There are as many different styles of studying as there are people. And I've studied for so many years that I've developed my own very distinct and yet a simple method - my only rule is that I need to get 500 words on paper on any given library day. No more, no less. If I've written down 500 words, I can leave the library and go to a nearby cafe. Sometimes it takes me about 2 hours, sometimes 4 and there have been cases when it has taken me almost an entire day. There are also a couple of sub-rules. One is that if inspiration happens to hit me on my head and I write 800 words one day, the next time I'm in the library I still have to write 500 words. There is no borrowing or lending of words, no playing around. A day's work is a day's work. The other - probably the most important - sub-rule is that my butt cannot leave the library under any circumstances (well, a fire breaking out would be the only exception) until these 500 words have appeared on paper.
The benefits of this system are manyfold. First, it's a small bite. I can always aways manage 500 words. It was a couple of weeks ago that I slept badly before my weekly library day. But I didn't worry too much about it. I took an ice-cold shower in the morning (works much better than coffee), hit the gym and then went to the library. Needless to say, the quality of my work was not outstanding (is it ever?) but by late afternoon I was done with my work and I could head home. The other benefit is that it forces me to start all my assignments really early. 500 words aren't much so my progress over time is very slow (although equally steady). But this slowness is exactly what keeps me from falling into the pit of procrastination. I admit, sometimes it is difficult to keep my motivation up. I have a deadline in the beginning of March, why on earth should I start writing this paper in the beginning of October? But once I get over that mental obstacle and get into a good rhythm, I work steadily.
As to now, I am almost finished with my homework for this year (my school year ends in May). I started with the easiest bits - reading and writing book reports - and am now 2/3 through the chapter of the dissertation we need to write this year. If I can manage to force myself to go to the library every Tuesday until Christmas, I think I will be all done by the end of this year. It will be an occasion for a happy dance for sure!
I just finished reading Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. I was very surprised to spot that book in my local library as Lamott writes mostly on Christian faith and that kind of authors/books are not overtly popular around here. But this book is really about writing. She talks about how she works as a writer and she tells a sweet story in that book. It's about her brother who once had an assigment of writing about birds in primary school. He had not started on time so when he finally got to his assignement the evening before it was due, he couldn't do anything else but panic. And then their father - who also was a professional writer - told him, "Just write about one bird at the time. Bird by bird, little buddy." I like that story so much because this is exactly how I'm going to drag myself through these doctoral studies of mine. Bird by bird.
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There is not much else to report on. I'm starting to get desperate about first snow that is still nowhere in sight. And since the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir's concert I attended with my dad last week, Arvo Pärt's Sieben Magnificat - Antiphonen has been on repeat. It's seven miniature choral pieces meant to be sung during the Orthodox lithurgy the week right before Christmas. So it's just about right to listen to it now.
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| Me in the end of my library day yesterday. |
