The title for today’s post is one coined by a former (now Ph.D.) client of mine who had been struggling with feelings of overwhelm about progressing on her dissertation.
No matter how much she accomplished, she always felt it should have been more. No matter what she was working on now, she was continually bombarded with thoughts that she should be working on something else.
Sometimes, she was having trouble focusing on the task at hand, and would flit from task to task, not really accomplishing anything.
Watching her pattern, I began to notice that she became stressed and unfocused whenever she began to think of the task in wholes- like ‘I have to write a whole page, or I have to read the whole article, or I have to write the whole chapter.’
Instead of thinking in "wholes", I asked her to think in ones. ‘I have to write one sentence. I have to write one paragraph. I will write one page.’
As she began to focus on "ones", she realized that any project, when broken down small enough, becomes easy to do. "Inch by inch, it’s a cinch!" she explained to me.
I was reminded of this today when I was thinking about what to share with you. As we move into the final part of 2006, it’s a good time to evaluate your dissertation process. What’s working well for you? What needs to be different in 2007? What actions will you take to make 2007 the year of your Ph.D.?
Remember, small steps can lead to big results.
Inch by inch, it’s a cinch!
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