Guilt and the dissertation

"I feel so guilty if I am not writing every day.” This is a common experience for students, but is it a valid concern? Personally, I would like you to expand “working on your dissertation” beyond simply writing. The dissertation requires many tasks- including literature searching, reading, filing, organization, and simply thinking about the study. All of these tasks are important and all take time to do. I suggest that you try something for the next week – lay out what you really need to do on your dissertation- what tasks are needed? Be explicit. Your list might look something like this: 

            Check literature on gender and self-efficacy in the library, print articles

            Read at least 5 articles and notate them

            Write and edit 3 pages on gender and self-efficacy

            Update references on the pages written

            File the articles

            Update research journal 

Now lay out what you will try to accomplish each day. Perhaps your week will look like this: 

Monday - Check literature on gender and self-efficacy in the library, print articles. Update research journal

Tuesday – Read and notate 2 articles, write about the key points for each article. Add references. Update research journal

Wednesday - Read and notate 2 articles, write about the key points for each article. Add references. Update research journal

Thurs. - Read and notate article, write about the key points, add references. Update research journal

Friday – Read through writing for week, edit and clarify writing. File articles for the week 

When you have completed your tasks for a day, stop feeling guilty! If you have a lot of work/ family/ personal issue this week, take those into account and adjust your work plan accordingly.  

Next time I will discuss doing a mid-quarter evaluation of your goals. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu