This month I was inspired by a book I read called ‘Writing your Dissertation in 15 minutes a Day’. This is a good summary of the book. Now firstly, the author states you can’t write your dissertation in 15 minutes a day! However, you can get into a practice of free writing for 15 minutes each day. I have been doing it for a few weeks and am loving it. In this book, you are encouraged to write ‘version zero’ which makes sense as it is a first draft without any edit. To turn it into a version one then you take this draft and add your evidence and edit critically. However, this free writing is helping me to gather ideas so I feel like I am moving. I have been better at linking ideas and feeling more creative.
I have been using the timer (pictured above), letting it go for 15 mins (it is from the school of life). I know you could use a timer on your phone, but I also want to remove some distractions which means putting my phone out of sight for more of my day.
I researched this technique and read that there is a lot of using the 15-minute rule for writing a book, blog or for a creative activity. What is great about this ‘free writing’ is that you are writing without critiquing yourself. You are also creating material and moving forward with your writing goals. Furthermore, 15 minutes isn’t too long for us to find the time and it is much easier than dedicating large chunks of time on a regular basis.
We know that the psychology of a quick win can be so motivating. In the research from this Harvard Business Review article they found that when people reported progress they also reported more positive emotions, were more interested in their work and felt they enjoyed their work more.
“The good news is that even small wins can boost inner work life tremendously. Many of the progress events our research participants reported represented only minor steps forward. Yet they often evoked outsize positive reactions.”
There is also a ted talk on the 15 minute rule to stop procrastinating by Caroline Buchanan. Think about using the 15 minutes to tackle other tasks in life.
What do you think? Would this help you?
