The PROCRASTICODE

How do we get sucked into guilt-ridden cycles of procrastination? What do we tell ourselves that makes it more difficult to start and finish our work?

Here's a "Top Ten" list of the self-imposed rules that sabotage our productivity:

1. I need to do more research before I start writing.

2. I shouldn't begin until I know exactly what I'm going to say.

3. I've already "blown it" by not starting sooner and producing more.

4. If I'm not working I should punish myself with guilt.

5. If I make myself miserable enough maybe I'll begin working.

6. I shouldn't stop until every sentence is just right.

7. If I expose my work before it’s “ready,” people will see that I am inadequate.

8. If my work gets critical feedback I've failed.

9. It's safer to do nothing than to fail.

10. I shouldn’t stop until my work is perfect.

Are you plagued by any of these Procrasticode beliefs? Most of the academics I know struggle with these thoughts at times. Which ones haunt you?

Academics are especially prone to procrastination when they are trying to write a Magnum Opus instead of what I call a Marketable Career Builder.

It is common for the grad students I work with to think that the longer their dissertation is taking them, the better it should be. If these students are a year or more behind their peers, than they think that their Ph.D. theses should be even more brilliant, original, comprehensive, important, etc., in order to justify the amount of time they’ve spent in the program.

I see Magnum OpusThinking among junior faculty as well. Among tenure track professors, misguided perfectionism leads them to think each paper must be worthy of a top tier journal and that the product must be unassailable before sent to reviewers. Magnum Opus Thinking means that a book manuscript must be groundbreaking and accepted by a top tier academic publisher or it won’t count on the C.V.

It is difficult to purge these pernicious myths. Conquering perfectionism takes concentrated effort that starts with noticing and attacking self-destructive internal dialogues. You must dispute the insidious inner voice that carps, “It’s not good enough yet.”

If you’re plagued by Magnum Opus Thinking, try to shift your internal dialogue. If you’re a graduate student remind yourself of the oft-repeated truth: the best dissertation is a done dissertation.

If you’re a professor, remind yourself that the best paper is a published paper.

Please, I tell struggling dissertators, remember the well-known joke:

" What do you call the author of the worst dissertation that has ever been defended in the history of your department?"
"DOCTOR!"

Please, I tell struggling assistant professors, think of this joke:

" What do you call the newly minted associate professor who barely squeaked by the promotion review committee?"
"TENURED!"

So, stop doing yet another literature search. Stick with the outline you’ve got rather than seeking the ideal approach to the material. Sit down and write a terrible first draft. Polish for a reasonable amount of time. Give the material to a peer or colleague to read rather than revising endlessly. Send the manuscript to your chair, journal editor or publisher. Get it in the mail or attach the document to an email. Now!

Get it off your mind, out of your computer and into the world. The more completed pieces you produce, the better your scholarship will become. Send it off quickly and plunge into another project: your next piece of work will be even better.

Go for it!

© 2005 Mary McKinney, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the Successful Academic Newsletter, in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including my live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.
Attribution should read: "By Mary McKinney, Ph.D. of Successful Academic Coaching. Please visit Mary's web site at http://www.successfulacademic.com for additional tenure track tips and dissertation writing strategies."

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