Making a Plan and Staying Motivated
“Those who say it cannot be
done should not interrupt those doing it.” —
Author unknown
I woke up this morning pumped
to begin writing an article about “motivation” for
this newsletter. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm waned when I discovered
that my car had been towed. The thought of having to pay $250
to get it back didn’t make me feel like lifting my pom
poms and shouting, “Rah Rah!” … and it definitely didn’t
motivate me to write. On a positive note, however, my problem
ultimately helped me to write the article, because it
occurred to me that sharing my story with graduate students
was pertinent. After all, this type of setback is typical for
graduate students; most of us frequently find ourselves having
to write our thesis or dissertation in the midst of many distractions.
Writing a thesis or dissertation can
be a lonely and difficult process. Some students approach this
large, unstructured project by “white
knuckling” it
all the way to the end. This approach, however, can’t be
sustained over a long period of time. And since cutting out all
distractions is simply not possible, it’s much better to
plan your thesis around your life, rather than the other way
around. The TADA! Thesis and Dissertation Accomplished software was created to help you do exactly that, and to develop a realistic
plan to assist you in reaching your goal.
Similarly, the mission of this TADA
FinishLine newsletter
is to help guide you step-by-step through the entire process,
and to keep you motivated along the way. I believe you’ll
find that our tips and guidelines will help make the process
much, much easier, including the writing phase!
If you’re having difficulty taking
the first step – or
if you’ve just taken your first step – I
encourage you to read the January
edition of this newsletter. Read that entire
issue and fill out the commitment form included in it. After
that, follow the guidelines listed below to prevent procrastination,
to stay focused, and to reach your ultimate goal of completing
your thesis or dissertation!
Find a “Coach”
There is a considerable difference between an advisor and a
thesis or dissertation coach. An advisor is, first and foremost,
an academic with considerable responsibilities that do not involve
you. A thesis or dissertation coach, on the other hand, is paid
to focus on you and help you finish your degree by listening
to all of your concerns … academic or other.
Thesis/dissertation coaches focus
on a holistic – not
strictly academic -- approach to finishing your degree. In person
or on the phone, they can discuss your project on an individual
basis in absolute confidence, and also serve as a sounding board
for stress relief. They can offer both emotional and academic
support to help you complete important tasks, as well as provide
the tools you need to achieve your goals, which enable you to
accomplish more with less effort. Coaches can help you get organized,
and regularly track your progress to ensure that you stay on
top of tasks. Their goal is to work in every possible way to
help you write your thesis/dissertation, finish
it, and get it published.
“Group Coaching” is
also valuable. One coach can provide counsel to several students
over the phone (via a bridge line). Everyone involved agrees
to confidentiality, and the group is configured to guarantee
that no one in the group will be in competition with another.
The advantage of this approach is that you can accomplish more
in less time, and can have the opportunity to work with students
in different disciplines from all over the world. The group
setting also provides built-in peer support.
Make a Commitment to Work Every Day
Clearly, writing a thesis or dissertation
takes a significant amount of time and effort. It is not something
that can be accomplished easily or quickly. As such, it’s
critical to keep the momentum going by making a commitment
to work on the project every
day. On some days, your commitment might be as little as
12 minutes; on other days, you may log hours working on your
project. The point is that every day you need to take sometime and
take some action.
Each morning, you should start
your day by asking, “What
action can I take today to move my thesis or dissertation forward?” Make
a checklist of small items that must be addressed or completed
in order to make forward progress, and refer to it often. Resolve
yourself to work on one of those items each and every day. No
task is too small, and no item – such as “creating
the cover page” – is too insignificant. Keep in mind
that every action will move you closer to your goal.
Get the maximum benefit out of
your efforts by incorporating the rituals and routines that
result in your most effective writing. For example, if you
are more productive in a clean workspace, be sure to dedicate
the last 30 minutes of your daily schedule to straightening
up. If you work better after you’ve indulged
in a good cup of coffee from your favorite mug or in your favorite
T-shirt, by all means keep these items handy. This is not the
time to start a new routine!!!
End every day by writing a list
of “to do” items
for the following day.
Start Dancing, Even If
You Don’t Hear the Music
The beginning of the thesis/dissertation
process can be absolutely daunting. The project is so immense
that many students simply don’t know where or how to
begin. Some wait around hoping to be struck by divine or other
inspiration. Others are simply overwhelmed or paralyzed by
fear.
Moreover, this type of phenomenon
isn’t limited to just
beginning the process. Many of us face the same type of frightening “beginning” each
time we sit down to write!
Renowned motivator Ralph Marston
advises, “When you can't
see how you will get it all done, the thing to do is to do
what you can. Even when it's difficult to imagine
getting the job finished, the thing to do is to take
the first step.”
Whatever the reason, there are
a number of strategies to help overcome this type of “writer’s block.” Whenever
you’re “stuck,” try using one or more of these
strategies to get you writing.
• Make your point
out loud. Call
a friend or use a tape recorder. Talking your way through something
helps provide clarity, especially if you’re having difficulty
coalescing an argument.
• Separate the section on which you are currently
working from the rest of the document. Not
only does this make the task seem smaller and less intimidating,
it frequently produces a stronger document, because the section
can stand on its own.
• Make a list of ideas you want to include
in the next paragraph. Even this simple task
can help clarify your thoughts and provide you with the words
to begin.
• Consider saving
the introduction, conclusion and transitional paragraphs
for the last, not the first, phase. These
are frequently among the most difficult sections to write,
and may flow more easily with the rest of the document
already under your belt.
• Remind yourself
that the first draft doesn’t
have to be perfect. First-draft
writing should be viewed as taking small, imperfect steps.
