Can I Ever FinishMy Dissertation?
Some of you know my story of writing my Dissertation.
After almost 6 years of feeling stuck due to physical and mental ailments, my committee gave me an ultimatum: If I could write up what I had by the end of that semester they would allow me to graduate. The problem?
The only date all three of them were available for the thesis defense was just 20 days aways from that meeting. I still had multiple chapters to write, data analysis to do, and even a few control experiments to do, while still battling a chronic medical condition!
What baffles to this day is not the fact that I finished my Dissertation and defended it successfully (with minor revisions only), but how I did it.
As I coach graduate students I still try to deconstruct the exact steps I took to stay focused on writing for those 3 weeks.
Whereas before I would spend 10 hours in front of the computer with barely a paragraph written, during those three weeks I had days when I wrote entire chapters.
My ability to be able to write so much in a short amount time came from my ability to focus.
But, what helped me to stay focused?
I decided to stay focused and give it all I got, because I had nothing to lose.
If I didn’t finish by that date, I would have to drop out.
What Holds You Back From Focusing?
Although you might not be in such a precarious situation, you need to make a moment-to-moment decision too about what you focus on.
When you sit down to write, does your mind wander to the grocery list?
Here are some of the things my students tell me they get distracted by (you are not alone!)
- Fear that they you not on the right track,
- Worried about future conflicts (personal or Dissertation related),
- Distracted about whether you are eating healthy, gaining/losing weight etc.
- Beating yourself up for not being “far enough long”,
- Distracted by outside events, people, online news,
- Beating yourself up for mind wandering!
Students assume that when I was productive for three weeks straight, my mind was super-focused. That is actually not true.
During those three weeks my mind wandered to all kinds of places too. I worried about the same things every other grad student worries about: What if they fail me? Does this make sense?
However, my mind didn’t stay at these far away places.
Just like I always returned to my computer after my mandatory walks (I had to take frequent walking breaks to rest my arms), I asked my mind to return to my Dissertation even when I was daydreaming the wonderful vacations I would finally take when I was done.
You see, even when I wasn’t focused on my Dissertation, I assumed that I would get it done, and my mind started visualizing my trips (which became a reality!)
All the hacks in the world will not help you if you if your focus in not whatever it is you want to accomplish. Is it a job? A publication? A Dissertation? A new home?
When I look back on all my successes it always came back to my ability to bring back my focus to what I was working on.
Can Obstacles Help You To Focus Better on Your Dissertation?
Do you want to know the most surprising part about finishing my Dissertation?
During that time there were significant hardships I had to deal with:
- Physical/mental illness
- Challenging family circumstances
- Financial hardship
It’s easy to blame our failures on hardships and obstacles. However, these obstacles kept me focused.
Years after finishing my PhD, I read ” The Artists Way” by Julia Cameron, where talks about developing her creativity while going through a divorce.
“My pain kept me focused,” she said. That was it!, I realized when I read that.
Although it seemed like these hardships held me back, they kept my focus on the prize.
I kept taking action because I wanted to succeed despite the illnesses, despite the family circumstances, and despite financial hardships.
I wanted to win!
How can you turn this story into your own victory?
This is primarily a mindset shift so you don’t have to do that much.
Here is what it could look like:
Let’s say you sit down to write, and your mind will start wondering like all minds do. You open your email automatically. (Here is the critical decision to stay focused) You close it when you see there is nothing urgent. Or, you close it before reading anything. As you practice not focusing on your email, you will eventually write for longer periods of time without opening your email at all. Email might not be your “thing”. It could be social media, youtube videos, books, audibles, baking, etc. You know what your “thing” is: the activity that distracts you.
The truth is that you cannot stop your mind from wondering, and you cannot stop life from happening.
However, you do have the power to keep bringing your mind back to the present moment and do what you you need to do to win!
Regardless of how many years you have been in graduate school, or how insurmountable your Dissertation seems, each time you bring back your focus to the present, you are one step closer to the finish line.