A small confession: when I was writing my own dissertation, I lost one entire month of August to a heady combination of over-ripe peaches, second-rate mystery novels and a home-organization project that resulted in exactly zero new pages written.
If you’ve just looked up from your own summer detours, increasingly aware that your dissertation hasn’t been cracked opened since June…I get it. I’ve been on both sides of this fence: the doctoral student trying to remember in September what her dissertation research questions were and the dissertation coach gently (or not so gently) guiding students back into the autumn scholarly fold.
The good news? Fall is the perfect season for academic renewal. For some, fall is the real season for resolutions, an even better time to start over than New Year’s. And you can use this natural transition point to rebuild your dissertation momentum (or even finish your dissertation).
Here’s how I recommend doing it.
1. Accept the Slump Without Guilt
Summer slumps happen to the best of us. In fact, dips in productive activity often happen because we’ve been working so hard. An overworked brain often seeks a change of scenery, even if that scenery is a Netflix binge. Go on, forgive yourself. We’ve discussed this before: guilt is the least productive motivator in the Ph.D. process.
2. Re-read Before You Re-write
If it’s been a while since you’ve looked at your dissertation draft, start by gently reacquainting yourself with your own words. Print the most recent chapter you worked on, make a cup of tea and read it as if you were your own curious colleague. Better yet: read some of it aloud. You’ll remember more than you think and you may even be pleasantly surprised.
3. Set Micro-Goals, Not Marathon Goals
A mistake I see repeatedly with my Ph.D. clients is assuming you can jump straight from the haze of summer to monastic-level productivity. You can’t. Start with an hour a day or a single section and let your momentum build. Consider it the academic equivalent of stretching before a run.
4. Add an Accountability Ritual
One student of mine had a standing Thursday lunch with a friend who was finishing her own thesis. She would print a page or two to read aloud and her friend would do the same. This low-stakes draft-sharing among friends kept each of them moving forward.
Find your ritual: a weekly check-in, a co-writing session, even a text exchange.
5. Make It Tangible and Visible
Whether you use a wall calendar or artfully curated sticky notes, create a visible trail of progress. I found watching the word count of my dissertation grow to be oddly satisfying; it quieted that “I’m getting nowhere” feeling that can sneak in during a long-term project.
Your September Invitation
September isn’t just a page on the calendar — it’s a seasonal opportunity to hit the reset button. You don’t have to finish your dissertation in the next few months. You just have to re-join the dissertation conversation with yourself, one gentle and deliberate word at a time.
And if you find yourself, reorganizing your sock drawer instead of writing? Well, call it “methodological procrastination” and try again tomorrow. Even seasoned academics know the value of a graceful re-boot.
There’s more. Get in touch. Dissertation Complete Coaching helps procrastinating dissertation writers get unstuck, move forward and, yes, graduate. We can help you!