How to Finish Your PhD

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    How to Finish Your PhD - Presentation Transcript

    1. Finishing Your Thesis 2 October 2009 How to Finish the PhD Tim Kastelle
    2. “ Oh, come on – it’s in my head. Must I go on? Are you really going to make me write it down?” David Mamet
    3. The only good PhD…
    4. … is a finished PhD
    5.  
    6. The greatest scientist ever… … had problems finishing
    7. Data Collection 1831-1835
    8. Key Insight - 1837
    9. Master’s Thesis? - 1842
    10. Main Work Published - 1859
    11. Why then?
    12. What took so long?
    13. What is your problem?
    14. Problem #1:
      • I have to write a whole thesis
    15. Solution:
      • Break it into small parts
      • Don’t try to write perfect first drafts
    16. Problem #2
      • I have to read more of the literature
    17. Solution:
      • Well, actually, you don’t!
    18. Problem #3
      • But I have to teach
    19. Solution:
      • Schedule time to write – regularly
      • Treat this like teaching time - uninterruptible!
      • Set output goals
    20. Problem #4
      • I can only write at night (in the morning, standing on my head, with my cat on my lap, etc.)
    21. Solution:
      • Schedule time to write – regularly
      • Schedule it for when you’re most effective
      • But realise that the more you write, the more you’re able to write
    22. “ As late as 1806, I was waiting for genius to set upon me so that I might write... If I had spoken around 1795 of my plans to write, some sensible man would have told me to write every day for an hour or so. Genius or no genius. That advice would have made me use profitably ten years of my life that I wasted stupidly waiting for genius to descend.” -Stendahl
    23. Tips
      • Think of yourself as a writer – writers write!
    24. Tips
      • Think of yourself as a writer – writers write!
      • Writing is thinking
    25. Tips
      • Think of yourself as a writer – writers write!
      • Writing is thinking
      • Write every day, right from the start of your PhD
    26. Tips
      • Think of yourself as a writer – writers write!
      • Writing is thinking
      • Write every day, right from the start of your PhD
      • Acknowledge that reading is displacement activity – and stop using it as an excuse for not writing
    27. Tips
      • Think of yourself as a writer – writers write!
      • Writing is thinking
      • Write every day, right from the start of your PhD
      • Acknowledge that reading is displacement activity – and stop using it as an excuse for not writing
      • Acknowledge that the other three problems are also excuses – and stop using them too
    28. Thank you! http://timkastelle.org

    + Tim KastelleTim Kastelle, 3 months ago

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    A talk that I gave to the PhD students in the UQ Bu more

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