1.
HOW TO OVERCOME THE
PERFECTIONISM,
PROCRASTINATION & FATIGUE
THAT GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR
WRITING
PhD Candidate, History
Creator of Dissertators United Writing Boot Camps
Ashley
Sanders
(Writing Scared)

2.
What we’re talking about today…
 What is writing anxiety?
 Common Effects
 How it feels
 Common Causes
 Why do we experience it?
 What do we do about it?
 Q&A
C. Jorge Cham 7/23/2014
http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php
?comicid=1733
Accessed: 27 September 2014

3.
Can you identify with the
following?
C. Jorge Cham 7/23/2014. http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1733
Accessed: 27 September 2014

4.
Have you ever…
 Experienced a writing block?
 Procrastinated on a writing project?
 Had to clean the house, repaint your room, [insert
any other stalling tactic] before you could start
writing?
 Felt terror grip your heart when submitting writing to
a professor or a colleague?
 Worried that you wouldn’t be able to organize your
ideas coherently?
 Felt anxious about how others would respond to
your writing?
 Conflated the quality of your writing with your
worth?

5.
Then you’ve experienced
writing anxiety.

6.
Signs & Symptoms of Anxiety
Source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Signs_and_Symptoms_of_Anxiety,_Wikiversity_Motivation_and_emotion,_Slide_2.jpg
Used under CC license

7.
What is Writing Anxiety?
C. Jorge Cham 7/28/2014 (http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1734)
Accessed 27 September 2014.

8.
Common Causes
 Fear
 Perfectionism
 Magical thinking
 Confusion about
department or
committee
expectations
 Perception/reality?
Insufficient data or
sources

9.
Perfectionism & Procrastination:
Two sides of the same coin
C. Jorge Cham 9/3/2014 (http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1740) Accessed 27 September
2014.

10.
Perfectionism
Four Signs of Perfectionism
 Setting very high standards and placing high importance on
these standards. Feeling that you will be a second rate
person if you do not live up to these standards
 Preoccupation with details, rules, lists, order, and
organization.
 Concern and negative reactions to mistakes. Having a
tendency to interpret mistakes as failure and believing that
you will lose the respect of others for your mistakes.
 Doubting your ability to do a task.
NOTE: Perfectionism is not to be mistaken for effort and desire for excellence
What’s at the root? Fear.
 We are more than our academic writing; it does not
define us.
 We must believe we are enough, even as we work to
improve and refine our skills.
Source: Susan Meindl, “Grad School Perfectionism Creates Stress, Anxiety and Depression Rather than Excellence,”
http://EzineArticles.com/2210275.

11.
Procrastination/Non-Productive
Busyness
Sound familiar?
C. Jorge Cham 8/6/2014. (http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1735) Accessed 27 September 2014.

12.
Procrastination
 Endlessly reading and taking notes
 Obsessive and never-ending “Planning”
 Doing seemingly important, urgent tasks
rather than write
 Unnecessary preparation (Do you really
need to sharpen 20 pencils?)
 Complete avoidance – cleaning the
house, watching TV (instead of working
during work time)
 What’s at the root? Fear.
 We are more than our academic writing; it
does not define us.
 We must believe we are enough, even as we
work to improve and refine our skills.

13.
What do we do?
First Steps
 Calming music
 Calming sounds
(ocean waves, rain,
white noise)
 Deep breathing
exercises
 Meditation
 Journal about your
writing anxiety 15
min a day for 4
days.
 Contact your
counseling center on
campus to begin
processing and
moving beyond the
trauma
 Contact your
ombudsmen or
Graduate School
(administration) if you
are experiencing any
kind of abuse
How to reduce physiological
response to anxiety:
Stop the academic hazing and
abuse

14.
What do we do?
Create a toolbox!
 Use grounding techniques:
 Identify everything in your space that is
{color}
 Set a timer for 5 minutes and just focus on
your breath, noticing each inhale/exhale
 Say kind statements, as if you were talking
to your best friend: “You are a good person
going through a hard time. You’ll get through
this.”
 Repeat a favorite mantra
 Describe in detail a time when you felt your
writing flowed well and you received positive
feedback on it
 Hold a physical object (small stone, book,
phone, pen) and pay attention to how it feels
in your hand

15.
What do we do?
Create a toolbox!
 Find a picture that
represents
calm/peace for you
and put it where you
can see it while
writing
 BSDR Player
 Relax M.P. –
Concentration
Binaural Beats
 Create a writing
playlist

16.
What do we do?
Create a toolbox!
 Make permission slips for
yourself
 Write out & repeat
positive affirmations

17.
What do we do?
Create a toolbox!
 Free-write
 Pomodoros
 Make a list of favorite
writing warm-ups:
 Journal
 Visual thinking (mindmap,
sketch)
 New vocab
 Read about writing (Write Your
Dissertation in 15 Minutes a
Day; Writing Your Journal
Article in 12 Weeks, etc.)

18.
What do we do?
Create routines
1. Do something you
find calming for 5-10
minutes
2. Set your
intention/goal for
your writing session
& share with your
accountability
partner
3. Choose & complete
your favorite writing
warm-up
4. Set your timer and
get started!
5. Use grounding
techniques and free-writing
when anxiety
rises
6. When your session
is over, make note of
what worked well &
what you
accomplished
7. Fill out your writing
log & note what to
work on tomorrow
8. Reward yourself!

19.
What do we do?
Organize…
 Find or start a writing group
Share your writing OFTEN! (especially
your rough – read chaotic, f*&!$’d-up –
drafts)
 Find an accountability partner
 Create a timeline and share it with
your committee and ask them to hold
you to it.
 Create a personal support system

20.
What do we do?
Resources
Reading
 On Trauma:
 Trauma Resource
Institute
 National Institute of
Mental Health: PTSD
 International Society for
Traumatic Stress
Studies
 The Perils of
Perfectionism
 For more information
on EMDR therapy,
check out:
 EMDR Institute, Inc.
Brené Brown’s Books &
Talks:
 I Thought it Was Just Me
(but it isn’t): Making the
Journey from ‘What will
people think?’ to ‘I am
enough’
The Gifts of Imperfection:
Let Go of Who You Think
You’re Supposed to Be
and Embrace Who You
Are.
 Brené Brown’s TED talks

21.
What do we do?
Resources – Apps & More
Apps More Tips
 BSDR Player (Bilateral Sounds
Desensitization and
Reprocessing)- This app is $9.99
and available for
both iPhones and Android.
 iChill: This free app is available
for
both iPhones and Android and
provides guided steps to bring
you back into the present and out
of a panicked state.
 Relax M.P. (Premium) ($2.99):
This app is also available for
both iPhones and the link in the
title takes you the Google Play
Store for Android devices. I’ve
found the Concentration Beta
waves really helpful in promoting
focus for set periods of time.
 Writing prompts in this
worksheet will help you
recognize your physiological
response to stressors.
 Practice mindfulness
meditation.
 Try an app like Rest and
Relax ($0.99 on both iPhones
and Android) if you’re just
getting started
 Meditation Oasis (iTunes
podcast)
 Eva Lantsoght’s GradHacker
article.
 UCLA also has an excellent
podcast series of mindfulness
meditations (search iTunes)

22.
Finally… stick to it!
This is not easy.
You have to stick to it
and surround yourself
with supportive,
understanding people.
Don’t be surprised by
the roller coaster.
It will get better!

23.
QUESTIONS/DISCUSSI
ON