This last month was insane. Teaching writing-intensive courses and advising students had gotten the best of me last month. Not to mention my husband and son were overseas for two weeks, and I was home alone with my daughter. Then, there was school vacation week and I got behind on grading. Aahhh!!! Fast forward to this week-- it is Spring Break. And, am I taking a break? Um, not 100%. I spent part of Monday grading, and then I drove to another destination to start my writing retreat, otherwise known as "dissercation." First of all, it's weird being by myself for such an extended period of time, morning, noon, and night. I can't remember the last time I did this. Second, it's not all that easy, either. However, once I arrived 2 days ago, I was able to get a decent amount of work done. Yesterday morning, I did some work, went for a swim, did some work, went for a drive by the ocean, came back, and did some more work. However, in the tevening, I just couldn't do too much. My back was hurting from sitting for so long in front of the computer, so I just decided to take a break and watch TV. This morning, I did some work reviewing literature, went for a swim, talked on the phone with another friend who is doing the same type of thing this week, and then I decided to take a decent break in the afternoon. I was freaking out about all the literature I need to review to vamp up the lit review from my proposal. I spent some time by the ocean-- a couple of times today, and that made my day. After all, I need to take advantage of some of this quiet time, that I won't have when I travel back home tomorrow.
A "dissercation" is a good way to get some momentum back, but it's unrealistic to expect that you will be able to just sit and work on the dissertation non-stop all day. I'm also at a point where I know what I need to do, but I'm feeling a bit stuck. That's why I used some of the time to review literature, and even work on my bibliography (because I'm old school when it comes to that-- no Endnote for me!). I also started a document for my notes, and I'm finding that I might have to add quite a bit to some of my other chapters as well.
Plus, I don't like to toot my own horn so to speak, but I want to give myself some credit. I hardly looked at my dissertation in the last 2-3 weeks because of all the craziness, and thankfully, I was able to pick up momentum right after I arrived for this "retreat". I admit that I kind of fizzled out today, but at least *something* got done even today.
Tomorrow morning, I plan to do some work, but I might try to fit in another swim before I leave. Then, I plan to swing by another one of my favorite beaches before heading home. I'm already planning to do another one of these in June or July, or who knows, maybe even before if I can squeeze it in. Hopefully, at that point, I will be in a better place to just write the whole time. Going into this, I had some uncertainties, but I'm glad I can say that it was worth it on many levels.
A "dissercation" is a good way to get some momentum back, but it's unrealistic to expect that you will be able to just sit and work on the dissertation non-stop all day. I'm also at a point where I know what I need to do, but I'm feeling a bit stuck. That's why I used some of the time to review literature, and even work on my bibliography (because I'm old school when it comes to that-- no Endnote for me!). I also started a document for my notes, and I'm finding that I might have to add quite a bit to some of my other chapters as well.
Plus, I don't like to toot my own horn so to speak, but I want to give myself some credit. I hardly looked at my dissertation in the last 2-3 weeks because of all the craziness, and thankfully, I was able to pick up momentum right after I arrived for this "retreat". I admit that I kind of fizzled out today, but at least *something* got done even today.
Tomorrow morning, I plan to do some work, but I might try to fit in another swim before I leave. Then, I plan to swing by another one of my favorite beaches before heading home. I'm already planning to do another one of these in June or July, or who knows, maybe even before if I can squeeze it in. Hopefully, at that point, I will be in a better place to just write the whole time. Going into this, I had some uncertainties, but I'm glad I can say that it was worth it on many levels.
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