Your 2025 Dissertation Journey Starts Now

by | Dec 22, 2024

BY JESSICA PARKER

Your 2025 Dissertation Journey Starts Now

We are writing in the era of the digital dissertation – or as some scholars call “the postdigital era.” This digital landscape is full of both opportunities and pitfalls.

I recently wrote a draft of a textbook chapter on the perils and promises of technology for the second edition of “Finish Your Dissertation Once and For All” (co-authored by Drs. Alison Miller & Desi Richter). While writing, I found myself reflecting on the challenges doctoral students face in today’s digital age.

For the past two years, my research has focused on generative artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on academic research and doctoral writing pedagogy. Like many of our clients, I’ve personally grappled with digital distractions and the double-edged nature of technology while working on my research and writing projects. These experiences inspired me to share some strategies for dissertation success in 2025.

Understand the New Dissertation Landscape

Opportunities exist in the form of digital resources such AI research tools, AI academic coaches, data analysis tools, and even AI email assistants. Each of these resources, when wielded ethically and responsibly, can help streamline aspects of your work.

On the other hand, we live in a world where interruptions and digital distractions abound. When you’re online, the opportunity to use powerful tools exists alongside a cognitive environment that our brains simply weren’t designed to handle. The constant stream of information leads to cognitive overload, making it difficult to maintain focus and process information. Understanding this reality is crucial as you make decisions about how to traverse this postdigital landscape. You need a deliberate plan that works with—not against—your brain’s natural capabilities. And like any good plan, it should begin with taking inventory. 

    Take Inventory of Your Digital Resources

     Making a viable plan for 2025 begins not only with understanding the world in which you are writing but your relationship to that world. 

    We all have different work patterns — some of which serve us and some that don’t. Finally, we all have resources in the form of support systems. In order to set yourself up for dissertation success in 2025, take inventory in these three areas.

    A reminder: taking inventory takes time. Use these questions as a guide and write down your answers. You can’t use what you haven’t taken stock of, so allot some time this December, and take inventory. I included examples under each question to give you some ideas. 

    Technology Inventory

    1. What digital tools do I currently have access to?
      • Hardware: laptop, tablet, noise-canceling headphones, second monitor
      • Writing tools: Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Scrivener
      • Research tools: Zotero, EndNote, MAXQDA, NVivo, SPSS
      • AI tools: ChatGPT, Claude, Elicit for literature reviews
      • Cloud storage: Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive
      • Focus apps: Forest, Freedom, RescueTime
    2. Which of these digital tools are absolutely necessary for my work?
      • Core essentials: laptop, word processor, reference manager
      • Research-specific: qualitative or quantitative analysis software
      • Organization tools: cloud storage (pick one platform)
      • Focus tools: noise-canceling headphones, website blocker 
    3. Which of these digital tools create distractions?
      • Multiple chat apps running simultaneously
      • Email notifications on all devices
      • Too many browser tabs open
      • Social media apps on your work device
      • Multiple reference managers causing confusion
      • Scattered files across different cloud platforms

    Working Conditions

    1. When do I do my best focused work?
      • Early morning before emails start coming in
      • Late evening when the house is quiet
      • Two-hour blocks after exercise
      • Weekends when there are fewer interruptions
    2. Where do I do my best focused work?
      • University library private study room
      • Home office with door closed
      • Local coffee shop with good WiFi
      • Co-working space away from home
      • Campus graduate student workspace
    3. What conditions help me maintain concentration?
      • Physical conditions: good lighting, comfortable chair, proper desk height
      • Environmental: cool room temperature, white noise or silence
      • Temporal: 50-minute focused sessions with 10-minute breaks
      • Personal: water bottle nearby, healthy snacks, regular movement breaks
      • Social: accountability partner check-ins, “do not disturb” status active

    Resources (distinct from tools – these are your support systems)

     

