t always mean loving what you’re doing. Sometimes it means digging your heels in and just doing it.

For example, I don’t always love going to the gym, but I do it anyway. And in the end, I’m glad I did (after I’m done).

Don’t confuse passion for motivation.

It’s okay to write when you don’t “feel motivated” if what you really mean is, “I’m not stoked about doing this right now.”

You don’t have to be stoked about it. You just have to start writing.

If you feel passionate, that’s great. But don’t expect more of yourself than necessary.

If you’re writing, you’re motivated. Period. You’re doing it.

At its core, writing is just communicating ideas. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.

Of course, you want the ideas you capture to be relevant to your book. That’s why you should always outline first—so you can capture all your ideas about a specific section before you move on to the next one.

Then, when you do sit down to write, you’ll already have all the relevant ideas gathered. That makes things a lot easier.

An outline is also your greatest defense against fear and writers’ block . It’s a lot harder to get stuck when you’ve got a roadmap guiding the way.

Scribe’s suggested outline is different from the one you might have learned in school. It’s not a bullet point list of every step of the argument.

We’ve found that traditional outlines aren’t flexible enough for most Authors. Plus, sometimes, you can’t get to that level of detail until you’re actually in the middle of writing.

What makes our outline different is that it’s designed specifically to help you write your book.

In fact, our writing process has helped thousands of Authors write successful nonfiction books. It works.

All it takes is 3 simple steps:

Brainstorm your chapters
Make a table of contents
Fill in the outline structure with your chapter’s hook, thesis, supporting content, stories and examples, key takeaways, and a callback to the hook.

If you want a template or more details, you can find them here .

Once you see your book in outline form, writing it will seem easier.

Conceptually, you’re not writing a whole book anymore. You’re looking at a clear collection of ideas and stories, most of which are already in your head.

You’ll be more motivated to write once you’ve broken your book into manageable pieces. It’s easier to climb a mountain when you take it one step at a time.

The reason an outline is so powerful is that it helps you see your book in terms of smaller, more attainable goals. You should do the same with all of your writing goals.

Many people start out thinking, “I have to write as much as possible.” Or, they set a high word count goal, like 1,000 words per day. And when they don’t reach those goals, they get disappointed. They feel like a failure.

That’s the worst way to motivate yourself to write.

With large goals, it’s easy to get intimidated (that’s usually when writer’s block sets in). But attainable goals make it easier to get over that hump.

Remember, motivation has nothing to do with passion. If you’re writing at all , you’re already motivated.

You don’t have to go overboard and shoot for the moon just to show you’re passionate about your book. When people do that, it’s usually because they’re trying to prove something to themselves.

You won’t prove anything by setting unattainable goals.

Rewire your brain and think small. Set goals that will set you up for success.

I recommend writing 250 words per day. That word count is low enough to be easily achievable. It leaves you with no excuses.

You could write 250 words on your phone between meetings. You could even dictate 250 words to your phone while you’re in the shower.

If you do end up writing more than 250 words, that’s great. Keep going as long as you want.

But if it’s one of those days where writing feels like a slog, you can still meet that word count and avoid being disappointed with yourself.

It’s more important to be consistent with writing than to have epic writing sessions.

When I was writing full-time, I blocked off 4 hours a day to write—but I rarely used that whole time to actually write. I read or did other things related to writing.

It’s hard to write for hours on end. And like most things in life, you’ll get diminishing returns.

Aim for 250 words every day, and stick with it. And remember, if you’re doing it, you’re motivated.

Notice that I said you need to write 250 words every single day . That’s because you’ll be much more motivated to write when it becomes a daily practice.

In addition to the 250 words per day, I recommend that you come up with a writing routine to help keep you on track.

Pick a designated writing time and stick to it every day. Are you better at writing in the morning, or do you like to write right before bed? Maybe it’s easier to squeeze 250 words in over your lunch break.

