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[enviroabd]

good luck epistephiliac!

(note to self: avoid Iomega drives) I have two flash drives that I use for backup. Now that you can get 2GB drives, it's pretty easy. My SO e-mails files to huself at a hotmail account (bonus: it's free).  Harder to do if you are in a science field, however. 

Comps are a challenge, so good luck. But I'm sure that anyone smart enough to find these threads for support doesn't need luck. ;) 

[camera]

I am currently writing all of my chapters. Unfortunately, I am not very systematic and find it impossible to work on one chapter at a time -- so I write bits of chapter 1, 2, 3, etc.  (I'm in the humanities, btw).  I am also researching simultaneously. I know most people research and then write; but I get so bored with one thing that I constantly have to shift around. Also, I think it is safe to say that I have one of the worst cases of procrastination than almost anyone I will ever encounter.  Trying to finish (I expect to defend in April 2008) is consistently impeded by my overwhelming urges to watch 9 hours of tv in a row. 

Some of my questions for posters: how do you deal with major problems of procrastination?
Also, how do you manage to be productive while also working (if you work, say, 20 hours + a week)?

[merce]

I am currently writing all of my chapters. Unfortunately, I am not very systematic and find it impossible to work on one chapter at a time -- so I write bits of chapter 1, 2, 3, etc.  (I'm in the humanities, btw).  I am also researching simultaneously. I know most people research and then write; but I get so bored with one thing that I constantly have to shift around.

Noooooooooo!

You are ME! don't do it.

Please, do a chapter. Pick one and do it!
I can't stress enough how miserable I am because I did exactly what you are doing-- am still doing it!

Sweetheart,
I got bored, moved from one chapter to the next, followed all those stupid how-to books on dissertating. And made a mess!  I accepted a position ABD on the assumption I'd defend before the job started. I didn't. THe chapters are all a mess! They are now STILL a mess! and I am to be fired if I don't defend by May. I have chunks of stuff for each chapter but no real coherence to a single one, yet. And this because I get bored and constantly think one chapter might be easier to polish up quickly than another, i get started then think another one might be easier or better...

I cannot express the complete misery and doom I experience now as I am about to lose a TT position in a great place because I didn't just sit down and do a chapter. I also did a lot of articles and conference papers that at times added to the "chunks" for chapters but mostly were completely irrelevant to the diss. Don't do this either.


Just turn one of those scatterbrained chapters into a chapter to give you a sense of how long it takes to do that and what it entails. You really need to know what you are looking at time and work wise!
I am also in a place with No real library resources available to me. Inter-library loan is not to be trusted as I imagined it could be.
God I'm miserable!
Please learn from my mistake(s)!

[enviroabd]

Camera, if you have a look around, you'll see there are quite a few of us dissertating and working. I have an office job (typical 40-hour work week) plus a commute, so it's a challenge. You have to be pretty efficient and dedicated. Spend at least some time every day working on your thesis. I've found that I can add some thesis time to my day by reading articles on the bus to work.

merce - stick to it, and keep your job.  Obviously, we don't know a lot of details, but that's never stopped advice-giving before!  Take a long weekend a few times and go somewhere with library resources. It's worth it to keep a TT job (so speaks someone without one). I'm sure your department doesn't want to have to go through another search, so they might be forgiving about you being away.

For both: Read the book "Writing your dissertation in 15 minutes a day" which is great (but you can't actually do the whole thing in 15 minutes a day, much to my disappointment). Get some help - hire an editor, buy coffee for a friend, get your advisors to steer you straight again. Find a fellow grad student you can exchange chapters with. But find a way to pull the ideas out of the "mess".  if you are at the point of writing, you are so close to the end...

Good luck! 

[larryc]

Do you guys mind if I barge into this thread every now and then and shout "What is all this? Knock off the chatting and get to work! May I remind you that your funding is running out?!"

Remember, talking about your dissertation is not writing your dissertation.  Researching your dissertation is not writing your dissertation.  Revising the parts you have written is not writing your dissertation.  Sitting down each day and typing no less that 2-4 pages of original prose that fits into your outline is writing your dissertation.

As you all know perfectly well without me belaboring the obvious.  Good luck all, you can do it.

[illuminata]

Wow, larryc is really into the punishment these days. Has hu been elected the Enforcer of the Foraborg?? : )

I have written some pages today, maybe 3?? They hurt. Alot.