You can perfect it later! The goal of a first draft is simply
to get your next thoughts on paper.
• When you’re
really stuck and feeling down, read some of your earlier
papers. They can remind you of the
work you are capable of doing, and the fact that you really can write
well!
• Keep a daily journal. Strange
as it may sound, sometimes writing about why you can’t
write helps dissolve anxiety and clears your mind. The physical
exercise of writing can actually help you to keep on writing!
In her book, The Artist’s Way, Julie Cameron reinforces
the importance of writing a minimum of three pages in a journal
each morning. The book also offers a unique set of 12 weekly
activities to help ease you out of a creative slump.
Focus on the Small Things
One approach to completing a long,
unstructured project is to break it down into manageable parts.
In some disciplines, for example, professors suggest that students
should think of the dissertation as a series of three journal
articles on a related topic. With that mindset, the student
can focus on writing one “article” at
a time. When all of the articles are written, the student can
join the pieces together with summary chapters at the beginning
and end.
After writing and defending my
dissertation proposal, I used this strategy to finish my first “real” chapter.
I wrote a paper for submission review in response to a national
conference’s “call for papers,” and used the
pending deadline as motivation to stay focused. My paper was
accepted for presentation, and my chapter was done! Later, I
was able to polish that same conference presentation into an
effective job market presentation.
Surround Yourself with Positive People
When you first entered your graduate program, you most likely
started off with a number of others who were pursuing the same
goal. Over time, many of those peers may have graduated, given
up, or changed their goals. Others may have kept the same pace
as you, and may currently be in the same place that you are.
It’s important to stay connected
to at least a small number of people who are also serious about completing
their degree. The collective momentum will help you when your
energy starts to diminish.
When my friend, Jane, announced
that she had finished her first chapter and was moving on to
the next, I and another friend, Debbie, hitched our cabooses
to her train and decided that we were going to finish, as well.
We began methodically working together to do so…. not by editing each
other’s work but by offering support in a variety of other ways.
We informally coordinated our work schedules, working separately
in our respective offices, asked and answered quick methodological
questions, offered rides home in the wee hours of the morning,
and kept one another abreast of our weekly accomplishments. All
of these activities helped us fuel one another to work and finish
our projects.
Jane also encouraged us to participate
in the graduation ceremonies to help visualize what it would
feel like when we were finished. (While many universities have
strict guidelines about when a
grad student can participate in the cap and gown ceremony, Wisconsin-Madison
allows those who are “All but Done/Dissertation (ABD) ” to
participate in the graduation ceremony and finish the dissertation
afterward.) Taking steps like these can be quite emotionally
charging, and helpful in keeping yourself motivated.
Email Question of the Month:
Q:
I am falling behind schedule. We are now at
the point of all nighters every other night. I have no reassurances of
how things are going now since I’ve not heard from my advisors. I am
tidying up the last two sections now but the process is taking longer
than scheduled.
M.
A:
Don’t read anything into your advisor/committee’s
silence. You’ve already made significant progress…Keep going---
your advisors are not going to drop bread crumbs along the way to entice
you to get to the finish line. After pursuing your goal for 10 long years,
you must realize that finishing your dissertation is up to you. The closer
you get towards the end the more hectic it’s going to get.
- Use your TADA Methods Journal to
keep track of the things still left to be done or resolved.
- Be sure to dedicate the last 30
minutes of your daily schedule to straightening up.
- End each day by writing a list of “to do” items
for the following day.
- Ask friends and family to help
on the small things that do not require your intellectual participation.
I know that you had not formatted the document
earlier on so what does tidying up the last 2 sections mean? Can it
go as is? Are you talking about citations, grammar, or formatting? Remember
it doesn't have to be perfect it just has to get DONE. Please keep that
in mind as you tidy up....you will have plenty of time to sleep once
it’s DONE.
Note: This student now has his defense scheduled for September 15, 2005!!!!
Well done.
 Our Mistake Is Your Gain...
January 1, 2005 starts on a Saturday
and the TADA!™ Calendar says it starts on a
Friday. One of
our astute customers brought this to our attention. Oops,
we messed up, but our mistake is your gain. Because of
this only glitch, we have reduced our price drastically. In
the coming weeks, we will produce new updated CDs, but in the
meantime, we must liquidate our inventory, and we are selling
the TADA!™ CD for
only $29.95. I guess it pays to sign up for something.
 You
are probably getting this newsletter because you either attended
one of my thesis and dissertation workshops, you downloaded the
executive summary of the Six Major Reasons Graduate Students
Don’t Finish from our website, or you filled out the TADA!™ Commitment
Form. Nonetheless, you are one of the first people who will
reap the benefits. Everything else on the TADA!™ CD works.
We have received loads of positive feedback regarding the valuable
information available on the CD.
I hope that you will also take advantage
of this opportunity to get TADA!™ at the low price of $29.95
before the supply runs out. Once this batch is gone the price
goes back to $89.95.
Order your copy of the TADA!™ CD
today by going online or calling
1-866-GET- TADA.
Please pass this issue on to friends
and associates—just keep the entire message intact.
Sincerely,
Wendy Y. Carter, Ph.D.
email:
drcarter@tadafinallyfinished.com
www.tadafinallyfinished.com
About the Author: As a single mother, professor
Wendy Y. Carter, Ph.D., completed three masters' degrees
and a PhD. Her motto is a Good Thesis/Dissertation is a Done
Thesis/Dissertation. She is the creator of a new innovative interactive
resource tool on CD--TADA! Thesis and Accomplished. To learn
more and sign up for her FREE tips and teleclasses, contact us at
info@tadafinallyfinished.com.
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Volume
1, Issue 9 
