Episode 3: Creating momentum and tackling procrastination at grad school

Resources

These resources share insights into the hidden causes of procrastination and some wise, evidence-informed antidotes. There are so many reasons to avoid in grad school. The work is inherently overwhelming, vulnerable and filled with uncertainty: Am I on track? Will I be able to finish? Is the work good enough? Am I good enough?? These worries can lead to competing motivations – sure, we want to get through the work, but doing so also comes with risk, making it feel safer to avoid it. Understanding procrastination through the lens of our nervous system can open up new ways to get ourselves unstuck. We share a selection of tools to help you through the emotional side of the academic work. We invite you to experiment with the ideas shared in this podcast episode and in the following resources. This work can take practice, and a helping hand can make a big difference, so we’ve included some on-campus supports for Guelph graduate students.     

The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward

Psychotherapist Britt Frank shares 5 key insights from her new book, The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward.

The Power of Self-Compassionate Motivation

Self-compassion, the practice of meeting our own challenges and suffering with kindness, is a way to help us when we feel unmotivated or overwhelmed. We often think that being hard on ourselves is the only way to motivate, but more than 20 years of research tells a different story. Self-compassion provides the emotional safety we need to keep trying, even when things don’t go as planned.

Guided practice: Motivating self-compassionate break with Kristin Neff

Self-compassion has three main elements, practicing taking a self-compassion break regularly can make remembering easier.

Motivation looks different for people with ADHD

This look into the Interest-based nervous system provides a different lens to use when experiencing the very real ADHD frustration of knowing you need to work and wanting to work but not being able to make it happen.

The power of radical acceptance on a PhD candidate’s motivation

This interview with a 6th year PhD student who was experiencing self-doubt and lack of motivation demonstrates how a radical acceptance practice can help with the emotional side of the graduate journey.

Guided Practice: Radical Acceptance with Tara Brach

Try out the practice that made such a difference to the student above in managing self-doubt, recovering from setbacks, and reducing procrastination.

Fierce self-compassion

The fierce side of self-compassion helps us take action to care for ourselves. It’s not kind to avoid tasks that help move our work along and that procrastination can be a source of pain and self-blame. Tap into fierce self-compassion and ask “what’s one thing I can start today that’s a gift to my tomorrow self?”

The power of tiny experiments

We often think that motivation needs to be there to get started but in truth, motivation often comes after we have already started. Perhaps you could try a small experiment to see what happens when you work for 10 minutes no matter how you feel. Check out Dr. Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s TED talk for more on the power of tiny experiments as a low stakes way to become curious and create opportunities for change.

The Anxiety-Curiosity Switch • Ness Labs

The anxiety-curiosity switch is the process of redirecting the mental energy that causes creative paralysis into curiosity-driven exploration.

Tools

Graduate Student Resources

In collaboration with the Graduate Student Association at the University of Guelph, join us as we explore the emotional demands of graduate school and share some of our favourite insights and tools.

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