Tips & Ideas

TIP #9 of 10: YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO. Have you ever seen a movie from 1985 called RUNAWAY TRAIN? Directed by Andrei Konchalovskiy, it was based on a screenplay by Akiro Kurosawa, and it stars Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, and Rebecca DeMornay. They’re trapped on a runaway train speeding across Alaska. Eric Roberts tries to save them, he fails, he says, “It’s too hard, I can’t do it.” Jon Voight grabs him by the collar: “You don’t know what you can do.” That’s what your dissertation is saying to you. It will teach you that you can do more than you ever imagined. When you think you "can’t," contact me at ThesisCoachHotline@gmail.com. I’ll help you hear the sound of your future calling, and I'll give you concrete ways to move forward. 15 minutes, absolutely free.

TIP #8 of 10: EAT A LIVE FROG. “Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” American author Mark Twain said that. Your “live frog” is the thing you don’t wanna do, that hard task that can have the biggest positive impact on your life. My live frog is working out – hate it! – so I do it early, and get it over with. Does your live frog live in your dissertation? Hate to do interviews? Schedule them early! Do you hate data entry? Do it from 7 to 8 every morning, then do what you like. Contact me at thesiscoachhotline@gmail.com and I’ll help you get it going, 15 minutes absolutely free.

TIP #5 of 10: KNOW YOUR WARNING SIGNS. Of all the challenges you face in writing your thesis or dissertation – narrowing your topic, gathering data, performing calculations – the most dangerous may be procrastination. Procrastination is defined as “putting off or delaying something requiring immediate attention.” But you can look at it this way: when you procrastinate, you trade away your future happiness for your present happiness. It’s not worth it!

The really tricky thing about procrastination is that it can masquerade as a change of priorities. Ever noticed how, when you have to work on your dissertation, suddenly you feel motivated to clean your apartment? Or catch up on emails? Or call a friend? Don’t fall for it! Those things will wait until you’ve written a few paragraphs.

So what do you do? Make a deal with yourself. “After I get 200 words written, I can clean my apartment to my heart’s content – while I’m listening to my favorite playlist!” Or text your friend and say, “I need to get another page written tonight – can I meet you at Starbucks AFTER I get that done??” I’ll bet your friend will say yes, because they want you to succeed, too!

And contact THESIS COACH HOTLINE at ThesisCoachHotline@gmail.com for a FREE 15-minute consultation.

TIP #4 of 10: YOUR SURROUNDINGS – A POWERFUL ALLY IN WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION. When Abraham Lincoln was a young man, he would study his law books while leaning against a tree on a summer day. A neighbor reported seeing him adjust his position as the sun moved across the sky, circling the tree to get the best light. It’s inspiring that he excelled with limited resources – but you can do better in shaping your environment to support your dissertation work! You may not realize how much your surroundings – your office, your dorm room – can affect with your writing. Try some changes NOW:

- Grab a piece of paper and tape it to the wall above your desk. Using a sharpie, write three steps that you will take THIS WEEK toward the completion of your dissertation. Write it in big letters you can read from anywhere in the room. It might read, “Week One: 1. Survey ten lit sources, 2. Create list of advisor “finalists,” 3. 1st draft “Significance of Research.” When you’ve completed these goals, have a good meal and make a new list.

- Remove distractions from your line of sight. When you sit at your desk, can you see a shelf of games or, worse, food? Can you see a television? Move these things! Or put a folding screen or bookshelf to block them from your sight.

- Buy foam earplugs. Available at hardware stores, or maybe in your university bookstore. They’re washable and re-usable. They could be the best cheap investment you ever made.

- Buy a dry-erase board. Could replace the first suggestion above, or could supplement it. Use it to list nagging questions. Hang it where you can reach it from your desk chair.

Still stuck? Don’t become one of the candidates who don’t finish their thesis or dissertation. Contact the THESIS COACH HOTLINE at ThesisCoachHotline@gmail.com for a FREE 15-minute coaching session.

TIP #3 of 10: AVOID THESE FIVE COMMON MISTAKES. You’re becoming an expert in your field. You know the material. So you don’t want to tarnish the impression you make by falling into these common errors:

1. Misplaced modifier. Maybe you’ve heard this old Groucho Marx joke: “One morning [on safari] I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I’ll never know.” Why is this funny? Misplaced modifier. The phrase “in my pajamas” is clearly intended to modify “I shot,” to say that Marx was in his pajamas when he did the shooting. But since “in my pajamas” has been placed after the direct object, “elephant,” it seems to describe the elephant. Not so funny in this age of conservation – and not so funny in your dissertation!

2. Apostrophe S: an “s” placed at the end of a noun can mean one of three things:

- plural: there is more than one of that thing (apples,

pens)

- possessive: the noun owns the next thing mentioned

(Susan’s watch, Bob’s shirt)

- contraction: a shortened version of “is” ("Susan’s

going home" means "Susan is going home")

Notice that the first one, plural, does NOT have an apostrophe! If there’s more than one, it’s not "apple’s," it’s just "apples."

