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Devoted to providing practical strategies for completing
your Doctoral Dissertation.™
INSIDE THIS ISSUE - January 23, 2010
2. Feature Article - Dominating Your Dissertation in
2010
Dr. Robyn Silverman
January 23, 2010
A Note from the Editor
Tracy Steen, Ph.D.
Drift happens. Dissertation drift is the insidious, frustrating erosion of perfectly effective work habits.
If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, you are familiar with recommendations such as keeping a regular work schedule, communicating regularly with your advisor, creating specific, measurable goals, etc. Most likely you have employed such strategies and found them effective….until dissertation drift happens.
We can attribute dissertation drift to seasonal distractions, illness, or simply fatigue. Whatever the cause, it's useful to take a moment and survey your current work habits for evidence of drift.
If you could use some prompting, Dr. Robyn Silverman provides a helpful review of strategies to support ABD's who want to become Ph.D.'s. Don't miss her feature article: Dominating Your Dissertation in 2010. And a fitting adjunct are the Inspirational Quotes in this issue which were selected to inspire honest reflection and grit, essential qualities for ABD's who want to do what works.
Dominating Your Dissertation in 2010
Dr. Robyn Silverman
"It's mocking me," Cheryl, one of my dissertation coaching clients, confided in me during one of our weekly coaching calls. "What is it saying," I asked?
She paused. "It waits until I get home or just when I wake up in the morning and it says, "You're NOT going to finish me, EVER!" She laughed out of frustration.
"What can you do to take control?" Silence. "Gosh," she said with a deep breath. "I've let it overtake me for so long that I wouldn't know where to begin."
I know. Sometimes you wonder who is in charge--you or your dissertation. The very idea of it can send shivers down one's spine. All those pages. All that research. All those critical eyes…reading it, dissecting it--if, that is, you could actually sit down and write it!
What is standing in the way of seeing your bound copy on the shelf behind on your desk; a physical reward for all your blood, sweat, and tears? Is your dissertation challenging you…and winning?
It's time to take control. As I've counseled other dissertation students through similar situations, I can tell you with confidence that you can get through this and come out victorious. Here are some ways to dominate your dissertation in 2010.
(1) Put your dissertation demon to bed.
Dominating your dissertation begins with controlling your thoughts. Perhaps when you sit down to write, quiet but insistent inner voices begin. "I can't do this. They're going to hate it. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm a fraud!"
These intrusive thoughts are your gremlin, or what I call your "dissertation demon." It spoils your plans just like a rain on a holiday picnic. When you hear that voice, regard it as a child in a tantrum trying to get out of his chores. You might choose an object to represent your dissertation demon and then physically put it away so that you can get to work.
(2) Determine the barriers.
Sometimes
your dissertation demon has a good point: "I have too many interruptions…I
can't find anything…I'm too tired." Don't keep doing the same thing
at the same time in the same place if it isn't working for you.
I can't tell you how many people I've worked with who needed to change their
space, their time, or their place of work in order to make progress. Just
because you've always worked on your little desk in your room at 8pm at night
doesn't mean that it's the best space, place, and time. Think about alternatives
and consider making a switch.
(3) Set the plan.
Those who get their dissertation done are those who plan to make it happen. Yes, you may work at different hours each week. Yes, you may have a family. Still, everyone needs a schedule when it comes to a goal or it simply becomes a hobby.
Should your dissertation be a hobby? Nope. I didn't think so. It's your job! Determine when you will "go to your job," each day and each week. How many hours will you be "at your job?" When is the start and end time? What will you be working on while you are there? Hazy intentions won't translate into the kind of progress you need to make. It's time to make specific plans so you can reach the goal.
Editor's note: Out of sight, out of mind is often the rule with writing schedules. If you tend to make schedules and then forget to follow them, you might enjoy keeping your schedule where you are unlikely to miss it: on your coffee mug.
(4) Enlist your troops.
Every single time I work with a dissertation student, we determine an accountability partner together. For many, I am their accountability partner. You can--and must--have one too. Either talk to a dissertation coach or make a deal with a friend, fellow student, or a family member. They must have carte blanche to call your bluff when you aren't doing what you said you were going to do. A wishy-washy accountability partner is about as useful as holding a piece of tissue over your head to keep your head dry in a thunder-storm.
(5) Celebrate your successes.
How many of us do this? We reach a benchmark and then, without a pause of gratitude or excitement, we move on to the next thing on our list. If it isn't "fun" to reach our short-term goals on the way to the ultimate, it's going to be a long, boring, ugly process to the end.
Build
in little celebrations--calling your mother or friend to tell them that you
finished your methodology section, going to the movies after you hand in your
literature review for the second review, getting that sticky results section
drafted…finally. You must celebrate and mark your achievements as you
go. It will make the process much more enjoyable.
In the end, only you can control who is in control. Take the time right now to determine how you will put yourself back into the driver's seat so you can dominate your dissertation in 2010 and get it done once and for all. Write it down. Commit. Get help and go for it. You can do it…so make the choice to take control…right now.
Robyn J.A. Silverman, Ph.D. is a success coach who is known for her results-based yet warm approach to goal achievement. She has been seen on Fox News, The Tyra Show, and many other media outlets. Her clients range from top executives to motivated students. She conquered her dissertation process with an uncompromising advisor who proclaimed, "If she can work with me and come out on top, she can do anything!" Dr. Silverman is currently offering a free group coaching call entitled "Dominating your Dissertation" to the first 10 people who send an e-mail with the subject line "ABDSG reader" to DrRobynS@gmail.com.
Inspirational Quotes
The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide
that you are not going to stay where you are.
-John Pierpont Morgan
Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing
from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified.
-Samuel Johnson
There are those who would misteach us that to stick in a rut is consistency--and
a virtue--and that to climb out of the rut is inconsistency--and a vice.
-Mark Twain
Do the next right thing.
-Alcoholics Anonymous
Easy does it…but do it!
-Alcoholics Anonymous