Finish Your Dissertation, Darling!: Successful Strategies for Overcoming Procrastination, Isolation, Writing Blocks, Wish for Perfection, Unresponsive Professors, Troublesome Relatives & Research Gone Awry

References

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank all the dissertation students who shared their academic and personal experiences with me, first in my capacity as a graduate advisor and later as a clinical psychologist. Although sophisticated scholars in their fields, they were unassuming and open in discussing their research and writing processes. I am so grateful for their trust. Their stories, if used, have been completely transformed to protect their identities.

My mantra for accomplishment is support, support, support. Not surprisingly, I have benefited considerably by following this course. Fellow writers have given me excellent advice and suggestions. I offer special thanks to Marshall Cook, Bett Williams, Jacqueline Rhodes, Ray Mungo, Kathy Talley-Jones, and Bronwyn Mauldin.

Aurora Wolfgang is my muse extraordinaire, utterly tenacious, who believed in this work and encouraged its completion.

Introduction

Of Course You Can Write a Dissertation!

If you’ve been advanced to candidacy, you’ve got what it takes to write a dissertation. You’ve proven your scholastic muscle in twenty plus years of education. Many of you will have taught classes, done research, or worked professionally outside the university. You are smart and achieving.

So what’s the glitch you experience when working on the dissertation? The discovery and writing process in this phase is so different from your formal university education that it opens you up to all manner of discomfort. You may feel confused, anxious, and at a loss. You get no authoritative answers. Up pops anxiety, procrastination, depression, and a host of other negative feelings that make you ready to walk away from the experience.

The change in the learning environment is radical. The university withdrew all its facilitative structure once you advanced to candidacy . . . no more classes, no assignments, no deadlines, and no instruction from helpful professors. This is a major shift in your learning experience. You received no warnings or focused preparation for the stark transformation. This radical departure from the known leaves many men and women stunned as they begin to work. Almost everything you relied on has changed or vanished, yet you have all the responsibility to create a significant work for your discipline.

The upheaval, both academic and personal, is unexpected. It takes time to reorient oneself to a challenging task. Unfortunately, many students, caught unaware, become overwhelmed, believing they are not sufficiently capable of completing the project. The environment has changed; you have not. You remain that educated, resourceful person that can create an acceptable piece of research.

No doubt there are challenges in every aspect of this venture. You can succeed in this new scholarly format. With support, you will not become overwhelmed, causing you to abandon the task. I am providing recommendations and tactics, validated by substantial research, to help you finish. Some of these approaches will help you feel good. They’ll even enhance your sociability. You will learn what the most successful finishers do in working on their dissertations. This book describes tactics well within your comfort zone for each facet of this research process. I want to emphasize that suffering is not part of the program.

Unfortunately, fifty percent of dissertation writers do not graduate. Twenty-five percent of those who finish take ten years to submit their work. The men and women who leave without a doctorate are smart, accomplished, and probably have never failed at anything in their lives before this. This must not be your fate.

Forget about quitting. Try these tested methods for completing your study. You can do it!

How do I know these recommendations work? I learned a great deal by working as Head of Student Services at a very large UCLA graduate school for a decade. Later, as a clinical psychologist, my specialty was helping doctoral students through the dissertation phase to completion and graduation.

For those interested in the dissertation struggle, higher education, funding, and attempted remediation programs, consult the Backstory at the end of the book. Learn how helpful strategies were discovered.

What You Will Learn

Who are the fast finishers? What distinguishes them from others?

Not only will you discover what personality characteristics and behaviors create fast finishers or slow finishers, but you will also be able to assess the way you function. If you do not have a fast-completion profile, do not worry. You can create an action plan within your comfort zone that will speed up your progress.

Managing this rite of passage

The dissertation experience is interpreted as a rite of passage. It’s not just writing another paper for class; it’s creating new information, concepts, or perspectives. You will be challenged to transform yourself into an expert. This book will help you identify the many demands that occur while writing a dissertation and offer you a variety of ways to approach them.

Seduced into remaining a student for a bit longer

Surprisingly, there is a seductive aspect of schooling. You may experience it as a warm, welcoming place, like family. That may keep you from graduating. Read about students who were unable to graduate for psychological reasons. Learn what the issues are and what you should do, if you find yourself identifying with this population.

Getting emotional

Once you begin working on the dissertation, you probably will realize that intellect is just one part of the process. You’ve got to create a new working model for yourself. In this overhaul, many writers feel exhilarated, but at times they become overwhelmed by depression, anxiety, panic, and even somatic distress. What triggers these reactions and how can you best deal with them?

