Scroll down this newsletter to find marathon coach Jeff Galloway's technique for mentally preparing for the Big Race. Then Replace the word "marathon" with "class". Down to earth vsualization for those who don't like visualization.
This is a cool resource! I could totally see making a comparison (if carefully done) between preparation for running a marathon and student preparation for doing a major research project. Planning out some steps beforehand and breaking the process out into little steps to accomplish will help you get started and finish the race, etc...