Before getting into the swing of writing, first of all you should avoid believing two myths: writing can occur only in large time blocks, and inspiration is a must to carry on writing. Writing in large chunks of time is self-sabotaging as you will not be able to spend your time productively. More often than not, you will go through your whole day or week without writing. Therefore it is not advised to prepare yourself for writing for long hours. You should develop a regular routine of writing for a moderate length of time.
Inspiration is nice, but waiting for writing until you have enough inspiration will eat into your valuable time, and you will end up with zero productivity. Inspired thoughts can occur anytime when you are in the middle of doing something else. So you should start writing to stimulate ideas instead of waiting for impulsive moments to write. In addition to avoiding these myths, following are the things that you can consider.
Assess your schedule
The first task is to block out writing hours before they are eaten away by other tasks. Asses your weekly schedule that must have events like attending seminars, conducting experiments, personal work, and the course you teach. Give priority to your important tasks to analyse how much time is left for writing with you.
Schedule writing times
Decide on the time which is suitable for writing. Are you comfortable to write everyday? If you do best work in the morning, utilise that time for writing and shift those tasks to the afternoon that requires less cognitive efforts. Do not dissipate your writing time to execute other tasks. You must have other routine tasks; some of them you can put off and some of them you cannot. Do remember that this time the most important task is completing your thesis.
Do not be overambitious
Writing a thesis is very hard. It needs patience and consistency. Do not schedule your writing for long hours that are not sustainable. Writing for eight to nine hours or overnight writing can make you worn out, and your productivity will get diminished. Try to block out fixed hours for your writing and follow them consistently.
After a few weeks of writing, you should compare your writing schedule with writing graph to examine what is working for you and what is not working for you. Revise your writing schedule and change writing habits that did not work for you. You should also share your draft with your supervisors and other writing partners. They will share insights with you and suggest tips to improve your writing and develop regular writing routine.
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