Do Word Goals Work? Dissertations and more.

Yes. Word goals are a structure, a program; they are more like a recipe than a standard chemical equation; there is room for tastes and for changing the balance of flavors.

Word goals are especially helpful with longer works like graduate dissertations and theses, but they can even be helpful on smaller topics, especially if you are struggling with the materials. Depending on the length of the paper, you can set a word goal for the day, the hour, or for multi-hour blocks.

If you have an hourly goal, set a time for 50 minutes and get to work. When the time goes off, get up and stretch or whatever you like to do away from the computer for a break. When you sit back down, check and see whether you met or missed your word goal, and then start your timer again and get typing. It’s important not to be too caught up in whether you made or missed a goal. If you missed the goal, don’t change your later goals to a new higher number. You can either just catch up naturally over another section or two, or work an extra 20 minutes on the project at hand. If you miss a goal, moving the goal even further away is a recipe for emotional disaster. Stay focused on achieving the steady pace you need to succeed rather than trying to berate yourself into “success.” People sometimes won’t allow themselves a break until they hit a certain mark, that is OK sometimes, but it’s far better to take breaks at regular intervals and investigate your progress to guide your pace, rather than making writing a punishment.

Word goals can provide structure as well as empirical evidence of progress. If you are missing your word goal every day for a week two, it’s time to re-evaluate whether the goal is too high or whether something about your workplace or workflow is impeding your writing.