Are
You Bored with Your Research?
Professors: How do you keep working on
one article or book chapter when you have
other, much more compelling and exciting
projects and ideas that beckon? Or, how
do you stick with it when you start having
self-doubts about how good it is?
Graduate students: How do you keep working
on a section of the dissertation, when
you feel like you're going nowhere,
when you feel it's not that good,
or when you're just plain sick of
it?
 Three words come to mind: anxiety, boredom,
and habits.
Anxiety
When you're unsure what to say next,
when you start to think that it may not
be such a great argument, or when you can't
decide how to explain your results, it
can cause anxiety. This is normal and natural.
It's a problem when you don't
realize that you're anxious, and
you begin to want to avoid the project
that is causing anxiety. This will cause
anything else (even cleaning out the closet)
to seem more interesting. So new ideas
that come up have the allure that they
aren't yet at the same sticky point.
What's the answer to anxiety? Of
course that can fill a book, but here are
some thoughts:
- Realize it's anxiety.
- Become
aware of the negative messages you might
be saying to yourself.
- Dispute those
messages
- Take care of your general
anxiety and stress level by meditating,
taking breaks, taking days off, doing
physical activity, or whatever helps
you with stress.
- Realize that if you
stick with the writing on a daily basis,
you will eventually work through the
problem.
Boredom
I've found that a lot of professors
are highly intelligent, imaginative, creative
people, who enjoy the thrill of thinking
up new ideas, and who are more bored with
the plodding follow-through that comes
with staying with a piece of writing that
they've already throught about ad
nauseum.
What to do about boredom?
- Do a little every day (you can stand
anything for 30 minutes, right?) Don't
forget to stop, take breaks, and have
fun; your
brain needs to be refreshed in order
not to burn out.
- Intersperse
reading and writing. Writing brings your
ideas to life and gets you out of the
passive rut of reading for days without
writing. Reading (in addition to daily
writing) gives you some new input.
- Share your work — the input
from others can enliven your thinking
and makes you more aware of what your
audience needs to hear. You've
probably found this effect after presenting
at conferences — the
trick is to keep sharing when you're
stuck in your office day after day.
- If you have an exciting new idea about
a new project, right it down and store
it where you know you can find it later.
- Be aware that anxiety can masquerade
as boredom. If you're not sure
which it is, try thinking about where
you are in the project; what you've
been working on or what you will work
on next. If you get an unpleasant sensation
in your body, it's probably anxiety.
See above.
- Make a note in your calendar
to think more about the new idea once
your current project is finished, or
if you have the energy, during extra
writing sessions later in the day. That
way you will trust yourself that you
will get back to that great idea after
you finish the current project.
Habits
Contrary to what many think, a daily habit
does not necessarily induce boredom. On
the contrary, the habit of daily writing
on your current important writing project,
in short time periods, can take care of
both anxiety and boredom. You'll
be more likely to work through difficult
spots, and you will be motivated by seeing
progress. If you get into the habit of
daily writing, you lessen the pain of having
to get back into the mindset of what you
were working on, so you spend less time
overall on something you're tired
of.
The habit of writing down your goals long-term
goals will help you keep your eyes on the
prize of finishing the dissertation or
of publication. Remind yourself periodically
of your goals. Writing down your goals
for the following day's work will
help you keep up the flow of your work.
Have any of you experienced this anxiety
or boredom with ongoing projects? Do you
relate to loving to come up with new ideas
but getting tired of the old projects?
Have you found ways to deal with this?
Warmly,
Gina
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