{"id":48681,"date":"2019-07-16T14:09:07","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T21:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=48681"},"modified":"2019-07-16T14:09:07","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T21:09:07","slug":"a-5-step-program-for-finishing-your-phd-finally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-5-step-program-for-finishing-your-phd-finally\/","title":{"rendered":"A 5 step program for finishing your PhD (finally!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Have you, or have you considered anything along the lines of *actually finishing* writing? I can produce writing like nobody\u2019s business, and get well on my way into a paper. Finishing, however, is agony. I think this is in part because I\u2019m a lateral thinker and a perfectionist. I\u2019m sure you are familiar with these traits! It is also, however (as I\u2019ve recently discovered) a particular challenge for folks with ADHD. Discovering as an adult that I had ADHD has been a real light on a lot of my patterns and tendencies, so when I feel ready (i.e. more research) I would be happy to contribute a couple of blogs on the topic if you are interested and think it would be helpful to others.<\/i><\/p>\n

Now, I can\u2019t talk about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder specifically because I am not an expert, but I do know a thing or two about finishing a piece of writing. The \u2018Thesis Bootcamp<\/a>\u2019 program I run at ANU helps PhD students who have run out of time to complete their dissertation. The program is insanely popular, but it\u2019s expensive to run. We can only take 26 people from up to 100 applicants, so we must choose people who are most at risk of dropping out. We look for people who have done most of the thinking and just need to write. Our selection strategy means most of our Bootcampers have faced significant challenges along the way, such as failed experiments, ill-health and conflict with advisors. Despite these issues, most of these people just need to sit down and, well \u2013 write. Sadly they can\u2019t seem to do this on their own because they feel \u2018stuck\u2019. It\u2019s almost like they have late stage dissertation constipation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At thesis Bootcamp, we use a range of strategies to help people move on from this \u2018stuck\u2019 feeling. We are proud that everyone who spends a weekend with us writes at least 5000 words, and many write more. At least a couple of people hit our \u2018stretch goal\u2019 of 20,000 words. After watching over 400 people go through this program, I\u2019ve got a good idea of what it takes to finish a dissertation. Below is my patented, trialled and tested 5 step program for drawing a line under your PhD studies and calling it done.<\/p>\n

Step one: identify what is holding you back<\/b><\/p>\n

In my experience, there is a range of factors at play in people feeling unable to finish, but most people are held back by fear. Some people are in a comfortable rut and fear what comes next after their PhD \u2013 especially if the job market for their skill set is unclear. Other people are perfectionists \u2013 functional or otherwise- who fear the dissertation they are crafting will not pass. Others fear confrontation with their supervisor over the content of the dissertation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unpacking the feelings with a professional therapist is the best way I know to put these fears to rest, which is why we hire at least one for the Bootcamp weekend (sometimes we have two!). Having a therapist on hand while confronting the fear of finishing is amazingly powerful. Some people who have resisted therapy in the past are finally free to share their concerns with an expert who can help them lay those fears to rest. Later these therapy resisters tell me that confronting their fear of writing helped them with other issues too. Some have saved their marriage, others have got divorced, some change careers or cities \u2013 some even decide to drop out of their PhD. The program is meant to stop the dropouts of course, but I figure that helping a person move on with their life without the PhD is sometimes the best outcome.<\/p>\n

Step two: commit to it<\/b><\/p>\n

Some people have a habit of restarting their writing (or even their whole project) over and over again. The reason for restarting all the time seems rational until you dig a bit deeper and see a pattern that stretches right back to the beginning of candidature. Restarting over and over is a symptom of perfectionism: if you feel like your writing is misshapen and ugly, working with the text long enough to finish provokes a range of unpleasant feelings. One way to avoid the feelings is by starting again with a \u2018clean slate\u2019. Other people have trouble committing to a structure for the dissertation. These people can be functional perfectionists, who are willing to accept their \u2018bad writing\u2019 but get obsessed with finding the perfect structure for the whole work. You will never find the perfect structure because it\u2019s an illusion. A dissertation is a story of the research done, that\u2019s all. You could tell at least10 different stories; some will be better or worse, but in the end, it doesn\u2019t really matter because the PhD endeavour is a pass\/fail proposition. Perfect is the enemy of done.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Just find a structure and stick with it long enough to get the whole thing written.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another good avoidance strategy is to funnel creative energy into side projects. Instead of finishing the (now slightly boring) big project, I encounter people who are getting stuck into journal papers, articles, blogs, podcasts \u2013 you name it! There is always another creative distraction if you look for i. It\u2019s easier, in the moment, to go for immediate gratification ahead of long term benefits.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to shame anyone for these behaviours \u2013 I\u2019ve done many of them myself. There\u2019s no need to beat yourself up. In fact, the shame spiral just makes things worse. If you really want to finish, learning to focus is crucial. In the first instance, just notice and be aware of your behaviour. Noticing helps you develop strategies to counter the unhelpful patterns. When you feel like starting over again because you hate what you have written, put it away for a day or two and then come back. I guarantee the writing isn\u2019t as bad as you thought it was when you come back to it. Self-talk helps too. When the feelings that everything you write is shit well up, say out loud: \u2018ok, it isn\u2019t perfect, but it will have to do for now\u2019, or \u2018I\u2019ll come back to this later, let\u2019s move on\u2019. Self-talk can help you suspend judgment and just keep writing \u2013 which is most of the trick to finishing after all.<\/p>\n

Step Three: Write the conclusion before you finish\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

In my\u00a0What do examiners really want?\u00a0<\/i>workshop, I advise people who are to write a draft of the conclusion to their dissertation at around the six-month mark. The suggestion always gets funny looks, but there\u2019s method in my madness. Writing the conclusion sometimes helps you think through your methods: what experiments or data gathering would you need to do to prove anything you said? Writing a draft of your conclusion also forces you to surface assumptions and biases so that you can be aware of them as you process your data. People ask whether writing the conclusion early is \u2018cheating\u2019. Of course, it would be if you just constructed the whole project to \u2018prove\u2019 what you thought in the first place \u2013 that isn\u2019t research. My view is, writing the conclusion early is acceptable as long as you:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. consciously write the conclusion draft as a thought exercise only and\/or\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. use the draft as part of the development of your project and method, and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. take the opportunity to examine and critique your own biases.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Writing the conclusion can work when you are close to the end as well. When you\u2019ve finished most of the other writing, doing the conclusion can usefully narrow the scope of what remains to be written. The conclusion fixes your endpoint and forces you to commit to finishing \u2013 sort of like aiming an arrow at a target. Give it a try and see.<\/p>\n

    Step Four: list it out<\/b><\/p>\n

    When you have written the conclusion, start a list about what you want to achieve in the piece of writing and tick it off as you go. Making a list forces you to articulate a pathway to the end and define what \u2018finished\u2019 means. For example, at the moment I am working on a journal article about what non-academic employers want, using job ads as data. Here\u2019s my list of provisional goals for the paper:<\/p>\n