Finishing a PhD programme (or beginning to finish via writing the thesis) can be a multi-level roller coaster ride. If working 'like stink' for three years in a range of challenging field and lab situations isn't enough, sitting down at the end and trying to put it all into the context of a thesis to be examined on, is enough to make grown men weep in a corner (and the rest of us).
Procrastination is the bane of finishing for most people. What I want to know is: why is this so? Surely if you want to be free, 'get your life back', as it were, why not just get the thing written and get rid of it? To use a cliche, it's a lot easier said than done.
If anyone out there is reading this post, I recommend 'Advising the Struggling Dissertation Student' - it's a helpful article written by a graduate supervisor, Leonard Cassuto, who really has a 'bead' on thesis issues. He's obviously very experienced in working through the various problems that can manifest in the life of a graduate dissertation.
Particularly enlightening is the comments sections; comment 24 really hit home:
'I coach ABD students to finish their dissertations, and the most common challenge they face is that 1> they are trained as sprinters, to write 20 page papers in a weekend, where a dissertation is a marathon; 2> making progress in an unfamiliar process proves difficult; 3> they feel fear and/or shame as a result of their self-perceived "failure" and turn to procrastination to manage these difficult feelings, which exacerbates the problems.
Thre are two solutions to this: 1> learn new skills and habits that work for you, like time management, pacing, planning, and creating a work schedule and environment that feels right; and 2> accept that you feel fear and/or shame, fight the temptation to procrastinate or read one more article, and start writing. Can be hard at first, but seeing progress creates momentum that keeps you going.'
These first three points raised certainly hit home for me, and I know for many of my peers who are in the same situation. Of the solutions, point 2 is definitely the best advice I've heard in a long time. Ultimately I hope this is some kind of consolation, and motivation, to anyone out there struggling with a PhD thesis.
...what about when you procrastinate starting a PhD?
ReplyDeleteI guess the same reasoning would apply. Identify the reasons for procrastination and figure out a way of dealing with them one by one (there's always more than one reason!).
ReplyDeleteYou'd handle a PhD brilliantly, Andrew. Don't hide your intellectual light under a bushel!