If you know me, you know I advocate a balanced life. This can sometimes be at odds with focusing solely on the dissertation for a few days or a week in order to get as much done as you can. I think there is place for both approaches in the dissertation process. You might work on the dissertation in bits and pieces within the context of a balanced life, but, at times, you might need to throw balance out the window for the sake of getting something done. This is ok. I noticed this very much in my own life during the planning of my wedding- I generally work in a more bits and pieces kind of way, but didn’t have the luxury of doing this in the months preceding my wedding. Instead, I needed to block out large chunks of time to actually work on, and accomplish, many huge tasks at once. My best advice? Get as much done as you can, as soon as you can. If you just sent off the proposal for review, start setting up your data collection methods. If you are still waiting for data to come in, start on your chapter 1-3 revisions. If all else fails, start working on your footnotes or graphs or charts. All of these will have to be finished for the final product, anyway- so focus on getting as much done as soon as you can, without burning out.
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