3. Items on a list not all “of a kind.” This one’s tricky – and very common. What’s wrong with the following list?

“Our research examined the following:

- temperatures at the ocean’s surface

- temperatures ten meters below the surface

- salinity at the ocean’s surface and ten meters below

- the ocean is getting warmer”

Do you see it? The last item on that list is not the same kind of thing as the preceding three. It’s not a type of data, it’s a conclusion. It belongs on a separate list.

4. Comma between subject and predicate. The most basic building blocks of any sentence are the subject (a noun, or nominative clause) and the predicate (the verb). "Susan drives." "Bob eats." With these two things, you have a sentence. And a comma does not separate them! When the subject is a clause (“All the subjects in the control group,” “The animals living in the cloud forest”), you might want to follow it with a comma (“All the subjects in the control group, drank distilled water.”) No, no, no! Get rid of that pesky comma.

5. No Oxford comma. All right, this one’s not a mistake, just a little confusing. If you have a sentence that includes a list, the final item on the list is preceded by "and" (“We took measurements at noon, three o’clock, and six o’clock”). Notice that I put a comma before the "and." You don’t have to, but that little baby is called “the Oxford comma,” and it makes things clearer.

If it all seems a little confusing, Contact the THESIS COACH HOTLINE for a FREE 15-minute coaching session. ThesisCoachHotline@gmail.com.

TIP #2 of 10: BREAK IT DOWN TO SMALL STEPS. Overwhelmed by your thesis project? Congratulations – that means you’ve set a huge goal for yourself! The only kind worth fighting for. Just remember: every grand undertaking is nothing more than a series of small steps.

Charlie Crocker was one of the builders of the transcontinental railroad in the United States (1863-1869). With no formal training, he became chief of construction for the western half of the project. Crocker had to organize the labor force, purchase equipment (that had to be carried by sailing ships from New York), and figure out a way to cut tunnels through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. So he knew what it was to feel overwhelmed - he said, “There were times when I would have given it all up for a clean shirt and no debts.”

By undertaking your thesis or dissertation, you’re joining a brilliant history of people who took on a huge challenge without knowing exactly how they would succeed. And this is where a detailed list becomes your friend. Unlike Charlie Crocker, you have the advantages of the computer age:

- Open up a new document in your computer and title it, “Dissertation – Steps and Tasks – beginning [today’s date].”

- Below the title, type in the first thing you need to do: “Save university guidelines to desktop,” or “Select coach/editor,” or “First meeting with advisor” Don’t know what you need to do first?? Type the first step you can think of. You can always move it later.

- Here’s a key: in front of your first step, add two underscore lines __ to remind you that your first step is not yet done. This is where you’ll add an “X” when you’ve completed that step.

- Now type in every step you can think of: “Proposal to advisor by January 31,” “Begin review of literature,” “Complete data analysis,” etc., etc. Put the double underscore __ before each one. Put them in order as best you can.

- Proceed from step to step if you can; if not, jump over a step and come back to it later.

- Don’t know how to do a step? Make a new step that tells you to find out how: “Email advisor to find out proposal deadline,” “Ask librarian how to do review of literature,” “Read an article on data analysis,” etc. – and then do that step.

- Now here’s the genius of the list method: every time you complete a step, no matter how small, put an X in your double underscore __ so it looks like this _X_. That tells your mind, and your heart, that you have done that step and you don’t have to worry about it anymore!

Step by step, you will tame your dissertation project and become its master. If you get stuck, contact the Thesis Coach Hotline for a FREE 15-minute coaching. ThesisCoachHotline@gmail.com.

TIP #1 of 10: DO YOUR SH**TY DRAFT NOW! You’ve got to write your thesis, but you haven’t completed your survey of the literature. Or, you look over the formatting instructions in your department’s guidelines, and you don’t have all the pieces. Or, you haven't analyzed all of your data. Let’s face it: your first draft is not going to be good. So how do you get un-stuck? Accept it! Your first draft is going to be sh**ty, and that's just part of the process.

The sooner you get a terrible draft done, the sooner you can get to the great work you’re going to do. When I audition as an actor, I know that my first practice on the day of a big audition is going to be terrible. I’m not warmed up; my brain isn’t in gear yet. So I mark it in my planner: wake up, do my audition two times badly, and then have breakfast.

Here’s how you GET GOING when you think you’re not ready: Open a new document and name it “Rough Draft” or “First Draft” or even “Bad Draft” or “Sh**ty Draft” – something to remind you that it doesn't need to be perfect. Look at your department’s formatting guidelines, and type in each question or guideline as a heading. Now, write what you know, AND write what you DON’T know. For example, if you haven't finished your survey of the literature, write, “As [FIND A SOURCE FOR THIS] has established, chronic dehydration impairs cognitive functioning.”

A wise person once said, “Nothing in this world would ever be accomplished if all possible objections had first to be overcome.” Your weak first draft isn’t something to avoid. It’s a necessary step toward a great final product. Have you written your sh**ty draft yet? Get it started now. And email the Thesis Coach Hotline at ThesisCoachHotline@gmail.com for a FREE 15-MINUTE COACHING.