There’s no right or wrong answer. Just pick a time whenever you do your best writing and stick with it.

The same goes for your writing place. Maybe you write well in a quiet office. Or, maybe it’s easier for you to focus in a coffee shop.

We worked with one Author who wrote in his Tesla while it was charging in his garage. He put the same playlist on every day, turned up the volume, and spent the next 45 minutes writing.

The reason you need a writing routine is the same reason you teach your kids to brush their teeth every morning.

They may grumble or whine, but once they get into the habit, they do it anyway—no matter how much they don’t want to.

It works the same way when you’re writing a book. Writing habits keep you motivated to write and do it again the next day.

A writing routine gives you the fuel to keep going, even when you think your tank is running low. When writing becomes an automatic part of your day, it’s a lot harder to procrastinate.

5. Don’t Be Perfect—Vomit on the Page

Don’t intimidate yourself by trying to be a perfect writer.

First of all, there’s no such thing.

Second, if you do that, you’ll never finish your book because you’ll never live up to your own expectations.

I’m dead serious. I’ve seen countless Authors get stuck writing the first draft of their book. They’ll get off to a good start—but then they’ll re-read what they’ve written, delete it, and start over.

They do that 50 times and eventually give up (spoiler: they never finish their book).

Don’t fall into the same trap of unrealistic expectations . Just aim to get words on a page.

In fact, don’t even think of your writing as “writing a book.” You’re not writing a book. You’re just collecting your thoughts.

That’s why I call my first drafts “ vomit drafts .” I spew words and thoughts onto a page. I don’t stop to edit, re-read, or think about how the writing flows.

Like vomit, it’s not pretty. But after you’ve written all your ideas out, you’ll feel so much better.

Plus, it’s a lot easier to motivate yourself to write when you free yourself from the need to be perfect.

When you write a vomit draft, you don’t give yourself time to stare at a blank page. There’s no room for intimidation.

You just start writing and let whatever’s inside your brain come out. It’s not going to be perfect. In fact, it will probably be terrible.

But that’s okay. Most first drafts are terrible. Even books that go on to become bestsellers started as terrible first drafts.

Embrace it. Realize that bad writing is a natural part of the writing process.

A first draft is exactly what the name implies—a first step.

Your book will go through multiple drafts before anyone even sees it.

Of course, you’ll eventually have to wade through the vomit. You’ll have to trim, add, and edit . And you’ll probably have to move things around and rethink the structure of your chapters . That’s normal.

For now, stop worrying about how good or bad your writing is and start capturing your ideas. You can make them sound great later.

Don’t edit as you go. Just write. Vomit on the page.

It’s a lot easier to fix writing when you actually have writing to fix.

Many people find it easier to motivate themselves during the “vomit” phase. Once you get into the groove of spewing 250 words per day, it can be refreshing.

The part that’s harder is when you have to go back through all that writing to turn it into a coherent, well-written book.

Here’s my advice when you reach that phase: hold on to your motivation by keeping your focus on the reader.

You’re writing a nonfiction book for a reason. What made you want to do this in the first place?

At some level, it’s because you want to help your readers solve their problems.

If you’re writing a memoir , it’s because you want to share your story with people who can benefit from hearing it.

If you’re writing a knowledge-share nonfiction book , you’re trying to prove to your readers that you’re the person that can meet their needs.

Whatever kind of book you’re writing, your reader is at the heart of your motivation.

If you feel stuck or don’t feel like writing, remember that. Think about the people you’re going to help and how their lives will change because of your book.

When readers pick up a nonfiction book, they aren’t looking for perfection or a sublime writing style . They’re looking to learn information that’s going to make their lives better.

Here are 4 essential writing principles to help you deliver information in a way readers will appreciate:

Keep your writing short. Readers tune out when you wander.
Keep your writing simple. Readers want content they can easily understand, even if the ideas are complex.
Keep your writing direct. Get to the point, and make each sentence a single, direct statement.
Keep it about the reader. Ask yourself this question about everything you write: “Why does the reader care?”

