Time Management From Dissertation Proposal to Dissertation Defense Alicia Best and Other Faculty

Opening Questions How much time you have between now and your ideal defense date? How do you rate your ability to effectively manage your time (on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being optimal)? What are you biggest “time sucks?” Let’s start with some basic questions…Let’s go around the room and state How much time you have between now and your ideal defense date? How do you rate your ability to effectively manage your time (scale of 1-10)? What are you biggest “time sucks?”

How much time do you have? 24 hours in a day 7 days in a week ( 168 hours) 365 days in a year The thing about time is that it’s fixed, right? We can’t create more of. We can only work on strategies to optimize how we use time.

“Managing Time” Processes and tools to increase efficiency and productivity Create a master list, working backwards from a specific goal Know the rules of the program (formal and informal) Become familiar with department, college, and university deadlines (each are different) Inquire about your Committee’s other obligations, and their turn-around time for providing feedback So in the previous slide, I said time was fixed. We only get 24 hours in a day, so some would argue that you can’t actually manage time, but you can manage your activities during a fixed period of time. Time management is really about the development of processes and tools that increase efficiency and productivity. And one way to do this is to start with a master list of everything you have to do, working backwards from the large end goal – like Defending your Proposal. Work backwards listing every little step required to from where you are currently, to your end goal. This can be tedious and may a whole day or more, because you may have to visit multiple websites and read various documents to find deadlines and requirements for various tasks, etc. But this is an important first step because its only once you have this master list that you can effectively begin to plan. Some things to consider when making this master list: Know the Rules of the Program (formal and informal) Become familiar with department, college, and university deadlines (each are different) Committee & time/turn around

Sample Timeline/Schedule Here is an example of a partial master list that I used during my dissertation process. As you can see, even University deadlines are built into this…

What are your goals? Make your goals specific and concrete Set long-term and short-term goals Set a deadline for your goals Monitor your goals Change goals if needed What are 3 short term goals you each have between now and graduation? Example short-term goals between proposal preparation and dissertation defense: Get IRB approval by December 2016 Tasks – Draft all collection instruments and guides by X date, Get letters of support from community agencies by X date, draft recruitment protocol and informed consents by X date etc… Probes for goals: Are there additional skills you need? Do you need time to build strong community relationships to access your sample? Get approved to conduct your dissertation Finishing the dissertation

Difficult Balance Between… Our Needs Eating, sleeping, personal hygiene, etc. Our Desires Facebook/Instagram, vacations, reading, exercising, shopping, TV/Netflix/Hulu Our Obligations Work/GA/TA, commitments to others (e.g. guest lectures),dissertation, etc.

Not Urgent / Not Important Set Priorities Urgent / Important IRB application Data collection _________________ Important / Not Urgent Personal life Community work Urgent / Not Important Commitments to others Guest lectures Not Urgent / Not Important Social media Reality TV The last box is called a time suck! Ask students to list other examples of each for them; and discuss here. Learning to say no is important to discuss on this slide…

Procrastination A major obstacle that can prevent us from practicing good time management skills is simply procrastination. We are all guilty of it from time to time. For me, procrastination gets worse when I have a ton of work on my plate…its like the more overwhelmed I get, the more I want to lean towards doing nothing. But we have to overcome it. So I’ll give you some of my tips and hopefully other faculty will share theirs.

Overcoming Procrastination Break tasks in smaller parts Get organized Practice positivity Reward yourself Just do it Take the task apart - Sometimes a task can appear to be overwhelming. For example, thinking about the entire dissertation as one massive assignment can be intimidating. Breaking it up into smaller, more manageable parts will help. Set dates to work on each of the pieces. Also, work on one task at a time. It’s a mental boost to complete something and check it off your list; and its less productive to multitask. Get organized - Having everything you need right at your fingertips will save a lot of time when starting a project. Also, having a clean, well-organized workspace helps increase productivity. Practice positivity- Avoid speaking negatively about the task and your ability to move toward completion. Instead, practice being positive, and I say practice because this can take work. Tell yourself, “I know that I can finish this work.” Reward yourself- Do something for yourself that you would not normally no, but withhold the reward if the task remains incomplete. Just do it - The moment you find yourself procrastinating, the best thing you can do is recognize it; call yourself out about it and then complete the task. After that, you won’t have to think about it anymore.

Time Management Tips Start with the end in mind Write daily or weekly “To Do Lists” Prevents forgetting Boosts confidence to cross things off Set priorities Carry a notebook Write down those great ideas and brilliant insights Say NO to low priority requests (in a nice way )

To the best of your ability, plan for the unexpected!