739PM: Time To Go Home!

Posted on February 16, 2014 by alexk

It has been a highly productive day!!  I have been working consistently since 10am and have completed a first cut of my Conclusion Chapter.  This means I have a few days to edit before I send it to my supervisors .  More importantly, I am now confident that I will have this chapter submitted before I depart on my vacation in the sun –woohoo!!

This week was ridiculously busy at work and quite stressful in some areas as we are grappling with organizational change.   Despite this, I managed to do some very short stints of writing in the evening.  I increasingly feel that my ability to write is improving as I let go of over editing and simply get in the practice of writing whether I have 20 minutes or 2 hours.

The other highlight from the week was a good call with my UK supervisor  via Skype.  We had a detailed conversation about possible examiners and VIVA prep.  Between that discussion and the progress that I have made today I am really beginning to feel confident about my August submission deadline.  Of course, I recognize that there is tons to do, but so far I am hitting my milestones.  If I complete the last chapter in March as per my plan,  I can really focus on doing significant improvements in April and May.  I will then have a very strong draft before summer.  Keep keeping on!!

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Heading To The Spa

Posted on February 8, 2014 by alexk

It is 343pm and I am signing off from a productive stint at the library.  I have made good progress on writing my Conclusion chapter.  I have a good sense of the overall approach and have created labels for all of the sub-chapters.  As usual, I did not complete as many sections as I would have liked, but am now in a good position to do some writing during the evenings next week.

I am leaving early today because I am meeting a friend for some fun and relaxation at a spa.  Yeah!!

I just remembered that I did not post last week and should explain why!  I submitted my Chapter 2, Literature Review to my supervisors and took last Saturday off.  It was a well deserved break.  I am hoping to be able to submit my Conclusion chapter by February 19 and then enjoy another break in the sunshine.  More to come on this, suffice it to say, I am VERY motivated!!

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13 500

Posted on January 26, 2014 by alexk

It is 743pm and I am not feeling smackered for once.  That said, I am very glad to be leaving the library because it has been a full day and week.  I have a solid literature review of 13 500 words, and 47 pages double spaced –yeah!!  I now have about a week to edit and refine before submitting to my supervisors on January 31st as per my project plan.  I am thrilled to know that I will hit my second deadline for this dissertation.

The week ahead is especially busy too.  In addition to refining the literature review I have a phone meeting with my supervisor.  Also on Tuesday morning before work, I have a call with a quantitative expert at Henley that requires some advance preparation to make best use of his expertise.  That said, if all goes according to plan I will take next weekend off and then focus on my Conclusion chapter which will include a discussion of my contributions and study limitations.

Anyway I am very glad to be departing to do some groceries now and then enjoy a movie with my partner.  All good.

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Solid Progress

Posted on January 19, 2014 by alexk

It is Saturday, almost 8pm,  and I am still at the library!  It has been a full week of reading and writing.  I am generally pleased with the results.  I have  38 pages written of my literature review and have one more day left to focus on writing.  I am hoping to be able to complete one more section on Monday and then the final section next Saturday.  I intend to make revisions during the work week and am feeling confident that I will be able to submit this draft as per my January 31st deadline.

A key learning for me is that I need “soak time” and “down-time” for writing.  My productivity definitely waned a bit of Thursday and Friday.  Today I got off to a slow start and was “in the zone” but departed for 3 hours to see a move with my girlfriend and then returned to finish off a section.  Going forward one week slots for research/writing are definitely most ideal, I think two weeks would be too much.

Anyway I am glad that I got “stuck in” and am happy to be heading home for a stiff drink, take-out and some Australian Open tennis!!

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Read, Read, Read AND Write, Write, Write!

Posted on January 11, 2014 by alexk

This is going to be a very quick post as I have to depart shortly to do some errands.  I worked feverishly until the end of December to complete two solid thesis chapters.  I literally submitted them on December 31st at 730pm.  Suffice it to say that I had no energy left for New year’s Eve fun and frolic!!  That said it was very satisfying to end 2013 by achieving this milestone.

Although I did not take an vacation from work, I took a break from research for the first week of January.    Today is my first official day back and it was slow but steady.  I literally spent half the day reading all that I had written to date and then summarizing notes from two books that I had to return to the library today.

I am off next week and my focus is to read, read, read and then to simultaneously write, write, write!!  I have a  very rough literature review that was created in 2011 as part of my research proposal so the task ahead is to get through the stacks of literature that I have only scanned and start to write up a solid chapter.  I am also going to get some advice on some CFA that I undertook in December.  It is going to be a very busy week!

