Desperately seeking fellow mature students for writing group....advice please!

[Rosita]

Hello!
I'm new to this forum and wish I'd realised it was here much sooner. I'm in my 6th year of a part time PhD which I've been doing via distance learning and am struggling to write my thesis mainly due to lack of motivation. My supervisors have suggested finding a writing group to provide accountability but as I've just moved to a new area, I'm not sure where to start with this. There is no university for miles so am not sure where to find other people out there who feel the same. I've tried googling etc to no avail. There is no local Mumsnet group as that is where I was looking to place something when I found this forum.
My bigger problem is that I seem to fritter away every day doing god knows what. It's been easy to find excuses with a house move and renovations and other challenges but I absolutely must finish this and get a job! I know that when I work side by side with others, I get much more done just by feeling that I'm in a work environment. I've tried working in cafes, local libraries (so noisy!), can't afford to pay for a desk and a local business hub. Any ideas out there?

[QuaterMiss]

What's your subject?

[Rosita]

Migration and Development. I'm not looking for a group to share / critique writing, more of a space where we can companionably work side by side on our own stuff.

[SBDB]

Hmmm not sure about actual rl groups but if it helps I’m in a similar position! I’m doing a professional doctorate pt alongside a full time teaching job (although mat leave currently!). I need to crack on with writing up before I go back to work and get super busy again but motivation is a challenge.
I do find writing a set number of words per day useful. I’ll always set it at 250 words - this I feel is doable and lots of times I’ll write more once I get going but some days 250 is a real challenge but I feel that I have at least achieved something!

[MercedesDeMonteChristo]

Set up a meet-up group yourself. Meet in a cafe and work side by side.

[Orchiddingme]

If I'm honest, this sounds like another excuse for not writing that thesis!

If you are not near a uni, then the chances of finding people at a similar writing-up stage to all head for a local cafe is probably very low.

I wouldn't pin your hopes on this.

What I would do is join some of the online PhD groups and read blogs (e.g. Tara Brabazon) and try out their ideas in terms of writing discipline and just getting on with it. Have you tried using pomodoros and writing for an hour or two a day that way? You don't have to always write, just prepare work for writing and if it's a bad day you can do references, but it's about not letting many days go by without advancing the thesis. If you are part-time and have a good space to write now- then 3/4 days a week or even more should be your standard.

The less you do the less motivated you will be and the more you will procrastinate. You don't need your ideal environment to produce a PhD, most people don't have it, and ultimately it is a lone project. Great to have support, and I'm not saying don't seek similarly minded people but your dream of a cafe writing group is probably that, a dream, although of course it won't hurt to advertise on a PhD FB/group page and see if anyone is about.

[Rosita]

Thanks for the advice and the push! It seems to have worked as I've managed to write 3000 words today and last week I just kept staring at the empty sheet unable to get past all my doubts.

I'm totally willing and able to set up my own group, I'm just not sure where to find people. I've tried FB etc but can't find any local PhD pages I'll keep trying!

[Orchiddingme]

Pretty good going!