Does keeping a "dissertation journal" actually help?

[Britney]

I read this advice from a dissertation coach that suggested "writing daily in a dissertation journal" . Like, a separate document where you write about your thoughts, questions, frustrations, and ideas. "Generate ideas, try out organization methods, and process the writing experience in a text separate from the draft you are working on" .

They say to write for "20 minutes at the start of each allocated writing time" and to allow yourself to write "uncensored, not caring about grammar, punctuation, and so on" . This is supposed to be "zero draft writing, a way to dump your ideas to sift and shape later."

This sounds both brilliant and terrifying. Like, my thoughts are chaos. Why would I want to write down the chaos?

Has anyone tried this? Does it actually help or is it just another way to procrastinate? Because I'm already a professional procrastinator. I don't need help with that.

 

[Tamina]

Britney I was skeptical too but I've kept one for about 8 months now and it's genuinely helped. Not because I'm writing profound insights every day (I'm not lol) but because it creates a record of my thinking.

The best thing it's done is help me realize how much progress I'm actually making. When you're in the middle of a dissertation, every day feels like you did nothing. But I can look back in my journal from three months ago and see that I was stuck on something I've now solved. That's motivating when the end feels far away.

I don't do the "20 minutes at the start" thing though. That would kill my momentum. Instead I have a Google Doc I keep open and I'll drop notes in it throughout the day. Sometimes it's a full paragraph about a theoretical problem. Sometimes it's just "figure out what Smith (2019) actually said." Sometimes it's "I hate this."

It's not structured. It's not pretty. But it's been useful.

Also it's great for advisor meetings. I just scroll through my journal and find the questions I've been having instead of trying to remember them.