This week I want to square up with my lit review. I feel like I am constantly finding new things to be added to it, and I have to keep going back and playing the game of “what needs to go”. Then I of course feel like everything HAS to stay. This gripe I have with the lit review is so real I had a dream about me teaching my middle schoolers what a lit review was. We have deep rooted beef. At this point I would love to say it was set in stone, but unfortunately, it is not. I found a really great source that analyzes “tokenism” which is significant to my work . Which is of course delaying my process in writing my academic paper.  

This weekend I hope to be able to just write my academic paper. I’d rather get something down and maybe have to add to it than to not have anything at all. Just to keep you guys up to speed, my creative section is mostly finished. I already have two short stories. I just need to add my advice section at the very end of that. However, I want that to be the absolute last thing because I keep altering or adding ideas based on the research I am discovering.  

As usual I hope to keep moving forward and use the weekend as some time to really play catch up, nail down the lit review and get going on my academic paper.  

This week I had to go back to the drawing board. I took my day off this week to really reset my whole thesis plan. I used the dreaded chatgpt to create a detailed schedule. I inputted all the related information as far as what tasks I had to accomplish and by what dates I wanted things done by. Although I cannot stand AI and chatgpt, this actually helped me so much. I was able to not only pace myself, but it gave me specific tasks I should be completing every time I sit down and dedicate time to my thesis. I was able to look back at things that were helping me move forward and aspects that were holding me back. One of my downfalls was my lit review. I found that it was hard for me to sit down and start writing my academic paper because my lit review wasn’t setting me up for success. This weekend I was able to go back, change some sources and also tweak some of my rationales. Doing this allowed for me to see clearly where I am going with my academic paper.  

My goal this week is to have a detailed outline for my academic paper, this way I know exactly where I am going with things. Overall, last weeks class coupled with my new plan is really putting me back on track and dare I say motivating me to keep pushing towards the finish line.  

This was even worse than a couple weeks back when I was struggling. There is so much going on in my personal life and with work. It seems as soon as I get one area under control, something happens to cause my attention, time and energy to shift.  

With that being said, I am at the point where I am practically avoiding my academic paper. I’m not sure what it is, but when I have set aside the little time I do have to actually write, I almost don’t know how to write academically anymore. With the little time I set aside this week I decided to be productive and switch gears by developing the questions I want to use during my interview process. I know I am fully ready to begin that process, and I am still excited about that. This academic paper has now become daunting, just because I know it is not going to be fun. This weekend I am going to try really hard to just get the whole thing done, so it can stop looming over my head. The more I think about it, the less I want to actually sit down and do it. My goal for next week is to come on here and tell you guys that I have a full draft for my academic paper on microaggression (if I can magically remember how to write an academic paper again). See you guys soon!