Imagine having a conversation with a client or a close friend. What would you tell them, and how would you deliver the information?

Don’t make writing harder than it has to be. To stay motivated, imagine speaking directly to your reader and making an impact on their lives.

If you’re still unmotivated after all that, you might want to reconsider your intentions. If it’s that hard to motivate yourself, maybe writing a book isn’t something you really want to do.

This may seem odd to include in an article on motivational writing tips, but if you want to motivate yourself, you have to take care of yourself.

If you’re super stressed out or exhausted, you’re not going to function well. And you’re definitely not going to feel motivated to write.

I won’t lie. Writing can be a slog. And completing a book will take an emotional, mental, and sometimes physical toll on you. If you don’t take care of yourself, it’s easy to lose steam.

There are many ways you can take care of yourself. For example, you can:

Get plenty of sleep
Take nature walks
Talk to a therapist
Visit an energy healer or masseuse
Try acupuncture
Go for regular float sessions
Sit in a sauna
Take a bath with Epsom salts

Basically, take time to do things that will make your body and mind feel better. You want to develop good writing habits, not become a writing machine.

To do that, you need to check in with yourself from time to time to make sure you’re at the top of your game.

Being refreshed will make you a better writer. Self-care will revitalize you so you can come back the next day, ready to meet your writing goals.

While some people thrive on routines and self-care, others are more motivated by external accountability.

If you’re one of those people, I recommend announcing that you’re working on a book.

Tell people on social media. Write a guest post for your favorite blogger. Email your friends and family.

Whatever method works best for you, use it to announce your intention to the world.

And if you’re serious about writing, I recommend announcing your book on the platform that makes you the least comfortable.

Yes, that may seem like a lot of pressure. But it’s important to identify any points of resistance you have and push through them.

You’ll get a lot of positive feedback, which will help you become more motivated. And when your motivation wavers, you’ll be reminded that there are people eagerly awaiting your book.

I believe that every person has a book in them. But one of the major things that holds people back from writing those books is fear .

They’re afraid that their book won’t be good enough, original enough, or meaningful enough. They’re afraid of looking stupid or making people angry.

Those kinds of fears are normal, but you shouldn’t let them get in the way.

You have a story that’s worth telling. The only way to truly motivate yourself to tell it is to conquer your fear.

If you allow those fears to stick around, they only lead to procrastination , frustration, and surrender.

If you want to overcome your fear, I recommend facing them head-on. Write down all your fears about the writing process, self-publishing, or fears about how people will react once they read the book.

Evaluate each fear and recognize what those fears mean. Fear has a point and a purpose. It’s an indicator of risk.

Every Author who writes a book worth reading is taking a risk. If you’re scared, congratulations. It means you have something worth saying.

Fear isn’t the problem. The problem is when you let fears take over.

Keep in mind what your book is going to do for you and what it’s going to do for your readers.

Then, make a plan for facing your fears. For example, if you’re afraid you’ll never finish writing your book, use that fear as motivation. Create a writing routine and resolve to stick with it through the whole writing process.

The Scribe Crew

How You Lose Your Motivation to Get Your PhD Degree without Realizing It

August 12, 2020 by Dora Farkas, PhD Leave a Comment

Why is it so hard to keep your motivation to get your PhD Degree?

Doubts about finishing your PhD Degree start out innocently…

You check your email and catch up on social media before you sit down to work on your Dissertation.

Fifteen minutes won’t make a difference in writing something as big as your Dissertation, will it?

After all, once your take care of your email, you can usually write for an hour before you go to work.

But…tomorrow is a different day.

Once again (out of habit), you begin the day by checking your email.

This time, however, you get an upsetting email that your abstract was rejected from a conference!

How can that be? You spent weeks writing that abstract and everyone approved it.

Demoralized, you are not sure what to do next.

