Here’s something I didn’t realize until I was playing with the idea of hosting our own in-person writing retreat… There are scholars who study and publish research on academic writing retreats.

One of the most well-known researchers in this field is Rowena Murray, professor of education at the University of the West of Scotland. Dr. Murray defines a writing retreat as "a total immersion experience, writing support and mentoring, focused engagement in the writing experience and a community of practice and reflexivity".

Writing retreats typically offer fixed blocks of time dedicated to concentrated and distraction free writing. My company Write the Damn Dissertation is hosting "The Empowered Writing Retreat" in October, and was designed based on the work of Dr. Rowena Murray. It also includes a private 1:1 goal setting meeting prior to the retreat, and support during the retreat.

The Empowered Writing Retreat follows Dr. Murray's structure, and is based on...

I'd like to share 13 strategies to help you regain momentum, and get motivated by your progress to FINISH.

1. Visualize 

   When you think about quitting, think about WHY you started. I have my clients keep a memento close to the dissertation workspace that reminds them of why they started this journey in the first place. Was it to model life-long learning for...

Have you ever really wanted to sit down to write your dissertation, but find that you talk yourself out of it?

You say to yourself, "Well, I only have a half hour, so maybe I will just check email instead..." or "I'm not sure what to write in this section yet... I'll try again tomorrow." Only to find that tomorrow you don’t take action either?

Does this cycle continue day in and day out without you making the commitment to write through the confusion?

If this resonates with you, I have a strategy that is so simple (yet effective) that it will blow your mind. 

If you have participated in any of my writing challenges, you KNOW I love me some Mel Robbins. The concept she teaches in, The Five Second Rule has been instrumental in getting me to take action on tasks I’ve been resistant to doing in my daily life.

In the winter of 2017, I was having a tough time getting myself motivated to walk every morning. While I've been a member of the 5:00 am...

One of my favorite things to do is to wake up really early on the weekends when the rest of my family is still sleeping. I walk down to the kitchen, take our dogs Murph and Cooper out, pour my coffee, and tiptoe up to my office.

Early mornings are my sacred time to do deep thought work while the house is quiet and still, and before my loves wake up excited for their day to begin. "MOM... will you make me pancakes?"... "Can I invite a friend over?" or "Babe, what time do you want to go for our walk?" Being able to ease into a busy family day with a full cup and some time to think, reflect, and write is important to me, a daily practice that I established as a doc student years ago. 

My morning ritual keeps me centered and I start every day feeling like I have accomplished something.

Every morning I do a thought download and write my goals out while quietly sipping my coffee, and remind myself of all that I am grateful for as I write in my...