Ask the Dissertation Diva

Diagnosis: A.R.S.

Dear Dissertation Diva:

I dusted off my dissertation and made moves towards revising it into a book. An ancient email from an interested editor at a university press lurks stage left. I need to update my take on the current state of the field for the book's introduction in order to show where my argument fits. Problem is: Whenever I do JSTOR searches or try to update my bibliography, I break out in hives. Trying to situate my project in the 100s of new articles -- many in convoluted academicese that seems downright toxic to my confidence -- is overwhelming and demoralizing. Even making a list of the articles makes me think that my book is irrelevant, bizarre, or boring. Any thoughts? 

Signed, 

Anachronistic Annie 

Dear A.A.:

You are suffering from A.R.S.: Academic Re-entry Shock. A.R.S. affects PhDs who take a break from their dissertation research in order to focus on new research, a full time job, or other reasons. When they dust off their dissertation a year or more later, the dust enters their respiratory tract, causing hives-like symptoms, including wheezing and a sense of dread brought on by JSTOR searches.  

Antidote: Decompress in one of those chambers -- you know when people come back from deep-sea dives? 

You can also homebrew Dissertation-to-Book Diva Anti-A.R.S. Spray (TM) using NYC or San Francisco tap water, organic peppermint or rosemary oil, and a sprig of mint from a community garden. Spritz it around your workspace to clear your aura from toxicity. 

When you can approach updating your research once again, I suggest focusing on the major developments (books, authors) in your field and related fields, not every tiny article. Who are the Big Three in each field? Who is closest to your sensibility?  Also, stay on track with your book's argument, contributions, and unique angle, while taking into account new developments. 

Spritz! Spritz!

Dissertation Diva

Shift to Big Picture

When working on your dissertation, it is easy to fall into the vortex of the daily micro-steps. Dissertation writers can get lost in the minute details, obsessing about perfecting tiny details, and thus easily lose sight of the Big Picture. I suggest that you shift to the Big Picture for yourself. For many of you, it is a finished dissertation, not a perfect dissertation.

Decide what is important and what is minor. Does that footnote warrant 2 hours of research? Can you delegate reformatting the margins to a friend or editor down the line? Try to think about the overall outcome you want to achieve. Glide over the details with more ease. Shift to the Big Picture!

Good luck!
Dissertation Diva

Dissertation Haiku Contest!

Announcing... the 1st annual Dissertation Diva DISSERTATION HAIKU CONTEST!

Send us your haiku poems about the dissertation process. A haiku, you'll remember, is a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five. Send us your English-language haiku. Have fun!

FABULOUS & USEFUL PRIZES: One grand prize winner will receive a 30-minute dissertation coaching session, a featured spot for their haiku on Ask The Dissertation Diva, and bragging rights! All haiku worthy of their seventeen syllables will appear on Ask The Dissertation Diva. Send us your dissertation haiku even if you don't want the prizes, because we want you to get creative and WRITE something, even if it's 17 syllables.

Deadline EXTENDED!: March 1, 2008.

TO ENTER: Submit your haiku as a comment to this blog post by clicking "Comments" directly below this post. Feel free to include your name, university affiliation, and dissertation title or topic, or to remain anonymous. All entries become the property of Ask The Dissertation Diva and may be reproduced. Please include your email (which remains private). Ask the Dissertation Diva reserves the right to decide what constitutes a haiku for the purposes of this contest. We reserve the right to change or cancel the terms of this contest at any time. Thanks and happy writing!

The top image is the  kanji of  'haiku' .

Fear of Success

I've noticed that as graduate students in the final stages of their dissertations get precipitously close to actually finishing, a strange behavior may be observed. They (you).. balk.  After years and years of "not being finished," finishing -- as in, next month, not next millenium -- is a shock that's sometimes too much to bear.

What's going on here?

You've wanted to finish this project for years.. and you're actually in the final editing stages.. but.. what do I spy here?

Self-sabotage!

You may be resisting finishing this dissertation on many levels, and for complex reasons.

One reason is fear of success. If your dissertation process has been a long and winding road, you may be attached, on some level, to a self-definition of yourself as "never finishing." You may be attached to a sense of failure, as it were, and fear change into its opposite: success.

Changing that definition of yourself involves changing your self-concept.

And any change is difficult.

Be mindful of last-minute self-sabotage. Why might you be resisting going through with the final stages of the dissertation process? Try to notice what comes up for you at this stage in the process and gently let go of old patterns and self-conceptions. Get ready to actually finish. Yes, it's TRUE. You are almost finished. You are going to succeed at completing what you started. Embrace success!

Mindfully yours,
Dissertation Diva

Conquer Criticism

Dear Dissertation Diva:

How do I keep from being totally crushed when a top scholar in my field levies harsh criticism against my methodology, my approach, my training -- in short, me -- in a public setting?

Signed,
Trying to Stay Confident

Dear Confident:

It's harsh, and it happens. Here are three tangible strategies you can use.

First, depersonalize the criticism. It's not about you personally. It's about a difference of opinion on methodology or approach. This strategy can help you not take the words personally.

