ABSTRACT
While working on my dissertation I was also doing a full-time internship, so time was a precious commodity. One of the techniques to help finish my dissertation was a “time-oriented” approach. This “time-oriented” philosophy stated that I had to put in a certain amount of time in a given week (there were minimal exceptions). This time was put in no matter how much got accomplished during that time period, and I was to work consistently during that time. In order to feel that you can do this, a reasonable amount of time needs to be chosen. For example, I believe that I had to put in three days (it is best 41to specify which days) in a given week with a minimum of two hours each day. Of course, one can always put in more, but this is a minimum. If you get a lot done during this time, that’s great. If you only rework a small portion, that is also acceptable. You are successful if you keep working for the whole time period. My worst night was when I looked for a piece of paper for the whole time. It was frustrating. I decided to take my next time period and organize my materials better. This helped on future nights also. However, it was still successful (though frustrating) because the “time orientation” was kept. In the long run, that session was a step toward the final goal. During this “time-oriented” approach, you will probably discover a couple of concepts. First, there will be times that you may want or choose to work more than the minimum. There may be times you get excited about some aspect you are working on, you may have a deadline, or you may need to take a day here and there to do things like data collection and analysis. Second, by doing a little bit at a time, it does add up. This is especially true if you incorporate this concept with larger time blocks. The bottom line is that by picking a minimal time period on a reasonable number of days, you should be able to convince yourself to work toward the completion of your project, and over time, it will occur.
