As you work through your research and writing project, it will be important to stop and assess your progress. It is easy to fall behind in a large project and difficult to make up the time when several small delays begin to compound. It can be difficult to maintain focus over an extensive project, and allowing yourself breaks is important as long as you are able to regain focus afterward (Duval 2023). It is always better to regularly pause and assess that you are on track, instead of waiting until when you reach a crisis like missing an important deadline. Review your 3.4.1: Project Challenges & Strategies worksheet from Course 3, Lesson 4 and consider whether you are facing new challenges that you did not originally anticipate and whether the strategies you originally identified are working. You may need to adjust different variables in your writing process for the best resultsResultsThe section of a research article where researchers share the results from the research. This section takes the results and directly connects them to the research questions or hypotheses posed at the start of the article. Also can be called “Findings.” . For example, if you planned to block out an hour for writing once a week, you may find that this is unsustainable in your daily life and change your practice to commit to short bursts of writing for 10 minutes every day. Similarly, you may have planned to write at home or work, but find the location does not allow for concentration, so you need to change locations or introduce new habits to ensure that you can focus. Alternatively, you may find that the primary block to your ability to write is less about the practicalities of time or space and more about your mental state. Writing can spark difficult feelings such as perfectionism and self-doubt for many people, and you may find that intentionally refocusing on self-care ultimately allows you to proceed with your work (Raintree 2017).
If you are writing with others, it is important to make sure that you help each other stay motivated. Working with co-writers requires flexibility, as each individual writes in ways that work for them, but it is also important to hold yourself and your co-writers accountable for the work you’ve committed to. If you are writing alone, then the entire burden of accountability falls on you, so being creative about how you structure your time and remain motivated over the course of your work is particularly important.
Exercise
Complete the following exercise in your LPOL Workbook. This exercise will help you check for learning, engage with the material, and work through new ideas.
If you are struggling to find the right working conditions for your project, review the 4.4.4: Your Self-Management Plan worksheet in your LPOL Workbook to find various ideas that you can mix and match to achieve specific writing goals. Examine the example below and then fill it out according to what works best for you:
Location
Other People
Time Management Tools
Project Management Tools
Assessment
Goal
Identify a writing location that minimizes distraction.
Table 1. Created by Erin Gow for LibParlor Online Learning, 2023.
Just remember, this worksheet is designed to be flexible and spark ideas about what may work for you; it is not a checklist for you to work through methodically. For even more resources, check out the next topic for a toolkit of time and project management resources.
In Part Two of the worksheet, reflect on the following questions. If you have co-authors, it could be productive to discuss these questions together:
What do you see as your biggest challenges to maintaining self-motivation?
What support will you need to meet those challenges? Building in more time for yourself? Blocking off regular calendar days for writing? Regular check-ins with accountability partners?
How do you plan to build in breaks for yourself? Perhaps you want to schedule blocks of time away from this work or treat yourself to a tea break!
Who are the people in your research support ecosystem you can turn to along the way?
Assessing What Works For You
As you work through your research and writing project, it will be important to stop and assess your progress. It is easy to fall behind in a large project and difficult to make up the time when several small delays begin to compound. It can be difficult to maintain focus over an extensive project, and allowing yourself breaks is important as long as you are able to regain focus afterward (Duval 2023). It is always better to regularly pause and assess that you are on track, instead of waiting until when you reach a crisis like missing an important deadline. Review your 3.4.1: Project Challenges & Strategies worksheet from Course 3, Lesson 4 and consider whether you are facing new challenges that you did not originally anticipate and whether the strategies you originally identified are working. You may need to adjust different variables in your writing process for the best resultsResults The section of a research article where researchers share the results from the research. This section takes the results and directly connects them to the research questions or hypotheses posed at the start of the article. Also can be called “Findings.” . For example, if you planned to block out an hour for writing once a week, you may find that this is unsustainable in your daily life and change your practice to commit to short bursts of writing for 10 minutes every day. Similarly, you may have planned to write at home or work, but find the location does not allow for concentration, so you need to change locations or introduce new habits to ensure that you can focus. Alternatively, you may find that the primary block to your ability to write is less about the practicalities of time or space and more about your mental state. Writing can spark difficult feelings such as perfectionism and self-doubt for many people, and you may find that intentionally refocusing on self-care ultimately allows you to proceed with your work (Raintree 2017).
If you are writing with others, it is important to make sure that you help each other stay motivated. Working with co-writers requires flexibility, as each individual writes in ways that work for them, but it is also important to hold yourself and your co-writers accountable for the work you’ve committed to. If you are writing alone, then the entire burden of accountability falls on you, so being creative about how you structure your time and remain motivated over the course of your work is particularly important.
Exercise
Complete the following exercise in your LPOL Workbook. This exercise will help you check for learning, engage with the material, and work through new ideas.
If you are struggling to find the right working conditions for your project, review the 4.4.4: Your Self-Management Plan worksheet in your LPOL Workbook to find various ideas that you can mix and match to achieve specific writing goals. Examine the example below and then fill it out according to what works best for you:
Just remember, this worksheet is designed to be flexible and spark ideas about what may work for you; it is not a checklist for you to work through methodically. For even more resources, check out the next topic for a toolkit of time and project management resources.
In Part Two of the worksheet, reflect on the following questions. If you have co-authors, it could be productive to discuss these questions together:
Topic 4 References
Duval, Aesha. “How to Become a Better Writer.” Notes Between Us. April 3, 2023. https://notesbetweenus.com/2023/04/03/how-to-become-a-better-writer/.
Raintree, Jamie. “Building Self-Care Habits: Refilling the Creativity Well to Write Your Best Work.” Writer’s Digest. Oct. 24, 2017. https://www.writersdigest.com/publishing-insights/self-care-habits-creativity-well-writer.