A simple strategy to increase your motivation and productivity is to find and organize the work materials you will need for the next day the night before your next planned session of work. Getting set up for the next day makes it easier to feel motivated when the next day arrives. Students often spend their energy and limited work time finding and organizing the research materials they need. It is easy to lose precious work time to such activities and feel unmotivated to begin working. I recommend ending your workday each day by making sure you have what you will need to work the next day. If you have a few articles to read, pull them out and, along with your action plan put them on you desk or in the bag or backpack you will take with you the next day. If you need to do some writing, make sure you have easy access to any outlines, rough drafts, pertinent notes, and/or source material you will need. Taking the time to get organized ahead of time is a simple strategy you can use to kick-start your motivation and be productive.
This article was written by Alison Miller, PhD, owner of The Dissertation Coach, a business dedicated to helping doctoral and master’s students successfully earn their graduate degrees.
Please visit thedissertationcoach.com for more information.
Copyright August 2007 by Alison Miller, Ph.D., The Dissertation Coach