Sex, race, and class: Do they matter?

You have earned your place in the graduate program because you are smart and achieving. However, if you are female, belong to a racial or sexual minority group, or come from a working-class family, there may be additional issues confronting you. Wish it were not so, but it’s good to be aware of these factors and know that you can take action to help yourself.

What happens to the relationships you counted on?

How helpful or undermining are your relationships, including spouses and family members, as you undergo this strenuous transition? Perhaps you believe that you are the only one to experience relationship stress. You aren’t. You are changing. So are your priorities. Those around you may have strong reactions to what they see occurring in you and in their relationships with you. They may not want to lose the you they know.

So along with the benefits of connection, occasionally come envy and control issues. You are growing professionally and moving away. People who know you, who count on you, may feel threatened by these changes.

The faculty

Your faculty relationships, advisors, and mentors play an important role. Check out the list of considerations as you search for the best dissertation chair. Once you have secured that person, learn how to work within that relationship to move the project along.

Selecting your dissertation topic

The subject of your research is critical. It must intrigue you, fulfill your needs, and provide emotional fuel to put in all those months of work. But take care. If your topic touches an unresolved issue in your life, you may get caught up in a concern that adds to your confusion, bringing your work to a halt.

Writing—how to keep it flowing

Then comes writing, the quintessential hurdle. Anxiety about your competence, need to please an authority, fear of being wrong, perfectionism, and self-destructive criticism—the list of reasons for writer’s block goes on interminably, and you may have unique reasons of your own. You will find lots of suggestions to counter each of these writing challenges.

Support, support, support

Support is a fabulous remedy for what ails during the dissertation experience. Do not overlook it. Support provides structure, emotional supplies, second opinions, encouragement, and a strong push when you need it. Support appears in all forms—from friends, family, counselors, writing dates, university writing centers, weekly brunches with fellow students, to formal support groups. This chapter will be essential for you. There are suggestions that appeal to every level of interpersonal comfort. Many of the solutions will feel good to you. Hair shirts and flagellation are not included.

On the verge of finishing your dissertation

Without the familiar structure and support of campus life, your discovery and writing process may slow considerably. This chapter gives you encouragement by suggesting strategies to keep you moving to completion when you encounter obstacles. It spells out actions to take when you are feeling overwhelmed. This phase is most critical for your success. It is the proving ground.

How to get the most benefit from the book

Share your dissertation experiences with supportive others. The interactions will strengthen your resolve to move on. In all probability, you’ll be discovering something new about yourself. By sharing your awareness of this process, you’ll gain more clarity on what is happening and what to do next. When you’re alone, it’s more likely that your defenses will kick in. You may deny the problem or feel so overwhelmed that you are unable to focus on a solution.

This rite of passage will test your strengths. The way forward is laden with struggles. And we are good resisters at acknowledging reality. We put on blinders that keep us from seeing something unexpected or vulnerable about our work and ourselves. That’s human nature.

Let’s start at the very beginning of this adventure. As you begin working on your dissertation, you will be transforming yourself from student in the classroom to independent scholar.

Chapter I

Why Is an Intellectual Task So Emotional?

Rae Ellen was a tough cookie, fearless in expressing her opinions. She took great delight in regaling the members of her support group with tales of confronting professors. Some viewed her as a character—entertaining, but a little intimidating. With her considerable talent and drive, she won a research fellowship in the university hospital. As one of seven interns making the rounds in the wards, Rae Ellen, the only non-physician, correctly diagnosed an acoustic neuroma. She rejoiced by heralding her accomplishment to one and all.

Rae Ellen was determined to finish her dissertation quickly. At each meeting of the support group, she gave amazing progress reports of what she had accomplished that week. Yet as the time came to set the date presenting her dissertation findings to the faculty committee, she grew hesitant.

Rae Ellen, what’s going on? This is the third tentative date.

I don’t know. Doesn’t feel right yet. I can’t explain more.

Here’s a sheet of butcher block paper and a pack of crayons. Draw the orals.

Sometimes what we cannot reveal in words, we can demonstrate in ways that are not subject to inhibition. She drew herself as a little girl with red curls and a big pink bow in her hair. Across the table from her were five men holding taut bows and arrows aimed at her heart. Oh the stuff that lurks beneath submitted to the faculty.

The dissertation is a rite of passage

Why is a smart student like Rae Ellen frightened? Perhaps she’s entering a new phase. She’s no longer the defiantly bold child operating in an accepting family. She’s transforming herself from student to professional by writing a dissertation. I imagine she was, like most students, excited and relieved to arrive at the last phase of the program. What she did not realize is how unsettling, even disorienting, it can be to be tossed out of the academic family, forced to make it on her own.

