Hi all, this is just a quick start of the day post to name my goals for today. I really want to respond to everyone's posts over the last day (when I do my other work) but I'll do so at the end of today as I need to make my first hour productive.

However, I'd just like to say BilboBaggins, you are an inspiration! And it reminds me that I have absolutely no excuses for not getting my work done :$ Keep your courage up and we'll be here on those days when you're not feeling so great to offer a little support :-)

Before reporting on my goals for today I should say that I'm seriously lagging. It took me a whole day of research on Tuesday to produce *600* words. My thesis is on really new stuff (no-one else has written on it in my country) so I'm finding the research really tough as I'm trawling through scant resources for scraps of information that I can piece together. But there's me whingeing again! I just need to work faster, be more selective in what I spend my energy on etc. and GET IT DONE.

Goals for today
* MUST finish religion section
* Tidy/edit gardening section
* Tidy first 3500 words in chapter

Thanks for your thoughts BilboBaggins. Wow, that's quite a jump from Science to Humanities. I ended up writing a history PhD (as a result of the lack of research done in my area) even though I've never done any history at University. It's been a steep learning curve!
Lara - working on a Sunday ... I've reclaimed Sunday as my day of rest, I figure we all deserve one day off right? (that said, I often do work for my supervisor in the afternoons, but it doesn't require a lot of brain power so I figure it doesn't count).
Rubyw - how are you going with your corrections...? I don't know the full story there, does that mean you've submitted and just have to do corrections now?
I think there were a few other people floating around... Bulbs? Keen to hear from everyone lurking in this forum (I don't want to bore everyone with all my posts as I'm trying to post beginning/end of every Mon, Tues, Thurs).

... So, ever have that feeling that you're watching yourself make the same mistakes in your research/writing process, day by day, week by week, knowing that you are doing it, but feeling powerless to stop it? Once again I spent this morning taking notes without writing anything for my chapter. I feel like I'll never be done with this research :-( Oh, and endnote, don't get me started on endnote... I still haven't figured out a way to do referencing quickly - if it's possible!

Anyway, I've finally just started some real *writing* and also have set some goals for today:

1) complete section on religion
2) fix section on gardening
3) go back through first 3,500 words (overview, timeslots) & link back to my new chapter theme
Possibly a little ambitious but I it's best to aim high right?

Oh and my 'Metagoal' is to set my daily goals before I start working (and definitely before 1pm)!

Just a quick end of day post - hope to write more tomorrow.

Phew, well that 400 words for my introduction took the longest time ever to nut out! Even though I know it will be changed somewhat, now I have an introduction and a better sense of what must be incorporated into my chapter redraft :-)

As for the section on religion: Lost my momentum a little in the afternoon but spent a solid block working on religion section. Didn’t finish tho :$ but felt a bit better about moving forward and setting my first proper writing goal in quite some time :-)

Oh dear, you know you’re in trouble when you start procrastinating on setting daily writing goals! :$

I had intended to sit down this morning and diligently set some writing goals. It’s 2pm and I’m now, finally, ready to do so. That’s not to say that I haven’t done any work this morning but I realise that setting goals is a major part of getting writing done. For me anyway. If I don’t set goals I tend to lose my focus frequently throughout the day which is a fast route downward spiral to (structured) procrastination. I haven’t set daily writing goals for some time and I think my lack of writing progress has a lot to do with this!

So here are my goals for what’s left of today (about 4 hours left at the library). I’m currently reworking my final research chapter in my dissertation. I have a previous very MESSY draft (c.15,000 words) but unfortunately it is too long, has lots of holes in the research, lots of incomplete notes and doesn’t reflect the revised focus of the chapter. I’ll need to hack, rewrite and add new writing before it begins to look respectable. I should note for anyone who’s taken the time to read my post that the writing process is a MAJOR part of my research – the two are intrinsically linked – and it is the part with which I struggle the most. Oh, how I long for a scientific reporting structure to make my life easier *sigh*

Meta goal: don’t spend too much time doing research to fill in the gaps! (unfortunately I still have to do bits and pieces of extra research but I must remember I don’t have much time left at this stage. I’m meant to be on to my second draft already!). Getting sucked back into doing more research is a bad habit of mine – I have to learn when to stop!
Goal 1) re-draft chapter introduction to reflect new chapter direction
Goal 2) aim to complete writing section on ‘religion in broadcasting’ (involves reviewing/incorporating extra literature, constructing clear story for this section)

I’ll report back on my progress later tonight .

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oops - my internet is so slow today I accidentally posted twice. See above :-)

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Hey Lara, thanks for the warm welcome!

Hey Bulbs. Great, sounds like we'll have a few people to keep us company :-D As I'm nearing the end of the process (I say hopefully!) my thoughts are that it's best to write early and write often. And to keep "finishing" pieces of work. I've drafted drafted and drafted written work (mine is history and it's pretty much ALL about the writing) but until you actually commit to creating a solid first draft (which of course has to start somewhere - such as the zero draft strategy which I found initially helpful) you won't be moving closer to your goal.

Anyway, it sounds like you've got the right strategy which is NOT to wait until you've finished data analysis. The earlier you start writing the longer you have to learn about, and improve, the writing of your dissertation. Just my opinion of course but the earlier you start, and the more you can get finished in advance of a looming deadline, the less stressed you'll be as you get closer to submission.

I'm excited about the idea of being publicly accountable and will endeavour to log on every day I work on my thesis to record my goals. I work part-time but Mon, Tues & Thurs are my "thesis" days. I'll be back soon to commit to my first writing goal :-)

I've just stumbled across the postgraduate forum... it's something I've been looking for for quite some time!! I realise this thread was started quite some time ago and so I'm not sure if it's still following it's original aims? I'll say a few words about myself and if i'm in the wrong place, maybe someone can point me in the right direction...?

Firstly, I too have read Joan Bolker's 'writing your dissertation in 15 minutes a day'. I found that it helped me immensely when I began really trying to nut out chapters, structure my thesis etc. a few years ago. Now that I'm coming toward the 'finishing' part of the thesis writing process I find that I'm needing further guidance and inspiration!

I'm currently 'completing' a PhD in History/politics. Will possibly set a new world record for taking the longest period of time before submission (I don't want to publicly admit how many years I've been working on this). I am doing my PhD part-time and working part-time. I'm hoping to be done by the end of this year but when I look at how much revision work I've still got left to do, I get very nervous about this time frame. Chapters are a mess, still doing small bits of research to fill in gaps in the 'story' etc. etc.

I *love* the idea of setting publicly accountable daily goals. Is there anyone out there who is still doing this/wants to start this with me? (sorry this is a massive thread so I'm not sure what stage people are up to). If I'm in the wrong place I am considering initiating a "finishing my thesis" thread...!

If you're looking for someone to set mutual daily writing goals - please reply!!!