Hello! Today I’m posting a bit about my experience
struggling to find time for my dissertation work. I hope to inspire you to
think of new ideas to find time for your work, without taking too much of your time.
The question asked was, “What is trickiest part of
juggling your responsibilities? What do you struggle with most?” I offered several
response choices, with an additional write-in option. Of 15 votes, “Finding the
time needed” received 5; “Family needs/interruptions” received 4; and “Feeling
burnt out/lack of motivation” received 3. “Working too many hours,” “Organizing
my time,” and “Getting support needed” each received 1 vote. No one wrote in an
additional option.
Obviously, this is not a scientific survey, but I
felt moved to address the number one answer, “Finding the time needed” personally,
as I have seriously struggled in finding time to write my dissertation, mostly
due to financial and family obligations. I’ve known a few colleagues who have even
decided to stop pursuing their dissertations for various reasons, a brutal
decision to make. (I haven’t known any thesis writers who have stopped, but I’ll
bet some have had to move on.)
And stopping is a viable option, one I’ve considered.
But something kept nagging me to continue, even
after being in the PhD program for many years. I have always wanted to write about my ideas, but making
it happen is another thing.
Here’s a brief rundown of what has worked for me. Though
I still have much work to do, I have finally drafted two chapters.
First, I bet you’ve heard plenty of advice on “time
management.” You may have heard that you should write for an hour every day, or
even a half-hour per day.
I tried that method and hated it. I wanted, felt I needed,
at least four hours per session, so I could delve into material, keep my focus,
and re-read or research as ideas popped up.
Fat chance on finding that kind of time.
But one day I had two hours free. I told myself I just had to get something done. I
wasn’t crazy about having only two hours, but I worked, and … it worked. I got
something done. I started utilizing any two-hour slots that came up because of
this success.
I was still trying to find longer periods of time
for “real” work, however.
However after a while, I discovered I liked the two-hour
time frame. I could get a chunk of material done, then I was ready for a break.
I guess I got used to it, and perhaps if I try again I might get used to working
in one-hour increments, but I’m still skeptical!
This summer, I even wound up with a couple weeks in
a row to schedule my writing sessions on a regular basis, and I made progress. The
ability to work steadily helped, but the habit was what ultimately paid off
since that period was my only chance to schedule such daily time for my
dissertation—it was the only time I had vacation from all of my jobs at
once without any family commitments! But it didn’t matter because after getting
used to the two-hour increments, I was better able to pop into my work whenever
I could work.
Of course, another good suggestion you may have
heard is to schedule time for writing,
as if it were a job; Carolyn Law says this is “paying” yourself to do your
work. Advisors also suggest that you go somewhere unique to work; essentially, find
a place of employment for your project.
And for me, it did help to go somewhere. I started with
The Thesis and Dissertation Office at NIU, outside of my weekly hours. I was
lucky to have that space available, but I soon moved my dissertation “job” to
my local library because of travel times and gas costs.
I then found that my local library was hit or miss;
I could get a lot done, or not much, depending on the day.
Did you know that people bring whining, crying kids
to the library? Lol.
I did bring earbuds and started playing white
noise—better yet, cafénoise—in the background: one problem solved! But soon I
realized that people are quite disruptive in the library; they cough, talk,
argue—even sing and laugh out loud, all while using a nearby computer.
So I rearranged my home office to include a designated
space for home work and a space for dissertation work. My desk is split apart
now, but the arrangement helps separate my tasks.
Finally, I was able to schedule some of my teaching
(adjunct) employment hours differently than usual, teaching 12- or 8-week courses
instead of 16. For me, no matter how long a course is, the work involved is all-consuming.
So instead of trying to find dissertation hours around my teaching schedule, I
decided to rearrange my teaching hours to fit around a block of dissertation
time. The extra time "off" really helps; I plan to continue being more selective
about the course assignments I take. Perhaps you can adjust your employment in
creative ways too, no matter where you work.
The main point I’d like to leave you with is to keep
trying different approaches—different time increments, various work locations,
and creative schedules—until something frees up the time you need.
I believe we
are all busy and must make our own way towards finding time.
