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A Break From Research

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Clarissa

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I’ve burned myself out working on this manuscript, people. In the past month, I have written two completely new sections on two new novels and transformed one chapter completely. I have revised other chapters. I have also created a detailed plan for the new version of the introduction. At the same time, I was teaching my online course, translating a novel, doing other translation jobs, and developing new courses for next year.

As a result, I haven’t been able to start working on actually writing the introduction. I’ve tried everything: writing in a separate file, writing by hand, walking around trying to find the words, starting at the screen stupidly for hours – nothing works. This is giving me nightmares and causing me intense anxiety.

I was hoping to have the entire thing ready before I leave on my trip on the 15th. But I realize that this is not happening and there is nothing very tragic about that. So it will be done a month later than planned, what’s the big deal, right? RIGHT?

I have now decided to take a complete break from research until I come back from my trip at the end of July. I have also decided to make heroic efforts to avoid feeling like a loser about this. I hate going back on my own decisions and changing my own plans.

P.S. The reason why I’m publishing this intensely boring post is to convince myself that I’m doing the right thing. So please bear with me.

9 responses to “A Break From Research”

  1. el Avatar
    el

    I noticed that sometimes taking a break is what one must do & then after resting new ideas arrive and old abilities return. The best thing you can do both for yourself & for your tasks is to take a good rest, during which you won’t try to think on purpose what you’ll write on day X so that not to spoil everything. Hope to hear how you enjoy the holidays! 🙂

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  2. Pen Avatar
    Pen

    A burnout is a burnout. Everybody needs a break once in a while. Sometimes it’s just what you need to get back in the swing of things when you start up again.

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  3. Ol. Avatar
    Ol.

    You and me know that somewhere in your brain you are structuring your introduction, making and rearranging sentences, and playing with ideas… even when you are not *working*. So please do not feel guilty about this ‘break.’

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
      bloggerclarissa

      Thank you, my friend! This helps.

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  4. hkatz Avatar
    hkatz

    If you’re trying to not feel guilty or like a loser for this, read this article:
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/glassheel/2012/04/26/how-to-defeat-self-sabotage-so-you-can-get-what-you-really-want/

    Being kind to yourself is key to succeeding; beating yourself up/stressing out/feeling guilty/being a total perfectionist keeps you down and less likely to think well and accomplish your goals.

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  5. musteryou Avatar
    musteryou

    The worst experience of my life was when I had to take a break from thinking deeply about my thesis topic in order to go to a conference in Britain. I know it was a great opportunity, blah, blah, blah. But I felt like if I let go off all the pieces in my head, I’d never get to the point of putting them together the way they were supposed to go. Also, I was travelling in the wrong direction. I could go to Britain for a conference and this would be funded by the university, but they would not fund a trip to Zimbabwe as it had a government issued travel warning.

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  6. Jonathan Avatar
    Jonathan

    You really need a break after that level of intense work. You accomplished a tremendous amount of work on the manuscript in addition to teaching an on-line course. When you return to your project, you will be 10-times more efficient than you are in a burnt-out state.

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
      bloggerclarissa

      Thank you so much, Jonathan! Your opinion means a lot.

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  7. Dame Eleanor Hull Avatar
    Dame Eleanor Hull

    Don’t worry about “writing” it. Jot down words and phrases for ideas that you have to include, but do it as a list, not in any particular order, instead of writing complete sentences. Later you’ll play around with the words and phrases, moving them, adding some, crossing some out. At some point this will turn into a proper introduction.

    Sneak up on it, in other words.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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