Mindset and Brain Habits
Karen Shue
What is The Work of the Dissertation?
Does that seem like a stupid question? It’s obvious that the “real” work of the dissertation is to write an extended academic paper that contributes to the literature in your field, right? I’m not so sure of that. I suspect that, although this is certainly an intended primary outcome of the process, there is much more Work embedded in the process — especially for those for whom the dissertation process is a bit…well, painful. My view of the dissertation (now that it’s a long time over for me and I have the benefit of a wider perspective ;-) is that it’s really a fabulous practice run. A practice run??…

Tips and Tricks

Getting it Written: The Proposal as Recipe

I’m going to start a series of posts on writing your dissertation — my thoughts on each component of the process. They will be short and sweet to save your reading time, to express my thinking about each section, and to give you a chance to ask questions or give comments so I can clarify or expand in the most useful way.

And since research projects generally start with a proposal…let’s go there first. …

The proposal fundamentally needs to be a “recipe” for your research – one detailed enough that the project could be executed by someone else if you weren’t the one to implement it.

But it has several other functions as well. These include to:

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I’ll Never Finish!: 3 Myths that will Block Your Finishing (Or the KISS approach to dissertationing: Keep It Sweet and Simple!)

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I have found some common beliefs underlying what gets my coachees blocked and feeling like they will never get This Thing done. See if any of these feel familiar...

Belief 1. Dissertations need to be complex and brilliant: No, they need to be tidy and clear in addressing a meaningful, but manageable question. This is not your lifetime “magnum opus”, it’s your first large professional research project. That’s it.

I work with a UK distance graduate program as an advisor. The number one barrier for most of these students when they get to the thesis stage is to ...

15 Minutes -- Is There a Core Psychological Unit of Time?

I had to share this with you folks!

I was touring an old mansion and grounds today with my friend when we entered a room with a beautiful old Grandfather's clock in the corner.

The information about the clock shared that it was from about 1740 and that it had been re-furbished sometime in the late 19th century.

Originally, it had only the hour hand - no minute hand at all. You could see the difference in the quality and ornateness of the two hands there now.

In place of having a second hand, there were marks along the inside of the clock face at -- wait for it --

Stuck?: The 45-second Flow Refresher

One of the most common problems in writing a dissertation is..well…writing.

I don’t need to be telling you that, eh?

Sometimes you’re working away, trying to meet that deadline, but just can’t get engaged with the beastie.

Or you run into a block and ++ frustration about how to get past it.

Well, I happened to run into what Havi Brooks, at the Fluent Self, promises is a 45-second solution to getting your Flow re-started.

I’ll share the essence of it, but do go and read her whole article on Solving the “but I just don’t time!” problem at her blog. (Besides, her blog is totally fun and right on target. ;-)

And do share whether this technique worked for you! I’m dying to hear how it works out (it got me doing this post, so maybe….?)