You had planned to write a section of your Dissertation for an hour that morning.

Now you wonder if it’s even worth getting a PhD degree.

You scroll through your Facebook & Instagram feeds looking for something to inspire you, but all you see are pictures of happy people on the beach while you are stuck behind your desk.

The hour flew by and now you have to leave for work.

Next morning it is tougher to get out of bed. Now you only have 30 minutes to write before you need to leave for work.

Is it even worth starting to write when you don’t even have an hour? Maybe you can read a paper and take some notes.

While reading the paper you discover that another group has done similar research, and you print out their papers to read the following morning.

For the next few days you spend your mornings reading papers. But you never feel quite ready to start writing again.

First a week goes by without writing, and then another.

With all this new information you feel too overwhelmed to start writing again.

Is your research even worthy when so others have already published something similar?

You feel paralyzed. Stuck. Overwhelmed.

Suddenly, you realize:

You are just not motivated to write your Dissertation anymore.

In fact, you are wondering if it’s even worth getting a PhD Degree.

Will you ever get your motivation back?

5 Subtle Traps That Suck Away Your Motivation to Get Your PhD Degree

You started graduate school with the best intentions. What could stop you from getting your PhD Degree if you work hard?

The problem is that hard work is not well-defined in graduate school.

You work, work, work, and you don’t feel any closer to your PhD that you did on your first day of graduate school.

If anything, you feel burnt out. The worst part is that you don’t even know how you got yourself into this situation.

You have already invested too much to quit, but you aren’t motivated to do the writing or research that is required for you to get your PhD Degree.

There is some good news:

You can regain your motivation to write no matter how long you have been stuck .

But first, let’s look at the most common ways that you lose your motivation:

Trap #1: Distractions

Just like in the example above, if you don’t have a solid writing routine in place, one irritating email can throw off your whole schedule.

You can also be distracted by other people, and even your own thoughts! (More on this below)

Each time you get distracted, you use up mental energy, and your motivation suffers.

Over time, your motivation can be reduced to -100 on a scale of 1-10; I know, I’ve been there, and it’s a tough place!

Unless you have a system to ward off distractions, it will be impossible to finish your Dissertation. (I say this with the most kindness, after 10 years of working with PhD students.)

Trap #2: Infobesity – Yes that is a real word!

Back in the good old days, when you wanted to read an article you had to go to the library and photocopy it page-by-page from the hard copy of the journal (assuming your school library even subscribed to that journal).

Now it is delightfully easy (albeit dangerous) to access almost any journal article you want instantaneously.

You know how it goes: you read one article, which references another article. You then search for that article and discover another exciting article to read.

The cycle goes on until you are caught in information overwhelm, also known as infobesity. It is a paralyzing feeling caused by having so much information about a topic that you don’t even know how to start.

You must have a way to manage the information that comes your way (whether it is related to your work or not) to have the motivation and mental bandwidth to do the work necessary for PhD Degree.

Trap #3: Comparing yourself to others

There is no shame in it, we’ve all done this: we see someone who has achieved something spectacular and we wonder: “How come I can’t do that?”

The problem with this way of thinking is that it never ends!

Students in grad school envy those who already got a PhD Degree.

PhD’s wonder how they can ever get a job when everyone else has a better resume. Once employed, you might wonder, why you haven’t been promoted yet? Or, why others are “ahead of you in life”, whether it’s about a house, car, family, or career?

Each time you compare yourself to anyone else, you lower your self-esteem and your motivation suffers.

I know how hard it is to not compare yourself to others. However, I have known students who were the last in their class to graduate (by many, many years), and went on to have very successful careers.

Until you can put your focus (primarily) on your Dissertation journey, staying motivated will feel like an uphill battle every day.

Trap #4: Not receiving feedback

I had to think about how to phrase this trap, because everyone has a different relationship with their PhD supervisor.

You might be in a lucky situation where you get regular and helpful feedback from your supervisor. As long as you have this type of relationship with your supervisor, you are not going to fall into this trap (although the student-advisor relationship does change throughout the years).

But you might be in a situation where you get no feedback, or you get discouraging (possibly even harsh) feedback.

Out of all the traps this is the one that can make you feel most powerless, because you have no control over your supervisor’s behavior.

The truth is that you are not powerless.

You cannot control your supervisor’s behavior, but you can influence them.

As nice as it would be to have your supervisor guide you step-by-step through the process of getting your PhD Degree, you need to be one to initiate conversations when you need help. Even supervisors who are busy eventually respond when you ask for a phone or in-person meeting.

The other extreme is when you get feedback, but it is discouraging (i.e. your self-esteem plummets after every interaction).

I had this experience with one of my committee members. While the feedback was harsh, I chose to receive only the helpful comments. Despite being frustrated about this relationship, I asked myself “How can I use this professor’s feedback to move my Dissertation forward?”

Remember, it is your responsibility to initiate the conversation with your supervisor when you feel stuck (and unmotivated), and be specific about what kind of guidance you need from them to move forward with your Dissertation.

Trap #5: No external accountability

Did you ever have a day when you were busy, but you had no tangible progress to show for it?

When you work on your own (which is unavoidable if you are writing your Dissertation), it is challenging to figure out how to measure your progress.

Should you track the number of hours we wrote? The number of words? The papers you read? The data you analyzed? The number of possible things you could measure is enough to make anyone dizzy.

Just trying to decide what to on a daily basis is enough to suck away your mental bandwidth and motivation.

Eventually, you might get to a point where you feel so fed up with not being able to follow through on your commitments that you stop trusting yourself. This is where your motivation meets its ultimate demise. How can you feel motivated to work on your Dissertation if you cannot trust yourself?

This is where external accountability comes in.

When you are accountable to someone else, you have to verbalize your goals, and show how these goals move your closer to getting a PhD Degree.

You also need to explain what happened if you didn’t follow through, and how you will reprioritize so that you can accomplish that goal.

With external accountability you are also less likely to get distracted.

If you committed to writing part of your literature review, you know you need to write instead of immersing yourself in reading.

Even better, when you do accomplish your goals, external accountability will reinforce your self-confidence and motivation.

What better way to feel motivated than to know and get validation that you are on the right track?

When it comes to finding external accountability the most important factor is that the person (or group) is committed to keeping you accountable.

I have seen successful accountability partnerships among students in different fields. Some students even credit their PhD Degrees to a virtual accountability partnership with another student in a different country whom they never even met in person!

Whether external accountability comes from an individual or a group, it is one of the fastest ways to regain your motivation to finish your Dissertation, and (finally) graduate with a PhD Degree.

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Adam Dobrinich

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Breaking boundaries: UCSB grad students win prestigious Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship

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Recognized for their “bold and innovative approaches” to research, three UC Santa Barbara graduate students have been awarded the 2024 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship. Doctoral students Yuri Fraccaroli , Salma Shash and Tinghao Zhou are among 45 awardees selected from a nationwide pool of more than 700 Ph.D. students in the humanities and interpretive social sciences.

“We are extremely proud of these three international students for winning such a prestigious and competitive fellowship,” said Interim Graduate Dean Leila J. Rupp. “It is notable that all are involved in research that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries and allows them to bring their personal experiences into their projects. Together, they show the global reach, interdisciplinarity and emphasis on social justice that is a hallmark of our campus.”

Fraccaroli, a first-generation doctoral student from Brazil, is pursuing research in the feminist studies department based on their work as an educator, artist and researcher with Acervo Bajubá, an LGBT+ community archive in São Paulo. They will use the funding and support from the award to expand the scope of their winning dissertation, “Archivo vivo! An Ethnography of the Archive: Latin American Sex and Gender Community Archives.”

