Dissertation Coaching Tips Blog

Expectations vs Reality

info@completeyourdissertation.com (Dr. Rachna Jain) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:32:30 +0000

Have you ever had a week where you planned to make a huge amount of progress on your dissertation, but then, for whatever reason, life got in the way, and you weren’t able to complete the work you planned? (Yes, of course, right?) So what did you do in that situation? Did you stick stubbornly [...]

The Dissertation is Like Any Other Goal

info@completeyourdissertation.com (Dr. Rachna Jain) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:21:34 +0000

Have you met any goals in your life? You know, achieved something you really wanted- at any point, ever? My guess is yes, you probably have. And not just one thing either, but probably a whole bunch of somethings.

The Time Will Never Be Perfect

info@completeyourdissertation.com (Dr. Rachna Jain) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:12:22 +0000

One of the elements of dissertation coaching that always surprises me is how it often seems as if ABD’s expect to find the “perfect time” to finish their dissertations. They carry the dissertation around- both literally and figuratively- and keep putting off working on it for someday. Meanwhile, life keeps going on- they get married [...]

Boiling Frog Syndrome and the Dissertation

info@completeyourdissertation.com (Dr. Rachna Jain) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:04:44 +0000

Time has a funny way of just moving along, whether or not you get your dissertation done. When I work with clients, we call this the "boiling frog" syndrome. If you haven't heard of this before, the metaphor relates to an anecdote about a frog being boiled alive. The anecdote states that if you put a frog in a pot of hot water, it will immediately jump out and get away. However, if you put a frog in cold water, and ever so slowly turn up the heat, the frog won't notice and will be cooked to death.

Willpower and the Dissertation

info@completeyourdissertation.com (Dr. Rachna Jain) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:11:54 +0000

I just finished reading a great book, Willpower, which talks about the importance of self-control and self management. While there were many good points in the book, a few stood out for me as being especially relevant to the dissertation process. Willpower, as defined in the book, seems to be the capacity to make good choices. Willpower resides in us within a fixed amount, and every choice we make pulls from the same reserve of willpower. This would explain, for instance, why you are so capable of resisting a chocolate chip cookie at the beginning of the day, but, by the end of the day, you want that cookie like mad. According to the authors, this is because, as the day wears on, you've likely been subjected to numerous pulls on your willpower- and why, at 6pm, you consider eating the cookie that you so easily resisted at 10am.