Best of Bowie

AKA The True Lives of Thesis Warriors

Okay, so I’m not really going to write an entire post on the legendary Queen/David Bowie collab—though listening to this fine tune certainly helps—today I’m going to tell you about how I face the pressures of my last year in my MFA, mainly when it comes to getting “butt-in-chair” time, whether I have David Bowie and Freddie Mercury by my side or not.

As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, even though I’m not taking courses anymore (#thesis4life), I still have quite a bit going on that fills my days to the brim. I’m talking work, internship, and the fantastic hour-or-so long commute from Rogers Park to Wicker Park or downtown. I do a lot of my thesis work and thesis-related work in unlikely places because I have to squeeze something out of every moment I can as long as I’m not TOO exhausted.

Top places to work besides sitting at my desk at home:

1. While working at my receptionist job (my boss is totally cool with this fyi)
2. Riding the train
3. Coffee shops around the city on my daily travels
4. Heartland Café (it deserves its own category because I love nothing more than to chow down on a veggie burger with a beer and a book)

As you can imagine, not all of these places are necessarily conducive to a positive work atmosphere and I am often multitasking whilst I am reading/writing, whether it’s going to or from work, answering the phone, or getting my grub/drink on.

So how do I stay focused when my inner voice is competing with phone calls, unusual Redline riders, boisterous patrons of fine eating and drinking establishments, and my own tech addictions (texting, social media, etc.)?

Thesis Life

MUSIC
My front-line defense against distractions is my headphones. Whenever I’m riding public transit, I pop my headphones in and pretend there’s no one else around. That doesn’t mean I’m singing along, but it does mean that instead of people watching (as I am wont to do) I can focus on my pages. This doesn’t always work while I’m at my job, since I have to be alert and able to answer any questions that come my way, but I often get by with a one ear in/one ear out scenario.

Lately I’ve been favoring tunes by badass ladies of bands like Sleater Kinney and Bikini Kill. Some people need certain music to pump themselves up for their morning or for getting ready to go out on the town. I need it to get me energized, focused, and ready to tackle my workload.

FORSAKING SOCIAL CONTACT
This is a hard one. The second most important strategy for me is to log out of everything that could distract me. That means no Facebook, no Gchat, and putting my phone somewhere I won’t be tempted to check it or check in with my fellow thesis warriors. It’s difficult—no doubt, but entirely necessary and for me I need to take conscious steps to keep me from getting distracted by these.

Too many cups

BEVERAGES
I don’t know if anyone else has this problem, but I always need to have something to drink when I’m working. Whether it’s a cup of coffee or tea or maybe a glass of wine, I like to have something nearby to quench my thirst. If I don’t have a beverage, all activity must cease until this is remedied.

SCHEDULING
The next most important component is scheduling time to write. It might sound silly, but given how busy I am already with prescheduled occurrences like work or doctor’s appointments, I have to ensure that I don’t get in a pattern of saying “I’m too tired. I’ll write tomorrow,” because tomorrow turns into another tomorrow and so on. I make a point to put aside time each week that a fellow thesis warrior calls “non-negotiable thesis writing time.”

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS
Even if conditions are ideal (I’m in my apartment, my cats are leaving me alone, it is quiet, I have a hot cup of tea, etc.) sometimes I still struggle to focus. When tackling a project as big as the thesis (a minimum of 120 pages!), if I don’t have a solid plan of what I want to work on, I sometimes have the problem of too much freedom to choose. That can be combated by scheduling (see above) but when that fails too, I resort to non-literary activities—mainly cleaning.

I’m the type of person that has issues sitting still when I know I should be working, even if the motivation to do the actual task is lacking. I find that environmental factors make it harder for me to focus. If my apartment is a mess, I probably can’t get any work done because clutter in my space often turns to clutter in my mind. So if the ideas aren’t coming, I put on some music and get cleaning—dishes, cleaning the counters, organizing my bookshelf (which often leads to side-journeys into old favorites). I often find that after my space is cleared, so is my brain.

What are your favorite methods to face the pressure and focus?