It is the third day into my vacation and I finally have time to create this post!! I have been working hard to complete a good second draft of Chapter 4 and update my abstract. I had adjusted the deadline for these two tasks several times and still required an additional week to complete them!! The delay was largely due to some errors discovered in my data analysis and a great deal of unforeseen effort required to clean up my Appendices which actually account for over 60 pages.
My next priority is to refine my framework for the second draft of my Chapter 2 and Chapter 5. Although I have now fully accepted that I am not a good estimator I still am going to aim to complete both of these chapters before I return to work. This will be heavy lifting for certain, but I still embrace the “shoot for the moon” philosophy!
There is one key learning that has been reinforced for me over the past few weeks. I am generally in the habit of summarizing my accomplishments for the week and particularly on Saturday. Unfortunately, for a range of reasons I have not been able to do this a regularly for the past two weeks and I have been reminded that it really makes a difference! Because there is so much happening between life, work, and research, I very quickly forget what I have done if I neglect to track it. I then felt “bummed out” when I look at my project plan, which is has a “yellow status” and wonder what the heck I have been doing!!
So the bottom line is this: It is essential to list your accomplishments to maintain your momentum and sense of achievement, particularly when you are a poor estimator of the duration required to actually complete tasks. Listing what you HAVE done is a really positive, and necessary, reinforcement as you pursue the doctorate versus simply focusing on how you are tracking against plan.
I have to sign off now because I have a tennis ball machine booked for 5pm -woohoo!! I am going to devote my remaining 15 minutes to planning for tomorrow so I can hit the ground running in the morning.