Six Dissertation Strategies — Life Downstream

It’s so much easier to say it now that we’re into 2014 and the holidays are over (though I’ve got a Christmas tree to take down still). I hope with the blessing of 20/20 hindsight, your holidays went well and precious time was spent with loved ones.

To me, the end of the holidays and the beginning of the year indicate that it is time to focus more than ever on completing my dissertation and ultimately a decade of post-secondary education. Naturally, with each passing day I struggle more to stay focused because anyone in this position has a lot on their mind. For me, I’ve got my mind on what I’m doing to be doing next, trying to decide exactly what I want versus need to be doing next, how to make the leap to the next step (which, for once, won’t be more schooling), and how to balance all of these nailbiters with my husband. Regardless, all of these changes have the ability to be really good, but they can be so darn distracting!

I have managed to figure out a few strategies that help me stay focused on that end goal.

Even if you’re just working on it at home in your pyjamas, schedule a minimum amount of time each day that is dedicated to dissertation work. More is better, but on those lazy days it seems much easier to put in the time if it’s staring me down in my Google Calendar.
Have some healthy snacks and beverages available. I’ve met many grad students who swear by a bottle of wine to get the creative juices flowing. I think it’s merely important to make sure your thirst or hungry can be sated at arm’s reach. If you’ve got to get up for something, you’re going to get distracted.
Take breaks. If you’ve been working for a few hours and your hands aren’t typing things correctly or you can’t seem to conjure up the right word, set it down. You might need more than fifteen minutes, you might need a few hours, but stop. The dissertation process is too long and arduous to let yourself get frustrated if you’ve already put in some time.
Back up your work! Don’t go more than a day or two without emailing your work to yourself, saving it to Dropbox, or putting it on a thumb drive. If you do go the wine route and you knock the bottle over onto your laptop, you’ll want to be able to pick up, almost, where you left off.
Kick the cats out of the room. I don’t know about you, but my cats are pretty awesome. They’re so awesome that they’re usually big distractions. Even if Sylvester is curled up in my lap behaving himself, he’s a distraction. I want to pet him. I want to give him little cat kisses. He’s just so darn cute!
Get enough sleep. This may be last time in your life until retirement that you have a lot of control over your sleep schedule basically all of the time. Sleep until you can’t sleep anymore. A good night’s sleep is truly the best medicine for the ability to focus. The dissertation process is relatively long, you should have enough time for an entire night of sleep.
Talk about what you’re doing to anyone who will listen. It’s never wise to discuss exact research methods, but talk about the general ideas. It will get you used to what you’re working on and how you want to describe your research and findings. The response from others could really help formulate that last chapter when you’re discussing how your awesome research could translate into awesome future research.

The length of the dissertation process sets it apart from most of the other things you’ll do in school. Good study strategies help but will not necessarily get you all of the way there. Everyone finds their own strategies that help them cross the finish line, these are mine, and I wish you the best in finding your own.