Don't You Have A Paper You Should Be Working On?

I have a friend who's always getting sick or injured when he really needs to be getting down to writing. I, on the other hand, am completely justified in deciding that the best time to clean my apartment is when I have a paper due. It turns out that there's now a name for this career-threatening phenomenon. Watson's Syndrome, according to Dr. Richard Gelles, is characterized by (A.) A continuing and persistent avoidance of engaging in the actual writing and completion of one's dissertation, peer reviewed publications, or grant proposals; or (B.) Engaging in what appear to be important activities that take the place of completing one's dissertation, peer reviewed publications, or grant proposals. Dr. Gelles, who is a dean of the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, writes about Watson's Syndrom in his article posted June 19 in Inside Higher Ed. While Gelles's article does not suggest a cure, one commenter suggests "proactive mentoring" by professors. Does that involve a cattle prod? Oh, well, if you can't actually write the thesis yourself, you can always blog about it.