Let me describe to you what "dissertation hell" looks like. Right now it's 3:30 in the morning and I've been working on my dissertation for about two hours. I've discovered that this is the schedule that works for me because there are simply too many distractions during the day. Put it this way: in the middle of the night, I can't pick up my guitar and try to improve on Hendrix's version of The Star Spangled Banner, my neighbors would hate me; I can't rave at political debates on the cable networks because there's nothing on at 2 in the morning except infomercials, and I'm too broke to buy any of whatever their selling; and obviously, puttering around in the garden is out.
So right now I'm sitting at my laptop. On the table to my right is a huge stack of journal articles, books, and assorted crap. Directly in front of me is another, slightly larger, stack of journal articles and more assorted crap. If I stand up I have to move left, because on the floor to my right is another stack of journal articles that is about four feet across. Behind me is a couch that you can't sit on because there's too much school-related crap piled on it. I used to try to organize all this stuff, but I gave up a couple of months ago. What's the point? When I finish my dissertation, I'll have a nice little journal article burning party in my backyard.
Gotta go. I just realized that writing this blog is disrupting my middle-of-the-night study time. But hey, I can live with it. It's a nice distraction from the chronic psychological self-abuse that's called the process of writing a dissertation. More on that later...
