Comments on: Why overthinking is bad for writers

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 22:28:00 +0000

In reply to Rhonda.

This wasn’t the piece but it’s a good one! I had a client once who wanted to record his great ideas from the shower so he bought himself a diving write-board. You can see examples here: http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/underwater-write-board.html I thought that was extra clever!

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 22:26:00 +0000

In reply to Rhonda. Overthinking is a particular risk for anyone with a post-graduate degree!

By: Rhonda

Rhonda — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 21:32:00 +0000

In reply to Daphne Gray-Grant.

I couldn’t resist asking Prof. Google about shower ideas . . . here is a link . . . https://blog.bufferapp.com/why-we-have-our-best-ideas-in-the-shower-the-science-of-creativity … may be similar to what you were reading. :))

By: Rhonda

Rhonda — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 21:25:00 +0000

Again, very timely. Am working on a research proposal. Also, when ever I start a unit of study, overthinking has been the enemy of understanding the new information. Am learning to step back from my thinking process and allow things to emerge. A very well-informed article. Thanks again.

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 23:34:00 +0000

In reply to William Stoner. I agree: Too much self criticism is definitely paralyzing. Too many academics suffer from this...

By: William Stoner

William Stoner — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 23:21:00 +0000

Daphne,
I overheard a conversation between two academics that went like this: Academic 1. I deliberate for months on whether to publish. Academic 2. Go ahead and publish and let the rest of the world carry the burden of critiquing your work! This advice makes sense to me. Too much self criticism can be paralyzing. We think Albert Einstein made an error in introducing the cosmological term into his general relativity equations so as to obtain a steady state. That is OK, science is self-correcting. Better to publish a partially correct result than not to publish at all.

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 00:44:00 +0000

In reply to Boo's House. Thanks, Annie!

By: Boo's House

Boo's House — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 23:50:00 +0000

In reply to Daphne Gray-Grant. The app is called Keep My Notes. It was free! Yay free!

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 23:31:00 +0000

In reply to Boo’s House.

That’s great news, Annie! What’s the name of the note taking app? Sounds interesting. (Me? I’d dictate myself a note on my iPhone’s recorder…)

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 23:30:00 +0000

In reply to Jason L. Smith. My daughter has a slack line (and, incidentally, a unicycle). What a great place to think up new ideas! Please, please, please work on giving up the idea of perfection. Instead, think about becoming BETTER. I'll have more to say about this next Tuesday.