Anthropologists take note of this phenomenon in studying cultures. When youth wish to be accepted as part of the ruling class, the leaders put them to the test. First the underlings are cast out of the community, creating in them a sense of isolation and an awareness of the potentially destructive power of the elders. In spite of uncertainty and danger, these wannabes undertake their solo missions. If they return from this ritual death with task complete, they submit themselves to the elite, who’ll consider them for full-fledged membership.

That’s what is going on here. Writing a dissertation is a gatekeeper task, designed by the university to eliminate the weakest scholars. This ritual prepares you for a substantial shift in your status; you assume new responsibilities and your behaviors will change. In all probability, you’ve been through some rites before. You may have come of age in your religious community through Holy Communion or Bar Mitzvah. Basic training in the military transforms you from a civilian into a soldier. Marriage and divorce change your life, no questions asked. The successful completion of the dissertation experience transforms you from student to professional.

When you enter this phase, you may not be fully aware of how your life will change. Your reliance on the faculty will be cut short. Everything you took for granted at the university—predictability, instruction, equipment, colleagues, and deadlines—is gone. Now it’s just you, planning and executing everything from the subject to the design, financing, organizing, and writing. Some of you will be making decisions in the field where you collect your data: you will be the final authority. What you come to realize is that the dissertation task is not just an intellectual exercise; it’s a strenuous personal challenge.

If you’ve entered the dissertation phase, you’re already in transition. The personal traits that made you a successful graduate student, and no doubt you were wonderful in that role, may not translate readily into independent project manager. This segment of your program requires a different job description. And it may take you some time to shift gears, depending on your task and how you function. Everyone’s journey into intellectual independence is different. There is no single road map for completion. Be assured that others undergoing this passage have succeeded.

Tales of those who have endured this ritual abound. Galahad is given orders by the Knights of the Round Table to retrieve the Holy Grail. Only by setting out alone on his journey could he secure a place at the Table. Moses is assigned by his Boss to change his Egyptian/Hebrew flock from a servile people into a cohesive community. A forty-year trek in the desert does it. And what about George, founding father of our country, plucked from his farm to lead a raggle-taggle army against the British military machine? Washington struggled to become a military leader before asserting his political power to wind up as our first president.

Growing into the new you

As a seeker, you will probably endure a critical testing phase. It’s not a straight-ahead process. To become successful in your transition, you need to regress, let go of your ordinary ways of dealing with the world. You must create a new self to meet the demands. The French have a saying: Reculer pour mieux sauter. Run back to get a better jump. Regress, fall apart, and reorganize yourself.

It sounds esoteric. The reality is that you are no longer the person with regularly scheduled classes, enjoying coffee on the plaza with your friends, and working on clearly defined assignments. The external structure of your life has changed, along with your goals. What worked so well for you before as a learner in a structured program no longer exists. It’s up to you to reorganize your life. Not only will you find challenges in your intellectual work, but also I’d lay odds that your entire life gets an overhaul. You’re going places you probably haven’t been before.

What do you anticipate for yourself when you have finished the dissertation? Try this exercise before going further. It’s a tiny projective test, perhaps revealing your unexpressed wishes about the success of your mission.

Do this revealing exercise before continuing to read.

Grab a pen and a blank sheet of paper. Fold it lengthwise in half. On the left, draw yourself as you are now as a student. On the right, draw yourself as one who has graduated with a doctorate. Notice any changes?

No kidding . . . Do the exercise before continuing.

Men and women who performed this mini-test are surprised by the results. Diane drew herself as a wanderer, a person walking along an endless road with a briefcase in hand. When finished with her dissertation, she luxuriates in a place of her own.

Barry, while in a student phase, saw himself in a hunkered-down position at his desk, but after finishing his dissertation, he stands tall, addressing an audience.

Before finishing her task, Graciella sits in a spare office, with only a desk and chair. But with graduation, she furnishes the place wall to wall with trendy furniture, along with an eye-popping chandelier.

And Sophie works behind a desk overflowing with papers and books, but winds up after graduation standing on a pedestal with torch in hand, à la statue of liberty.

These students affirmed their wishes for a better life when the dissertation was completed. They felt more powerful, more influential, and had a stronger sense of themselves.

After you have drawn your before-and-after picture, hang it up. Watch the transformation happen.

Writing a dissertation is the ultimate challenge.

Surprisingly, the risks create emotional responses, not intellectual plans. You may be feeling out of sorts at the