Sometimes I get very frustrated with myself because I feel like a perpetually self-wiping slate! I feel that I'm forgetting and re-learning things that I already knew I should be doing, but these incremental developments suggest that some things go in, that change and consistency need balance. /8

This is definitely something I've borrowed from the advice to leave an unfinished sentence or paragraph at the end of a writing session in www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/produc... and then adapted to fit my purposes. /7

I also realised today that I'd been using the 'notes' column in the planner sheet to give myself a breadcrumb at the end of the session, so that I've got a clue as to what I was doing last time, and what I can pick up in the coming session. /6

But, just today I realised that the way I've been using that excel spreadsheet has evolved too. For instance, I'm writing in reminders to do the 'other' things that the #PhD entails - checking the diary and training opportunities in faculty for instance. / 5

With effort I'm also starting to understand that sometimes the tendency to innovate (because it's shiny and fun) can pay off in developing practices, instead of abandoning them. A good example is my developing use of Zotero and Better Notes for reading, thinking and writing /4

One habit I'm trying to get up and running is using a kind of master plan in excel to keep track of what I'm hoping to achieve in terms of writing and analysis in coming weeks, and thereby avoiding the void that opens up at the start of the times I've set aside for #writing. /3

These processes and practices can provide a 'next step' when confidence is low or when starting new aspects of the work. But for me they're also a terrible self-loathing self-talk inducer when I fall off the process, or alter it, or find a shiny new process that looks better. /2

Rain that ambushes you is the *worst*!