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8:32pm…

Posted on December 29, 2013 by alexk

It is December 28 and I am finishing up my research at work because the library closed at 5pm.  Christmas was wonderful and welcome break from research but today it is now time to pay the piper!!   I worked hard today and I am pleased with my progress.

I have another few days of heavy lifting to do in order to deliver my abstract, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 to my supervisors as per schedule.  Fun times ahead especially given that I am also working.  I am especially motivated though because I want to begin 2014 on track!

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Crazy Good!!

Posted on December 15, 2013 by alexk

It is 947pm on Saturday night and I am a very happy camper.  I have taken some vacation to get some traction on my writing and it has paid dividends.  I have a rough draft of  Chapter 4 completed and 50% of my Chapter 3 written.  With some additional hard work over the next few weeks I will be able to submit solid drafts of both these chapters to my supervisors before the end of the month.  My focus will then be on the Literature Review by end of January.

I just remembered that I neglected to post last weekend.  We had a Christmas party to attend so my stint at the library was abridged.  I did manage to get a lot of the books needed for my Research Methodology writing though and used them over the past few days.

Lots more to say, but I am tired.  I am looking forward to taking a well-deserved break tomorrow and getting ready for Christmas –woohoo!

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Wrapping Up

Posted on November 30, 2013 by alexk

Wow, the sky is a beautiful combinations of pinks and blues.  It is almost 5pm and I am glad that I looked up from my computer because it is spectacular.  This is a lovely end to a full and productive day.

Today I have been focused on re-running some analysis as I finally figured out why my numbers were off by one case.  Of course it is obvious to me now, but essentially I had 485 responses, with two cases where the respondents only responded to the consent questions.  What I  finally realized was that one of the respondents also responded to the demographic questions but did not complete the MLQ which was throwing off all of my numbers by 1 case.  The small pleasures of resolving issues with your data set!!  I also spent a good deal of time removing charts from the body of my thesis into the Appendices.

Overall, it was an extremely busy work week.  I had two business trips and also a Henley event in the evening.  I managed to read some statistics in the evenings at the hotel and thoroughly enjoyed the Henley get together.  I am amazed by how many cohorts now exist in Toronto!!

The week ahead is going to be full as well.  I have one business trip and am launching a new leadership 360 process at work which I am looking forward to.  Also, I did some coaching with a few leaders and it was very gratifying.

I have to wrap up now.  My partner will arrive shortly and we are going to have some adventures!

 

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Back in the Game

Posted on November 23, 2013 by alexk

The month of November has been atypical.  I was in Ottawa one weekend and in Boston last weekend.  The upside to Boston was that I was there to attend a leadership conference and was able to hear Jim Kouzes speak which was quite enjoyable.  Overall the experience was good for my research but more practitioner focused so the benefits are mostly tangential.

Today I was happy to be back at the library but it took me a while to get my head “back in the game”.   I have been here for 8 hours and I feel like it was time well spent.  I conducted some additional analysis, updated my project plan and updated “my story” document, which is essentially the blueprint that will underpin my thesis.

I am travelling next week for work but will try and do some writing and reflecting during the week.  Also, there is a DBA event on Tuesday night which should be good.

It is dark out.  Time to go home!!

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Surviving to Thriving!

Posted on November 9, 2013 by alexk

Wow, the last two weeks have been intense, and challenging.  Last weekend I travelled to visit my parents last weekend and therefore did not go to the library.  I journeyed by train so was able to some reading while enroute.  It was lovely to be home but I was in a bit of a “catch up” mode as a results of being away.

This week has been highly productive and I feel like I have turned an important emotional corner.  I am no longer going to fixate on my time lines to the extent that it detracts from my learning and progress.  For the past few months I have had a lingering sense of dissatisfaction because I was feeling behind schedule.  I am still not on schedule but I now have a greater acceptance that I cannot always accurately predict the duration and complexity of tasks.  That said, I still need to set goals and be cognizant of progress, but not be so tough on myself!!

I had a very productive meeting with my supervisor and she provided useful feedback including the importance of telling a “compelling story” with your research.  I am still “flapping about” with this but made some good progress in this area today.  I also completed some outstanding analysis and obtained interesting results.  Really enjoying the SPSS Survival Manual, definitely my new bff!!

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