Today’s blog is dedicated towards writing a dissertation in a timely manner, which is a common obstacle for most of the doctoral students. There is a way in which you can protect your time and how to do that in a way that is most productive?

Nobody cares whether you finish your dissertation on time or no. But it surely matters to you. Time is one of the greatest challenges for doctoral students, as there is never enough of time because almost all things you have to do in your PhD are competing for your commitment. How do you ensure that you finish your dissertation in a timely manner? All suggestions are easier said than done.

The most important thing that you got to do is to put your dissertation first. A lot of people will be expecting many things from you. Timely completion of your dissertation is your goal and not theirs, so you must know how to say no to others when it is dedicated time for your dissertation work. It is tough to find out that “dedicated” time for writing your thesis when other expectations revolve around lab time, teaching, meetings, job hunting and so on.

 The best way to do it is to schedule the agenda for the week and your working hours which also includes your dissertation time. On an average requirement for calculation of daily time required, twenty hours a week or four hours a day on a consistent basis should help you to meet the deadline. Further meticulous planning and strategy would be to block off all the mornings, lets say 8:00 am to 12:00 pm each day being complete dissertation time. It should be time when you are away from your mail, phone and are all ready to go with the work. If you are able to maintain this routine, you are going to see some incredibly productive results as when you get into the habit, you aren’t waiting for inspiration and at the designated time everyday, you are just ready to write and ideas will start to flow in at that time, in a few days.

The important thing to remember here is, to not give in to pressure and temptations for meetings, fun time or anything else that comes up during your dissertation hours. Eventually people will understand and know that you are serious about the time that you devote to your dissertation and you are going to stick up to the schedule over and above everything else.

Protect your time well and you would be able to finish your dissertation. That should be your first goal as a doctoral student and nothing should come in the way to derail its timely completion  and progress. Always remember that!!