Unorthodox Tips

* Keep it simple. A professor once said that the number of variables investigated in a dissertation and the number of years spent to complete a dissertation are positively correlated. The more variables, the more years! And, more variables do not necessarily mean better work.

* Do not entirely free up your schedule to write your dissertation. That's right. Decide how many hours you can realistically (and productively) devote to writing and fill up the rest of the time with other duties you cannot postpone. There is nothing worse, especially for procrastinators, than having a whole day ahead..."just to write." As twisted as it may sound, you need to be busy, to get more things done! That is, a tight, packed schedule may just do it for you.

* You can still watch TV every day. Well, under two conditions: (1) you have done your "writing time" for the day, and (2) while you are actually getting entertained by a televised program, you should work on formatting, for examples, tables of your results section and materials for your appendices, or you should create the reference list and all the nitty-gritty stuff that do not require a lot of critical thinking but are still time-consuming. These items should be done outside the “writing-time slot” allocated for the day.

* Read at least three dissertations completed by students who had the same advisor that you have. It will give you a general, yet quite accurate, sense about what he/she expects from you in terms of style, form, quality, etc. Ultimately, it is your advisor who will give you the green light each step of the way, so you might as well, right from the beginning, work according to specific standards.

* Do not check your email in the morning before you have written for at least 30 minutes.

* Do not reply to any email until you have written the "writing quota" of the day.


                                                               Last Updated on 10/13/19