And writing has commenced…

In the time since my last post, I have written chapter 1 out of the 3 chapters I need for my proposal. I am shooting at having the proposal done a few weeks after one of my committee members get back in the country (he is in Africa on a safari for 5 weeks). Which means I need to write the other two chapters in the next few weeks so they are ready to go when he returns. But that means I need to write! (And not just for my blog as I am now).

One thing I will say for my brain is that it is EXCELLENT at discovering things to do instead of write. Or at least to write the things I NEED to write. My house has never been cleaner, my dogs better exercised, or my closet as organized as when I have a writing project due. The problem in the current case is there really isn’t a specific due date, it has been left up to me to assign myself a due date. (Well, there is the fact that I want to be done and graduated next spring that is exerting some pressure, but not the immediate kind that a looming due date produces). So I have to find a way to get my brain on track.

And that could be tricky. So I joined an online writing group to help with accountability. I think it is going to help at least as much as having to report each week what I have accomplished will trick my brain into productivity. For example, my goal this week is to write for at least 15 minutes every day. This will hopefully get me to my computer and get the words flowing (which has worked today, as this is my 15 minutes of writing) and will lead to longer periods of productivity.

Another thing I have done is a project audit. I have written down all the projects I currently have in the works (and man are there a lot!). This includes the Nature of Science Edited Volume for which I am the asssociate editor, my proposal for my dissertation and a number of proposals for conferences next year. I have also looked at my organizing systems and realized I have somethings that are working like my weekly to-do lists and some things that are not working so well like my monthly, quarterly and yearly goal writing.

I stink at writing goals. I have been trained in at least 5 different methods and the one that has stuck the most is the SMART method. (If you don’t know it, google it, my friend, there are innumerable resources on what it is and how to use it). My problem is I get caught up in the RT, reasonable and timely. I can never seem to judge what is reasonable and timely for my individual projects. Do I write a goal for the whole project? For the major steps in the project? It would seem that dividing the tasks for a major project into individual goals would be reasonable, but where do I divide? Are 3 weeks a reasonable amount of time for research? Should I read as much as possible before I outline? Oh, dear, there goes my brain off to the races and stymied once again from writing a SMART goal for anything.

So my question to the great out there (AKA you! The one reading this), how do you set goals? How do you prevent the great torrent of “what if’s” and “what about’s” from getting the best of you? Seriously, I need a better way because now my brain is set on cleaning the kitchen one more time while I “think” about how I want to set my goals and we all know how that is going to turn out. A clean kitchen and a bunch of squirrels that still will not be corraled into a goal of any sort.