“I have an outline of chapters, I know the sites I'm working at, I know the communities I'm going to be talking to,” Fraccaroli said. “It’s also research that is a result of five years around this life commitment that I have with community archives in Latin America, especially in South America, and in Brazil with Acervo Bajubá , where my work comes from. Instead of seeing these archives as objects, I consider them as epistemological projects. That’s the key intervention of my project.”

Part of the support and resources provided by the fellowship include an external advisor. “The first stage of my research is going to be probably at the University of Leeds with Patricio Simonetto, who is a queer historian who has a very outstanding career,” they said. “At this moment, I want to expand my theoretical knowledge from Brazil to the region. The idea of the project is to get a regional and global perspective on this phenomenon, this rise of community archives that has been happening in the last decade.”

A Ph.D. candidate in film and media studies, Zhou won the award for his dissertation, “At the Ends of Media: E-Waste Pollution, Secondhand Extraction, and Environmental Politics in Guiyu, China,” “I'm looking at a specific e-waste processing site in China, which has been perceived as one of the largest e-waste recycling hubs in the world for the past 20 or 30 years,” he said. “I think this award is instrumental for my research because it allows graduate students like myself to go to the places that I want to visit and to talk to the people I want to reach outside of America. I think this funding gives me an opportunity to gain access to those trainings and spaces, which I think is really important for my project.”

Zhou’s personal experiences also fueled his dissertation goals. He grew up in South China, in an area known for its manufacturing, industry and international trade, not far from a town with many recycling workshops and centers. “It was famous for collecting old TV sets, air conditioners and refrigerators – all of these old consumer electronics,” he recalled. “When I was in my childhood home, I always got that smell of recycling. I had to close my door or close my windows sometimes. The smell is a memory I associate with these old recycling industries, and that actually became a kind of central methodology of my project — to use this sensory ethnography to understand how the local people live and work in and around e-waste recycling sites.”

He hopes his research and the funding provided for interviews with local officials, environmental scientists and activists will shed light on the impact of e-waste recycling processes on the local communities. “I was thinking of how the chemical and physical components of those devices could even impact the metabolism of the workers’ bodies,” Zhou said. “Looking at this site pushes me to think about how the global media economy and output of e-waste tangibly shape the local ecologies, politics and people. The other part of the project is also looking at how the central government negotiates or reacts to this global media economy in its development of environmental science and technology.”

The award arrived at a crucial time in Shash’s graduate research career. “I had no guaranteed funding for next year, and this fellowship will allow me to focus on research and writing without teaching duties or other work responsibilities,” she said. “It also gives you some motivation to know that other people think your research is important or worth funding.”

Shash’s winning research project, “Villagers, Criminals, and Policemen: Policing and Justice in Rural Egypt, 1854-1914,” stems from political changes in her home country of Egypt. “I have been interested in understanding police brutality, coercion and criminal justice since the 2011 revolution in Egypt,” she said. “I wrote my master's thesis in 2015 at SOAS, the University of London, on police brutality after the revolution. I have since been convinced that unpacking the genealogy and history of the Egyptian police is essential to `reforming’ (or transforming) it today. When I started my archival work in 2022, I shifted to a more complex understanding of policing in Egypt through rural experiences, where political economy and, specifically, land are intimately linked to police power. At the core of my research is a commitment to seeking and understanding justice.”

A doctoral candidate in the history department, Shash’s research goals have been enhanced by her mentors, the presence of the Center for Middle East Studies, and the interdisciplinary nature of research at UC Santa Barbara. In addition to Professor Sherene Seikaly as her graduate advisor, Shash has received key mentorship from other Middle East historians like Professor Adam Sabra as well historians outside her field, including Professor Utathya Chattopadhyaya, who teaches South Asian history, and Professor Dwight Reynolds from the religious studies department. “I would ideally like to continue pursuing a career in academia, teaching and doing research, while remaining active with and grounded in my local community,” said Shash, who continues to build on her “commitment to justice and faith that knowledge production and teaching are spaces for activism and vehicles for change.”

