Study Skills
Starting Is the Hard Part
You are not lazy. The task is too big to begin.
Procrastination is usually a sizing problem. "Write the literature review" has no first move; "open the file and paste in four source titles" does. The trick that works most reliably is stopping mid-sentence — tomorrow you finish a sentence instead of facing a blank page. None of this needs discipline, just a smaller first step.
What you get
- Cut the task until the first step takes ten minutes
- Open the document before you decide to work
- Write the worst possible first paragraph on purpose
- Work in fixed blocks with the phone in another room
- Stop mid-sentence so tomorrow has a handle
Related reading
Study Skills
Reading for Research
You do not read forty papers. You read four and skim the rest properly.
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Study Skills
Revision That Sticks
Re-reading feels productive. Testing yourself actually is.
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