doctoral student with procrastination problem needs help!?

Question

I'm a doctoral student with a serious procrastination problem. I already know why I do it (perfectionism, easily distracted, obsessive tendencies).,, I love to read, explore, and research all the random things you can find on the internet.. i'm addicted to checking email and playing around on friendster and youtube. but then time passes by with the paper undone. My question for you all is... what are some time management "tricks"? For example, I have found it helpful to set my clock 20 minutes fast, plug in the deadlines one week earlier in my planner, join study groups b/c they force me to start earlier... any others would be really helpful!

Answer 1

You can apply your obsession to your studies. Since you are a doctoral student, you should have a passion for your subject.

There are millions of random bits of information available for the subject you are analyzing.

You can become more knowledgeable than your professors if you apply your perfectionist tendencies to your subject.

If you can't channel that energy into your studies, you need to think hard about the career path you are seeking.

That passion needs to be there.

Answer 2

Do you like your topic? You could start by writing the easy parts first such as methodology. For the background section, I made an outine of the areas I wanted to cover. Then I made a number of tables in word where each table was devoted to summarizing a particular group of articles on the same topic. Then I would use the old index card thing (the large ones) and summarize the research on different topics based on my summaries. Your background will gradually fall into place this way. This worked for me with my dissertation

Answer 3

I'm glad I didn't have fast internet access when I was dissertating.

You need to make it hard to check your email and to get to those other websites while you're working. I also found it helpful to do my reading and some writing at a coffee shop.

Answer 4

Appears to me that your goals just aren`t interesting enough.
As though you are being forced to go to college. Are you there for your parents?