The ACLS launched the fellowship program in 2023, with the support of the Mellon Foundation, to advance a vision for doctoral education that prioritizes openness to new methods and sources, underrepresented voices and perspectives and scholarly experimentation. The awards are designed to accelerate change in the norms of humanistic scholarship by recognizing those who take risks in the modes, methods and subjects of their research.

Each fellow receives an award of up to $50,000, consisting of a $40,000 stipend for the

fellowship year; up to $8,000 for project-related research, training, professional development and travel expenses; and a $2,000 stipend to support external mentorship that offers new perspectives on the fellow’s project and expands their advising network. With fellows pursuing their research across the country and beyond, the ACLS will also provide opportunities for virtual networking and scholarly programming throughout the fellows’ award terms.

Marge Pamintuan Perko

Marketing & Communications Director

Graduate Division

[email protected]

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

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COMMENTS

Can't find the motivation to write my thesis : r/GradSchool
Start small. Create the overarching chapter structure, edit the table of contents, throw in a few bullet-point notes here and there with thoughts on what you might insert into the sections themselves. Gloss over your data and scribble down in the thesis document itself whatever happens to catch your eye.
Advice for how to get (and stay) motivated to write your dissertation
Writing a dissertation is a grueling process that does not just require academic prowess, an excellent writing style and mastery of a very specific area of knowledge. It also demands discipline (in setting a writing schedule), perseverance (in keeping that schedule) and motivation (to get the writing done and the project completed).
8 Most Effective Ways to Increase Motivation for Thesis Writing
Do things that boost your mental and creative energy. This could be talking with colleagues, attending workshops, or engaging in hobbies that relax you. Stay aware of your motivation levels and take action to rejuvenate them. This way, you can avoid burnout and keep a consistent pace in your thesis work.
What to do if you lack motivation in your PhD
See the bigger picture. An effective way of managing your expectations is to see the bigger picture. Remind yourself why you started out on your PhD journey in the first place, what motivates you, and what your goal is with the thesis and beyond. Focusing on the bigger picture means you can see each day for what it is: a small component of that ...
10 tips to motivate you to write the bachelor or master Thesis
Motivation 3: Set an appointment with your thesis supervisor. A task that is wonderfully suited to be completed when you're stuck in the motivation hole: making an appointment with your supervisor. All you need to do is give them a quick call or send them a short e-mail. You don't have to meet right away.
Strategies to Maintain Focus while Writing Your Dissertation
Write first. It is easy to procrastinate on writing and do menial tasks instead, such as checking email or social media, or cleaning the house or reading the news. I would "reward" myself with these distracting indulgences after I completed my writing for the day. 7. Email & Smartphone.
Stop Procrastinating and Complete Your Dissertation
Motivation is the biggest problem that grad students face in writing the dissertation. A Lonely Time . The dissertation is a time consuming and lonely process that usually takes about two years (and often longer). The dissertation often is a major blow to a graduate student's self-esteem. ... Writing the dissertation is much like running a ...
How to tackle the PhD dissertation
There is no single strategy when it comes to writing or maintaining motivation, so experiment and find out what works for you. Suggested readings. Thriving as a Graduate Writer by Rachel Cayley (2023) Destination Dissertation by Sonja K. Foss and William Waters (2015) The PhD Writing Handbook by Desmond Thomas (2016).
How to keep motivated when working on your dissertation or final
Motivation for a long-term project can be challenging to maintain, especially when it feels like everyone else in on a break. So we've put together our top tips on keeping motivated when writing your dissertation. Write something every (work)day. On the days when you plan to work, aim to write a set number of words a day without fail.
Resources for Dissertation Writing
