(These tips are based on a hand-out available at the Doctoral Support Center.)
Procrastination is the behavior of postponing tasks. Everyone procrastinates sometimes, but when we're working on our dissertation, procrastination can have serious consequences.
How can you avoid procrastination? Here's some tips to keep from being overwhelmed.
- Work in an envirnoment with minimal distractions. Try to modify your environment to reduce distractions from things like the phone, email or people. Choose a space where you can spread out your documents where you can focus and concentrate.
- Establish a realistic routine. Dedicate specific times earch week or day to work on your dissertation. Protect that time from other activities and keep up your momentum. Be realistic though -- planning to work two hours every day after work isn't practical if you come home feeling mentally or physically drained.
- Work on bits and pieces. Thinking about your whole dissertation can be overwhelming. Therefore set goals based on smaller pieces of the dissertation. Focus not only on one chapter at a time, but on individual sections at a time.
- Reward yourself. When you have met your goals, take the time to reward yourself. You may find you need more frequent rewards (such as when you complete a section) or for larger tasks (such as the draft of a chapter).
- Seek social support. Partner with people who are able to complete tasks. Having positive role models can help motivate you to start and complete your own.
- Make a public commitment. Once you make a goal or set up a routine, annouce it publicly. Making the statement publicly will make it more difficult to avoid completing it.
- Practice telling time. Procrastinators tend to underestimate the time needed to complete tasks. Be realistic. If you have any question, get estimates from faculty and former students.
- Create intermediate deadlines. Focusing only on the Graduate School filing deadline may create anxiety. Instead, establish intermediate deadlines that work you more gently toward the larger one.
- Be flexible. Even the most well thought out plans and realistic deadlines can hit a snag. At these times its important to be flexible and readjust your strategies. Remember, we're here to help you through the rough times.
Contact the Doctoral Support Center: rsoedsc@usc.edu for more information.
