Top Ten Strategies for Tricking Myself into Continuing to Work When I Want to Play or Sleep

1. System of rewards. If you just get out of bed to work now, and get something started, you can take a nap this afternoon.

2. Brief vigorous exercise. Dancing crazy, jumping jacks, going for a 5-minute jog outside.

3. Snacking. Walk to kitchen, stretch legs and neck, grab snack foods, return, write a paragraph, repeat if necessary. In my opinion, the best kinds to have on hand are: Tons of fruit (bananas, apples, tangerines, oranges), natural popcorn in the bag (white cheddar or plain varieties), raw carrots, pre-cooked veggies that work as finger foods like steamed broccolini or roasted asparagus, whole grain crackers, hummous for when you're feeling dippy, and nuts -- especially raw almonds and cashews, and occasionally dry roasted peanuts. For hungrier times, Morningstar Farms buffalo wings dipped in blue cheese dressing are a real favorite. But I actually eat those for dinner more often than I'd like to admit. Steamed quinoa brown rice is another winner, with a little tamari sauce and butter.

4. Being in my Pajamas. It helps, somehow, because it feels inherently indulgent.

5. Showering. A good break that can stimulate the circulation and also makes for good thinking time if you do it at exactly the right moment. You've been writing, writing, writing, and then you're printing and need a break before you sit down to read a draft, and you shower while the printer's going and think about what else you need to add to your argument. Brilliant. My best ideas seem to come while almost-sleeping or while under a stream of warm water.

6. Making lists. (Hmmm. notice anything here. . .?) It's a good way to release the things you need to do, the other interests you have that you're not allowing yourself to think about for the time being, or whatever.

7. Switching between scholarly tasks. Going from one paper to another when you're stuck, or moving from reading and note-taking to outlining or writing drafts to researching and ordering library books can help keep you productive even when you're feeling antsy. I try to avoid email when I'm doing something that requires more concentrated and longer-term thinking, but there are always emails to professors or colleagues that need writing, too, and especially if they're related to what I'm doing they can sometimes help.

8. Taking a quick break to do something more mundane that needs to get done. This can be a time-suck if you're not careful, because it's rare that I don't urgently need to dust, vacuum, clean my bathroom, clean my kitchen, do the laundry, sort mail, file papers, print journal articles, grade undergraduate papers, shovel the porch, salt the driveway, do my physical therapy stretches, apply more cream to my eczema, give myself a facial mask, add air to my tires, schedule a car maintenance and a dental hygiene appointment, make phone calls about health referrals, and . . . well, you know how it is. Graduate school. Anyway, though, doing one of these silly things that needs doing can offer a sense of accomplishment when you're feeling less than powerful with the rather abstract theoretical or empirical thing you're trying to think through, and can make it easier to go back to.

9. Meditating. A few minutes of silent deep breathing always helps to focus the mind and cut through the mental garbage.

10. Gilmore Girls. When all else fails, a break of a few minutes to watch silly television with quick witty banter can help a lot. Especially if I've been doing good, concentrated writing, it can be a really good break to zone out and rest the mind that way.

11. Oh, I know, I said there'd be 10. But how could I forget: Caffeinated beverage. Coffee and tea, what would I do without you? Cafe con leche, coffee with cream, Earl Grey with lemon and honey, green tea, black tea with milk. . . The varieties are endless. The effect so dependable.

12. Power nap. Sometimes you actually need a few minutes of real sleep to get going again. I always find that when I'm writing, my ideas flow so much better, my thinking is so much sharper, just after I've woken up.

13. Turning on or off the music. I used to be all about pure silence for writing. But the past few days, I've realized that certain types of writing, or certain parts of the process, are actually good for me with music. Especially when it's late at night and all I want to do is cover myself up with blankies and close my eyes. Mixing it up with silence and sound can keep my thoughts moving when I don't want to be.

So, grad school buddies, what are your tricks?