for sure! the illusion that everyone here is always 100% on top of their things is def just an illusion. our online appearances are all carefully selected to only what we want others to see. when the truth is we are all quite the same.
so for self-discipline, i rely on two things:
the mindset thatĀ āhey this thing needs to get done, and no one else is gonna do it for me, so i better do itā. oddly enough, theĀ āfake it till you make itā mindset helps with this. see here: ājulia the introvertā is not fond of making phone calls, butĀ ājulia the grad student who needs to find out more info on x reagent bc my research depends on itā is willing to make the call to the vendor. and when iām making that call, i try my hardest to adopt the 2nd persona.Ā
scheduling EVERYTHING. i donāt trust present!julia. present!julia is a fickle fool who loves naps too much. but past!julia is great at scheduling in an entire dayās worth of tasks down to the hour, sometimes weeks in advance (using google calendars; but paper planners work too!). So pesent!julia doesnāt even have to think about whether or not she feels motivated because she has a handy dandy schedule to follow (almost like a class schedule). i even schedule in things like reminders (i just put them in around the time i think iāll need to do it). And the great thing about an electronic calendar is if task 1 takes 30 min longer than expected, you can just move the other tasks 30 min later. Also, present!julia has the memory capacity of a pebble, so if i schedule in something the moment i finalize it (like a drās apt, or lunch with a friend), then i donāt have to use my precious finite brain cells to remember it; i just look at my schedule every day/week/month to figure out what i need to do next :)
as for my work/writing process:
i divide my writing into bite-sized tasks. sitting down to write a 3 page article is intimidating as heck. but sitting down to write a 10 sentence introduction is super doable. so i make a to-do list of sorts where i break down a huge assignment into small tasks (and iām sure to include things like research, mind-mapping, outlining, proof-reading, etc)
oh and i always start with an outline. forming sentences is hard, but jotting down ideas is easy. i have a description of other ways i get started on large writing assignments here.Ā
i schedule in my writing time and treat it like a class, andĀ i schedule everything ahead of time until i reach the due date, so that way iāll be sure to have the time to work on it and wonāt be scrambling last minute to do 10 things in one day (aka procrastinating). i also wonāt have that overwhelming feeling of not knowing if i have enough time for something bc hey, iāve scheduled it ahead of time, so no worries! i usually like to give myself more time that needed just in case, and it also feels good to get done earlier than planned!
so thatās what i do :) hopefully that helps, or gives you ideas on something else that may work best for you! best of luck out there. you can do it!!
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