Like sea monkeys, everyday a little more real

Wow. I hadn't realised that an entire month had passed since I was last here. (Moving house is more disruptive than I remembered.) So here we go again, but with a few reminders to start.

Remember that the dissertation is a License To Practice, not the Greatest Thing Ever Written or Proof Of Human Value.

(Do you even know what your favourite scholars wrote their dissertations about? Nope. No one cares.)

Remember that this is not a prelude to Real Life, it already is Your Life.

(Spend time daily with friends and loved ones. Stay physically active. Eat well. Sleep regularly. You know. Take care.)

Remember to write something every day, and to set Small Tasks instead of trying to finish the Entire Thing At Once.

(Better to stay focussed on accomplishing something every day than never accomplishing everything. And heed Baudelaire's words: "No task is a long one but the task on which one dare not start: It becomes a nightmare.")

And now for something more concrete: People Who Know Things say that tracking progress is instrumental in Getting Things Done.

So try starting each writing day by posting one or two very doable tasks. Like one section or one sub-section of a chapter. (One idea. One interview.) When the task is complete, go back and post your favourite sentence of the day.

Watch your dissertation grow like a sea monkey! A little more real everyday.