Advice from the girl with a 250 PAGE DOCUMENT hanging over her head: Everyone has these issues, and yes, it's horrible. I've started feeling this more than ever now that I really only have to be on campus to teach from 11:00-12:15 on Tues and Thurs, and then manage my online course and work on my dissertation the rest of the time. Everything about when I should be working and when I should take breaks is entirely up to me, which can leave me feeling guilty constantly about now working/wondering whether I'm accomplishing enough
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My thesis was only ("only") half as long as Ms. PhD over here, but I had similar struggles. It wasn't until I left the program that I realized I was beating myself up unfairly over a perceived lack of discipline or ability or what-have-you. (I still beat myself up, but at least now I know I'm doing it unfairly!) Writing always takes longer than you think it should, and it's always harder than it feels like it should be, and unlike press releases or corporate bios or letters or whatever, this type of writing takes so much more out of us--especially if you have to motivate yourself to do it (as opposed to your boss telling you it's due in two hours
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My advisor gave me similar advice about not beating myself up in regards to deadlines. He told me that the purpose of deadlines was not to feel bad if you didn't meet them, but to consider whether the deadline was realistic in the first place, or if it was, what might need to change about your work schedule to be able to meet it.
Also, I always send what I've worked on most recently to my email for backup and title the email something like "You're a rockstar!!!" or "See what you've already accomplished today??" It sounds a little ridiculous but it does actually make a small difference in how I feel about the writing process :P
Some of this definitely echos the way I am -- particularly the "I can't do this, I have work," part... which I know the minute I turn someone's invitation down for that reason, I'm not going to get much (if anything done) in that time. I missed two family events earlier this year -- a cousin's bris, and another cousin's bat mitzvah -- because I had "too much work," but I don't feel the amount I did (or didn't do) those days, in hindsight, justified my decision not to go, which is sad. At the same time, I think if I did go, the whole time I'd be thinking about how I "should" be doing work instead, and the amount of time I'm losing by not doing it. Which... ugh. This can't be the rest of my life, can it
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I don't have anything to add to the work conversation, but I hear you on getting old! I'm not in a high stress work situation, but I definitely have wrinkles I did not have in 2009. Makes me worry what I'll look like in 5 years and more. I can almost see why people get Botox and fillers. :-(
For serious? I'd be up for it. You mean like over spring break?
I don't think I'd want to do botox or plastic surgery when the time comes -- there's just something too unnatural about it for my tastes. But I'm mucho displeased over all the random lines appearing on my face that weren't there before.
Oh yeah, for serious. Kind of depends on how expensive airfare would be, but I really want to! Not sure about dates yet; it'll be whenever Chris goes on his bro's bachelor party, probably in March. I'll keep you posted!
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Also, I always send what I've worked on most recently to my email for backup and title the email something like "You're a rockstar!!!" or "See what you've already accomplished today??" It sounds a little ridiculous but it does actually make a small difference in how I feel about the writing process :P
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I don't think I'd want to do botox or plastic surgery when the time comes -- there's just something too unnatural about it for my tastes. But I'm mucho displeased over all the random lines appearing on my face that weren't there before.
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