While many of you have no shortage of deadlines coming in the next few weeks, most of you will arrive at a time when the deadlines all but disappear: when you are finished with your coursework but are working on your thesis or capstone project. For many students that gives about three years until your defense must be complete. This seems so far into the future that, for all practical purposes, this deadline is nonexistent.
Still, you probably want to go ahead and finish up. Yet when the work's going slowly and that thesis slides just a little lower down the priority list, it can be tempting to adopt the mantra of "I have three years to finish this...I'll get back to work next week," and, before you know it, you've missed a chance to go ahead and defend and graduate.
Don't let this happen to you! Instead, consider these four tips, which draw from my experiences during my no-deadline semester:
1. Work backwards from the time you want/need to finish your project. Determine the absolute last day you must have the work completed. If this is your date of defense, look at the graduate school calendar. I even suggest you make your final deadline a week earlier than this date - this allows you some breathing room to schedule a defense date that works for you and your committee. Then, set deadlines for your drafts, bibliography, prospectus, and any other milestone points, continuing to work backwards. For example, your self-imposed deadlines might look like this:
- Defense: week of April 20-27
- Final draft to committee (I'll give them a week to read, so....): April 14
- Preliminary draft (20 pages or so) to chair of committee: April 1
- Mid-semester committee meeting: March 10
- Well, since I have a meeting coming up, I'd better give them something to read, so....
- Initial rough draft with working thesis + annotated bibliography: March 3
- Outline so I can start drafting with a basic sense of organization: February 15
- File intent to graduate: January 25
- Oh, well, I have to file an intent to graduate, so I'd better have a research proposal together, so...
- Capstone Project Proposal: January 23
2. Declare your intended deadlines in writing to your committee member(s). If you tell your committee chair to expect a draft of your paper by a certain date, you are much more likely to meet your deadline. Again, she will likely understand if something compelling prevents you from meeting this deadline, but the sense of accountability you'll feel will do wonders for your motivation. Of all of the tips I'm giving you here, this was the most effective during my semester of project work.
3. Set up regular work hours every week. For me, this was Saturday afternoon. I would go for a run in the morning, then get a coffee and go to my "office" (really a private cubicle in Sherrod Library) and do some quality work. Knowing that I had 12-6PM carved out particularly for working on my research freed me from the distractions of home, work, and general laziness.
4. Visualize your defense and graduation. You might have heard of visualization as a technique athletes use to train their minds to succeed in competition. This works for grad school too. Spend a few minutes each day imagining the day you walk out of your defense, having just been told you did a fine job and passed. Imagine the senses of accomplishment and relief you will feel as you walk outside, take a breath of fresh air, and realize that you are DONE! Maybe this sounds cheesy, but believe me, it works.
If you find yourself with work to do but no deadline in the near future, try one or more of these tips, and get to work! Good luck!
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