Second, look at why this particular scholar is critical of this particular methodology or approach. Why is that scholar invested in their position? What is threatening or groundbreaking about yours? Use your analytic skills to understand their position and to shore up your confidence in your own approach.

Third, be compassionate. Some elder academics may shoot arrows of criticism at emerging scholars in the public space of conference hall or panel discussion out of fear of losing their own positions as fields develop and shift. If you can build a bridge of understanding that other person's fear, you can keep from being crushed.

If all else fails, envision a criticism-proof armor of white light! But whatever you do, don't let others' unhelpful comments block your own brilliance. Keep doing your own work!

Dissertation Diva

Deadline Dilemma

Dear Dissertation Diva:

Thanks for a great blog site: reading it has been helping me get back on track with my dissertation after a long holiday/working to pay the bills break. But I do have a question. I am working on wrapping up my prospectus, and when I have set deadlines as you suggest on my prospectus, it has ended up stressing me out so much that I don't get anything done at all. And normally I'm a person who works well to deadlines. My advisors have suggested that the prospectus, as a conceptualization phase of the dissertation, is not necessarily suited to setting hard deadlines, but part of me wants to set firm deadlines to get the thing done, and I feel guilty when I fall short of self-imposed expectations, then begin to worry this is indicative of my ability to finish the whole dissertation. What do you think or suggest about this dilemma?

Thanks again,
Denise

Hi Denise:

Did you know that the historical meaning of the word "deadline" is "a line drawn around a prison beyond which prisoners were liable to be shot"? No wonder that thinking of the dissertation process in terms of deadlines makes people break out in a cold sweat. Your question is essentially about the dilemma of deadlines: Not meeting them creates anxiety, guilt, remorse, self-doubt -- all sorts of feelings better suited to a criminal confession than to a creative process! You will set and meet and not meet MANY deadlines during this long process. The best attitude is to not become attached to the outcome of a particular deadline, but to use the date as a motivation to work towards. This Zen attitude of detachment is difficult to cultivate, but worth the effort. Set a date to work towards, put in consisent effort towards your goal, but don't attach to the outcome. There's a balancing act for sure!

What helps is to rethink the whole concept of a deadline. You want to finish your prospectus by a definite date. Think of it as a TARGET DATE instead. You are working towards a target. Point all your arrows in that direction.

Also, break down the larger task into mini-target dates. So, in your case, tomorrow could be your mini-target date for updating the draft of Section One of your prospectus. The next day's mini-target is to assess what need to be done next and starting a list of additional research. The day after's mini-target is to download 3 articles from the list. The day after, you decide you need a new target, which is to start reworking the methodology section of your prospectus. Do you see how in this example, you have daily mini-targets to work towards? The focus is on the process, with daily targets for the outcome. I think this could work in your situation to dispel some of the anxiety about having one big deadline and missing it.

Let me know what happens!

Thanks for your feedback and question.
Dissertation Diva

Inner Voice: Q&A with Julia Mossbridge

First in our series of interviews with recent PhDs. Julia Mossbridge is a neuroscientist and author of Unfolding: The Perpetual Science of Your Soul's Work.

Liena Vayzman: You just finished your PhD in Neuroscience at Northwestern. What kinds of things helped you get through the process when it was most challenging?

Julia Mossbridge: Number one: Friends. And family and anyone that's close enough to talk to about this stuff. My advisor and the rest of the lab were very helpful, too. Plus, I was seeing a therapist and that was really helpful. I'd been seeing him for other things but having that weekly appointment was helpful.

LV: I see the dissertation experience as a spiritual challenge, a vision quest, a journey. Do you share this view, and if so, what did you learn on this quest in terms of personal transformation?

JM: Absolutely!  I learned way more than just writing my dissertation. The biggest lesson that tranformed me that I learned was: Always listen to your inner voice because it never steers you wrong. This applies to pretty much everything. When there was ambiguity -- for example, "Should I talk to my advisor about this issue now or later?" -- I'd tune into my inner voice.   

LV: How did you tune in to your inner voice during times of stress?

JM: Sometimes I couldn't hear it. I developed a routine of working out 6 days a week and after I worked out I calmed down a bit and that allowed me to hear it. Also, writing. I journaled all the time. Writing articles calmed me down. I'd say having any mode of creative expression; for me it was writing. I knew the PhD would take a long time, and I know my personality.  I have to change activities all the time. I can't do the same thing for 8 years! I need intense hobbies, so one of my hobbies was writing a book, Unfolding. I was really trying to integrate my interest in spiritual / personal growth stuff with science. I feel like there's a lack of integration between the two things.

LV: How long did your PhD process take?

JM: Eight years, but I took one year off to care for my son full time, and a couple of the years were part time, so probably it condensed down to five years.  I'd been in grad school before. I'd droppped out after my qualifying exams. When I left I said I'd never do science again, but then I missed it. I realized I needed to integrate my interest in spirituality and personal growth with science.

LV: Your dissertation was about listening. It's interesting to me that your advice to listen to your inner voice seems to relate to your topic of auditory perception. 

JM: I can see how you're making that link. But my dissertation was about people listening to buzzers and clicks. The title is "Perceptual Learning of Auditory Relative-Timing Tasks." 

