Uncannily true!
could this be an allegory of JRRT's own writing-up blues?
I guess he probably preferred writing Middle Earth-related material rather than the dreaded thesis. Certainly toast-making, re-organising one's stuff and even daytime TV have a strange attraction at that stage of the game.
By the way, does anyone know what Tolkien's thesis was about? (And how long after the deadline he submitted?)