There's no question that writing a thesis or dissertation is a long process, and it's often challenging and tiring in a variety of ways. It can be difficult to keep your spirits up and stay motivated to write, especially when it might seem like you'll never be finished. You're not alone: many, many dissertation writers before you have felt the ...
What Is a Dissertation?
A dissertation is a long-form piece of academic writing based on original research conducted by you. It is usually submitted as the final step in order to finish a PhD program. Your dissertation is probably the longest piece of writing you've ever completed. It requires solid research, writing, and analysis skills, and it can be intimidating ...
Use the 15-Minute Rule to Progress Your Dissertation or Thesis
The "15-minute rule" is one of my favorite motivation and productivity strategies. Bolker (1998) recommended that students begin by writing for an absolute minimum of 10 minutes everyday and then expand to 15 minutes and then to longer periods of time. ... Do your best to write or do other dissertation work for at least 15 minutes. When the ...
Ten things I wish I'd known before starting my dissertation
4) Do not ask friends how much work they've done. You'll end up paranoid - or they will. Either way, you don't have time for it. 5) There will be one day during the process when you will freak ...
9 Ways to Boost Your Writing Motivation (That Actually Work)
1. Don't Confuse Motivation with Passion. Forget everything you've ever learned about writing "out of passion.". If you wait to feel passionate about what you're writing, you'll never finish writing your book. You can't rely on passion. It comes and goes too easily. You're not going to feel passionate every single day.
How to Finish Your Dissertation
First and foremost, when I encourage you to write at least 30 minutes per day, the most important part of that phrase is "at least.". It doesn't mean that you're going to complete your dissertation in one semester by writing for only 30 minutes per day. It's advice given to people like you, who are not writing at all.
You Might Lose Your Motivation To Get Your PhD Without Realizing
Each time you get distracted, you use up mental energy, and your motivation suffers. Over time, your motivation can be reduced to -100 on a scale of 1-10; I know, I've been there, and it's a tough place! Unless you have a system to ward off distractions, it will be impossible to finish your Dissertation. (I say this with the most kindness ...
How to deal with low motivation when writing a thesis
Either that or taking up meditation or a good self-care plan, as counter-intuitive as it sounds. If you're unable to motivate yourself to start working, you probably need to allow yourself some space during the day or during the week to just be calm and emotionally safe before you take on the project of writing. 12.
How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation Introduction
Overview of the structure. To help guide your reader, end your introduction with an outline of the structure of the thesis or dissertation to follow. Share a brief summary of each chapter, clearly showing how each contributes to your central aims. However, be careful to keep this overview concise: 1-2 sentences should be enough.
thesis
The point, however, is this: your goal in a motivation section is to motivate by explaining that there is a problem that people care about and that you have an approach that gives at least a piece of the solution. Explain it in a way that your jargon can just be placeholders in the reader's mind, and it will be fine to leave the complex ...
Some motivation to finish your thesis (send this to a friend ...
Whether you are writing your bachelor's, master's or even your PhD thesis (or dissertation or capstone), we all sometimes get into a slump that we don't seem...
Can't get motivated to write final dissertation... do I just give up?
So im currently writing my final dissertation of my education (not in US, but same level) I need to deliver it in 12 days, and I need to write like 10.000 words more.. I am legit close to just letting my supervisor know that i wont be delivering the dissertation...
No Motivation To Write My Dissertation
No Motivation To Write My Dissertation, Best Cv Ghostwriting Website For Masters, 9th Class Essay 1 Question Paper Telugu, Cheap Academic Essay Writer Service For College, Retelling Research Paper, Popular Best Essay Writer Services Us, Phantom Of The Opera Research Paper 4248
Breaking boundaries: UCSB grad students win prestigious Mellon/ACLS
A Ph.D. candidate in film and media studies, Zhou won the award for his dissertation, "At the Ends of Media: E-Waste Pollution, Secondhand Extraction, and Environmental Politics in Guiyu, China," "I'm looking at a specific e-waste processing site in China, which has been perceived as one of the largest e-waste recycling hubs in the world ...