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Quiz: Are You Cultivating the Top 10 Habits for Doctoral Success? | Issue 308
Summary: Where do you stand on the ten essential habits to propel you across the dissertation finish line?
Estimated read time: 5 minutes that can lead to more ease and flow in your academic journey.

By Gayle Scroggs, PhD, PCC, Editor & Coach
Bad habits are never intentional, while good habits require intention and commitment, especially when they're new.
How well are your current habits serving your goal? Will they be enough to get you to the doctoral finish line? Take our quiz to discover how your current practices stack up against time-tested essential habits for doctoral success. Then decide where you want to improve.
Instructions: Choose the option that best describes your current practice.
1. Time Management
a) I have calendarized blocks of academic work time and stick to my schedule.
b) I sometimes plan my study time but get distracted often.
c) I don't plan regular study time and find myself cramming.
2. Staying Organized
a) I keep all my drafts, notes, resources, and deadlines well organized.
b) I try to stay organized but sometimes lose track of important things like deadlines.
c) I struggle to keep my study materials and deadlines organized.
3. Regular Reading
a) I read academic papers and books regularly to stay updated in my field.
b) I read academic materials occasionally when I have time.
c) I rarely read beyond my required coursework.
4. Seeking Feedback
a) I actively seek feedback from my advisors and peers on my work.
b) I sometimes ask for feedback but not consistently.
c) I rarely seek feedback and prefer working independently.
5. Networking
a) I regularly attend conferences and academic events to network.
b) I attend some events but do not prioritize networking.
c) I rarely attend events or network with other scholars.
6. Maintaining Work-Life Balance
a) I am pleased with how I balance my academic responsibilities with personal life.
b) I struggle to maintain a balance but try to manage it.
c) I often find my priorities in conflict, leading to stress.
7. Effective Communication with Others
a) I communicate effectively with my advisors and peers.
b) I try to communicate well but struggle at times.
c) I am overly stressed by issues of communication with advisors and peers.
8. Overcoming Writer's Block
a) When I experience writer's block, I take a short break and then return to writing.
b) When stuck, I wait for inspiration before doing anything on my dissertation.
c) When stuck, I use social media to distract me from my work.
9. Staying Healthy
a) I follow a healthy lifestyle with adequate sleep, regular exercise, and proper diet.
b) I try to stay healthy but occasionally neglect my well-being.
c) I often prioritize work over my health, leading to fatigue and exhaustion.
10. Handling Stress
a) To minimize stress, I engage in regular physical activity and relaxation techniques.
b) I try to avoid stress by not working and/or complaining to friends.
c) I tend to ignore stress until it becomes overwhelming.
Results:
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Mostly A's: Excellent! You are on the right track with habits that lead to success as a doctoral student.
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Mostly B's: Good job! You have some effective habits but there is room for improvement.
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Mostly C's: Needs improvement. Consider adopting more productive habits to enhance your doctoral journey.
These questions reflect your daily habits—the small actions you do repeatedly and with ease—and even without thinking. That's what makes bad habits hard to change because they feel familiar. Good habits may feel foreign at first, like speaking a new language. But with practice, you will become more fluent.
Good dissertation habits will create a path of ease and flow for you. Reflect on any of your C and B answers, then consider the benefits of moving towards the behavior in the A alternative. (If you had no B or C answers, you're superhuman—congratulations!) How might such a change improve your performance and well-being? For example, if you have avoided feedback, how might actively seeking it facilitate your progress? Brainstorm one or two tiny actions you could do differently daily for the next week that would make a difference.
Cultivating and strengthening good habits takes more than mere intention—it also requires accountability. Smart phone users may choose to use a habit tracker app such as the highly rated Habitica or Habitnow apps (see app stores for more info). Many students find they profit most from a live person, e.g., an "accountability buddy" or a personal coach to keep them motivated and on track.
Making a good habit visible also keeps the brain engaged with it. In Atomic Habits, author James Clear provides a classic example with The PaperClip Strategy which you can easily adapt.
Experiment with what works for you. No matter which approach you choose, remember to celebrate even small steps forward. Notice how good it feels to take control and check important tasks off your To Do list. Before you know it, you'll be looking for that gown with the velvet stripes and doctoral hood!
Ready for someone to help you cultivate these essential habits? Request a free consultation now from a positive psychology dissertation coach. Start using science-based strategies that will take you to the PhD finish line and beyond.
P.S. Get your free e-book of proven strategies for overcoming dissertation hurdles here.
YOUR OWN COACH
If you are considering whether to get your own coach to help you reach your academic goals, fill out this brief application for a free consultation with a dissertation coach.
GAYLE SCROGGS, Ph.D., P.C.C., Editor, ABDSG.
An accomplished coach, workshop leader, keynote speaker, and educator, Gayle earned her doctorate in social psychology from the University of New Hampshire. Her deep expertise in positive psychology allows her to help clients build their personal strengths, positive habits, and confidence to overcome procrastination, self-doubts and other blocks in order to reach vital academic and personal goals. In addition to editing the ABD Survival Guide, she contributed two chapters to the positive psychology anthology, Women's Paths to Happiness. Contact her at gayle@essencecoaching.com for coaching, presentations, and workshops on thriving in graduate school and beyond, and find free resources essencecoaching.com.
BEN DEAN, Publisher, ABDSG
Ben holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He began writing the ABDSG in 1997. Over the years, the ABDSG has published hundreds of articles and provided thousands of hours of pro bono coaching and teleworkshops to ABDs all over the world. Ben is also the founder of MentorCoach (www.MentorCoach.com), a virtual university focused on training accomplished professionals to become part-time or full-time coaches. You may wish to subscribe to the Coaching Toward Happiness eNewsletter! It's on applying the science of Positive Psychology to your work and life (131,000 readers). Ben lives in suburban Maryland with his wife, Janice, their two children, and Dusty, their Norwegian dwarf bunny.
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