Knowing When To Stop. And to start.

The problems I'm having with my thesis can be divided up thusly:

a. Too much info on the topic I've chosen.

b. Too many distractions (and, therefore, the perception of not enough time).

Initial runs through this showed that if I started with a., I referenced b. frequently, so I should start with b.

I have too many distractions, and most of them are self-imposed. The facebook. The twitter. The 100s of blog posts I read every day when I get home. Do these things help me? Some of them. Yes, I meet (and stay with) people, so the twitter and facebook should stay. The RSS feed should be pared down significantly. I have a PS3. Yes. I enjoy it. But I didn't finish GTAIV in the years it's been out, there is no reason I need to do it now.

I do not have a soul-crushing job. I work reasonable hours and enjoy what I do. I do, however, have a habit of being lazy when I do get home. I claim that I have some kind of right to relax or to work on random things. The discipline I have gathered to write my fiction has not made the jump to finishing my academic work. And it's important that I do so. Not because of any high-mindedness...but simply because I want to. I mean, I like, seriously like, being a student.

But I do realize that that does come with an end point. In this case it is this thesis. Besides, I can't very well start a new master's program when I didn't finish one.

There really isn't any excuse, is there?

On to point a. When I do manage to pull myself away from the distractions, I've been finding a lot of info. Almost too much. I think I need to pick a date and stop the research until I get something done. I haven't even finished the prospectus, and I'm really confused with all the data and what to do. Sometimes I think if I can just get away for a day or a few hours something magical will happen and I'll make real progress, and when I do, nothing happens. If not nothing, at least nothing significant. And slogging through it at my glacial pace isn't working, either.

I chose to do an academic type thesis rather than a creative type because I wanted to strengthen what I perceive as a weakness (my research and academic writing). Perhaps that was the wrong path and I should have played to my strengths. I know others have done creative thesis' before me, so there is precedent...

Not looking for answers, just trying to figure this out myself, so...