LV: I'm fascinated by how people's dissertation topics relate to other parts of their lives, and how the process is one of learning about one's self on deeper levels. I love that that the "work" of your dissertation was about listening, literally and metaphorically.

JM: There's a whole other piece on how to manage motherhood with dissertation that I can tell you about next time. I had a kid in my second year in grad school. Single Mom Gets Her PhD -- that's my little story.

Julia Mossbridge is the author of Unfolding: The Perpetual Science of Your Soul's Work (New World Library, 2002), which she wrote as a "serious hobby" while completing her PhD in Neuroscience at Northwestern University (2006). Mossbridge's dissertation examined the relationships between the neural circuitry underlying four auditory relative-timing tasks. A relative-timing task is one in which the position in time of one perceptual event (sound A) is judged relative to another perceptual event (sound B). For example, sounds A and B can be simultaneous or non-simultaneous. If they are not simultaneous, then the order of the sounds can be determined. The results showed that the neural circuitry affected by training on auditory relative-timing tasks is, for the most part, highly specialized, even to the extent that learning to judge the order of sounds does not help you learn to determine whether or not the same sounds were simultaneous. One implication of these results is that there does not appear to be a single psychological "clock" that counts perceptual events and tracks them over time.

You Don't Have to Finish

The first thing I tell my coaching clients: You do not have to finish your PhD. No one is making you. The world won't implode if you don't finish your dissertation.

You read it right: It is perfectly alright to walk away and not finish your PhD. If the stress, hard work, financial strain, competition, boredom, and striving are too much for you, call the whole thing off. Do an about face at the altar. I give you permission. After all, about 50% of PhD candidates do not complete the degree. You can be among them if that is the best choice for you. Changing paths is a valid decision. There are many other challenges worthy of your time on this earth, like pursuing a non-academic career, taking a university job that does not require a PhD, raising your family, writing a book on another topic, making art, starting a business, teaching high school science, becoming a surfing beach bum in Nicaragua, engaging in political activism, traveling around the world, training for a marathon, etc.

Choose not to finish. Do something else. But it needs to be a conscious decision on your part. If you decide to take another path in your career -- for whatever reason(s) -- just do it.   

However, if you do decide to finish your dissertation, dedicate yourself 100% to the task. Don't waver in your commitment.  Realizing that finishing your PhD is a conscious decision -- and not a prison sentence -- is the one essential insight to motivate you from within. Knowing you are CHOOSING this particular challenge is empowering.

If you avoid making any decision, you will stay in the ABD/anxiety cycle indefinitely. Fish or cut bait. Decide, commit to your decision, and take consistent action to reach your goal.

Decisively yours,
Dissertation Diva

Dissertation Diva in the news

Great news! We've been featured on American Historical Association's AHA Today blog. The article is "Dissertation Diva to the Rescue"  by Elisabeth Grant.

"Liena Vayzman is the Ann Landers of ABDs. On her new blog “Ask the Dissertation Diva”, Vayzman dispenses supportive and constructive advice to dissertation writers of all stages..."

Read the rest of the article here.

Thank you for the positive feedback! 

Rebuild Mentor Relationships

Dear Dissertation Diva:
How do I repair a relationship with a former mentor? Nothing bad really happened, I simply moved away from the university area and dropped the ball on staying in touch.
Thanks,
Rebuilding Bridges

Dear Rebuilding Bridges:

Congratulations on wanting to make a positive change by repairing a a mentor relationship. The Dissertation Diva believes that fostering professional relationships with mentors is definitely part of what you should be doing in graduate school.

The good news is that repairing a relationship with a mentor is possible, with time and strategy. Broken bridges can be repaired. Burned bridges can be rebuilt. Or, if there is really no bridge for miles, you can get creative and swim across the river!

I suggest these Action Steps:

Action Step #1: Research your mentor's current projects. What classes is she teaching this semester? (Look over the syllabi online.) Has he just published a book? (Read it.) Is she giving a paper at the next national conference. (Attend, if you can.)  Has he returned from a research trip to Asia? (Formulate questions about it.)

Action Step #2: Write to your mentor. Email may be best, or a written note may be appropriate. Let them know what you're doing. Tell them how their mentorship and work has inspired you. Say thank you for past support. Then -- and this is important -- ask to set up a phone meeting to update them on your current projects.

Action Step #3: Ask about and respect your mentor's availability for working with you from this point forward. For example, you might ask: "Would you be available to talk with me on the phone regularly while you're on sabbatical? Your guidance would be important for me that semester because I'll be on the job market."

Action Step #4: Maintain contact in the future. YOU are responsible for initiating and maintaining positive relationships with your mentors. It's not their job to hunt you down. It is part of YOUR PhD process to connect with mentors, follow their work, request meetings, send them emails, send them drafts if appropriate, ask them information about funding, etc. 

Caveat: Don't despair if your actions don't seem to be working immediately. Professional relationships are built over years. Be patient, and keep working on your dissertation. Don't let stalled mentor relationships stall YOUR progress towards your goal. 

Good luck!

Dissertation Diva