10: The One Thing You Need to Do Right Now to Finish Your Dissertation
My biggest problem in graduate school (and arguably still today) was procrastination. I was typically the kind of student who procrastinated to do every assignment, big or small. I rarely started early on a project or had the benefit of completing my coursework before the due date. So, it came to no surprise that I struggled with procrastination as I worked on my dissertation. Many students hit road blocks at two points in their dissertation process—the dissertation proposaland the dissertation defense. Any doctorate student can fall into a rut trying to meet these goals, regardless of if procrastination is the source of the problem. However, there’s one critical maneuver that can help you move past barriers towards completion: taking a retreat.
What’s a retreat? There are many ways to define retreat, but for this purpose, it’s a period of withdrawal from your ordinary day-to-day activities with the expressed purpose of focusing on the dissertation. Three important steps to ensure you make the most of your retreat are:
- Set clear and achievable goals of tasks you wish to complete
- Prioritize goals according to tasks that will be the most impactful
- Steer clear of distractions (turn off the cell phone)
Where to retreat? Most people imagine a retreat as a fancy spa or secluded getaway, but I think it can be much simpler than that. Ever wonder why it’s so hard to work on your dissertation at home? I’d say it’s because you associate your home with other tasks—leisure, sleeping, and spending time with family. If your mind automatically begins prepping you to engage in those activities as soon as walk through the door, it’s incredibly hard to switch your mindset and work on something quite different. A good solution to this problem is to find a location that is unfamiliar to you, so that you can begin to associate the space with the tasks that need to be accomplished.
For example, find a nice quiet studio or apartment rental on Airbnb for the weekend. Or spend a few writing sessions at a library you’ve never visited. The trick of finding a suitable retreat location is selecting a place you’ve never visited where you can make the necessary mental connections that support the location’s association with specific dissertation tasks only.
Why retreat? There are many reasons while retreating may help you reach your dissertation goals:
- It offers a designated space to complete critical tasks
- It offers an allotted time to complete critical tasks which encourages prioritization and efficiency
- It offers a focused mindset that discourages distractions such as television, social media, sleeping, eating, friends, and family
Remember, a retreat is whatever you make it; however, it’s important to be intentional about your goals and tasks. To start, try it out for a few hours on the weekend at an unfamiliar, quiet location. Good luck!