Damian's due date is April 15, for obvious reasons. I am as cranky, puffy, and miserable as any woman pregnant with a human baby, except this one is made of paper and ink and is named for a demon. I have a tremendous fear of going over my due date and having to have some painful, messy, and expensive exorcism. Therefore, I at least stare at what remains to gestate daily.

Back to open another vein and bleed another page or two...

[enviroabd]

Great work illuminata!  Today I've written a bit over a page, and laid out the structure for a new chapter. It's good to talk about it, though, because support helps!

I would disagree with larryc about how revising isn't writing your dissertation. I've learned (in large part from advisor comments on drafts of previous chapters) that revising is very important to having a well-written dissertation. Okay, so it's hard to revise what you haven't written, but it's a very key part of the overall process. But hey, any encouragement to get to work is good, too.

Besides, I have no funding left to run out (only had two years, I'm not time extended).

[belleoftheball]

Do you guys mind if I barge into this thread every now and then and shout "What is all this? Knock off the chatting and get to work! May I remind you that your funding is running out?!"

Dad, is that you???

Merce, I would never suggest doing a crappy job at teaching, but I would highly recommend cutting as many corners as possible without sacrificing students' learning. I made the mistake of agreeing to teach a class this semester, thinking I would be finished with my dissertation. But I didn't finish the dissertation. And I work full-time on top of it. Suffice it to say, corners must be cut!

I decided that I was making my class workload this semester as slimmed-down as possible. Normally my classes involve many writing assignments, essay exams, and I spend a signficant amount of time working with students on these assignments. I severely cut back on the number of writing assignments, I give (gasp) multiple choice exams, and I've incorporated as much peer feedback as possible to reduce the amount of feedback that I have to give. And I'm not going to beat myself up for not focusing as much on teaching for this one semester as I normally do.

Good luck.

Now, back to dissertating!

[grad_geek]

Back to open another vein and bleed another page or two...

I would love to open a vein and bleed a page, but right now it feels more like pricking a finger and sqeezing out one drop at a time.

I have the thesis (MA) written, though, and I'm working on what will probably be the second to last round of revisions, turning crappy writing into acceptable writing.  I'm sure it will be subject to one more round from my adviser's red pen, but it is starting to feel like I might be close.

On one hand it's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  On the other hand, the thrill of discovery is behind me and now it's down to the slow grunt work of getting wording and formatting just right.

Ok, close the web browser and back to work.  Drip, drop, drip, drop...

[illuminata]

I am opening veins now because my fingers are numb and bloodless from typing.
My master's program was clinical, so no thesis. The Big D (10 years after MS) is my First Big Paper.
gurgle
Hope arteries aren't next...

[tamiam]

I've created some urgency for my proposal by setting an appointment to discuss it with a faculty member at the end of the week. Now I HAVE TO get it done.

[illuminata]

I find that to be a great strategy, Tamiam. It helps if Master is a Fearsome Creature. My Master looks a lot like my mother, so I can easily imagine her grounding me if I don't have my stuff on time. Pretty useful, really.

[enviroabd]

Warning: venting ahead.  And talk about Fearsome Creatures...

So I just got a review of my latest chapter from my thesis advisors. The first thought it was informative and the writing was okay, but the second... woo (similar reaction the last time).  Apparently he's concerned about the adequacy of my research methods, my writing, and the conclusions that I'm not supporting.
Some help earlier when I was sending things to them and asking questions would have been nice.
Apparently my chapters have come in over an entire year, so it's hard to remember what I've said before(actually, I sent the first three chapters for review in November). Things jump around and the purpose is unclear. At least he said good luck on my revisions. Now I'm supposed to draw up a flow diagram outlining my research methodology and methods. I'm feeling very frustrated right now.
I wish the two of them could at least agree on the things that I need to do for them.

I'm going to go throw something now.

Thank you for letting me vent in a neutral environment.

[belleoftheball]

Ack! I'm with you. I have a draft due, um, today, and I'm too busy crying and stressing over all the revisions that I just don't know how to address in order to actually get anything done. Like you, I'm just now finding out that somethings are not done properly, despite the fact that they haven't changed in the last year (e.g., if there is a problem with my basic hypotheses, why didn't you tell me the first 50 times you read it???).

Grrrr...

[illuminata]

One of my favorite methods for dealing with Fearsome Editor Creatures is to thank them for their ideas. I then go change a few sentences early on, and give it back to them. They almost never realise I made almost no changes. Of course, it is crucial not to leave an earlier draft with them.