To be honest, I’m quite taken back by the scale of the response to a poll I posed on Twitter.
This was my first poll and it received 685 votes and almost 11,000 impressions.
I asked people what the biggest challenge to completing their thesis was – and this was their response:
I’m obviously aware, this self-selecting sample of Twitter engaged PhD students/academics is hardly going to pass the peer-review mark. However, I do think we can acknowledge that motivation is a significant barrier to academics completing.
This draws me to reflect on the motivational challenges that I experienced myself. In fact, I actually reflected on this in my own thesis:
I totally get it. I’ve been there before. The struggle to just get down to data analysis or thesis writing is so hard. What’s more, people outside of academia don’t often understand. This can make it feel more isolating. After all, you are the expert on your unique field of study.
And not many people want to know about it!
So what to do about it? Here are my top tips for addressing low motivation.
1. Do something on your thesis every day. Set yourself a really low bar goal so that you are getting that sense of achievement each day. This will help to build up some regular positivity.
2. Exercise. We all know about the physical health benefits, but there are also mental health benefits to regular movement.
3. Come back to your ‘why’. What was it that made you passionate about this thesis in the first place? How did it tap into what is important to you? What will it mean to you to get this thesis completed?
4. Write. Get into the practice of writing something every day. If you’re early on in the thesis, you can still be writing your introductory chapter. If you are really struggling, focus on the references. If you don’t want to go near your thesis, just write for five minutes about what’s going on for you. Write, write, write!
5. Connect. Speak to a colleague. A friend. A loved one. They may not want to know about your thesis, but they do care about you. Don’t let thesis block get in the way of your relationships.
I hope these tips have been helpful. You really are not the only one going through this. If you want to connect with me and find out how coaching can serve you, do get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.