    1. What resources do I already have in place?
      • People: dissertation chair, committee members, writing group peers
      • Academic: university writing center, statistics consulting service
      • Professional: dissertation coach, editor, transcription service
      • Institutional: library access, research databases, software licenses
      • Personal: supportive family members, understanding roommates
    2. What additional resources might I need?
      • Academic support: methodology expert, statistics consultant
      • Personal support: childcare provider, meal prep service
      • Professional development: writing workshops, methodology training
      • Wellness support: counseling services, exercise routine
      • Community: dissertation writing group, academic Twitter network
    3. How do I go about getting these resources?
      • University resources: Schedule appointments with research librarians, writing center
      • Department resources: Apply for graduate research funding, travel grants
      • Professional resources: Research dissertation coaches, editors
      • Community resources: Join academic writing groups, attend workshops
      • Personal resources: Have conversations with family about needed support
      • Tip: Don’t forget to think about the resources offered by your university!

    Create Your Foundation for Dissertation Success in 2025

    Too often we launch into a New Year with ambitious plans. Our intentions are good, but our plans are not realistic. While optimism is a powerful tool, we when we make plans that are overly optimistic, not based upon our actual capacity, we can easily fall prey to the planning fallacy. When this happens, we may feel good about our plans, but, because we have a created plan that is not realistic, we set ourselves up for failure before we even begin. 

    Let’s do things differently in 2025, shall we? 

    Let’s use the winds of optimism that comes with a new year to build structures that support our work. If you are looking to start your new year strong, now is the time to put the architecture in place that will help you succeed.

    This architecture consists of three pillars:  A strong support system, digital boundaries, and sustainable practices.  

    Design Your Support System

    Do not underestimate the importance of your support system. A strong support system supports your well being and can help you persist when the going gets rough. Your support system consists of the people and resources that provide you with help. A friend may offer you encouragement or practical support. A peer may provide you with accountability. Research and writing resources can help clarify your research design. Consider the following as you purposefully build your support system.

    • Key people who will support your journey
    • Research available resources at your institution
    • The amount of time you actually have in a week to devote to your work
    • Technological resources (laptops, headphones)
    • Writing resources (dissertations your chair has passed, research & writing tools)
    • Coaches & writing groups

    Reach out today to people in your life who want to support you and ask them if they will help you in the New Year. Gather the resources you need to hit the ground running. Offload any responsibilities you can so that you can preserve your most valuable resources — your time and energy. 

    Establish Your Digital Boundaries

    We often think of the new year as a magical time, and in some ways, the energy of the new year can usher in periods of improved productivity. Here’s the truth, however: Every day in 2025 will have exactly the same number of hours as in 2024, and digital distractions will be just as present as they are now unless you start practicing how to create boundaries around your time now. To practice setting boundaries around your dissertation work: 

    • Set specific times for checking email and text messages. 
    • Close your email when you are not checking messages. Tip: Don’t check email   unless you are in a position to respond. Otherwise, what’s the point?
    • Turn off all notifications while you work.
    • Set a focus message on your phone so that people know you are working.
    • Put your designated writing times on your calendar.
    • Plan designated offline writing periods.
    • Close all unnecessary tabs.

    Build Sustainable Practices

    Remember that all of this boundary setting and taking stock needs to happen prior to beginning anew on your dissertation. For a practice to become a habit, it needs time to take root. Everything, everywhere, all at once is not the mantra that leads to dissertation success. As you practice creating digital boundaries and calling upon your support system, you are setting yourself up for dissertation work that is sustainable. To create a writing practice that you can sustain throughout 2025: 

    • Develop routines that align to how you work. If you are not a morning person, don’t plan to get up at 5:00 a.m. on January 2nd to write. If you work best on weekends, then offload the Saturday morning soccer drop off for your kid. In a nutshell, work with your proclivities because you are the one doing this work.
    • Plan for both optimal and challenging days. Fact: you are not always going to feel at your best. Life is going to happen. If you plan every day as if you are going to be working at breakneck speed, you will most likely burn out. Categorize your writing tasks so that if you are under the weather or tired, you can pull from a list of less difficult tasks (e.g. proofreading, reference work). Progress is progress, but not every day is a banner day. Consistently showing up to work and allowing the work to be imperfect will lead you toward completion. Count on it.
    • Include regular breaks and self-care in your schedule. Set timers to come up for air, get a snack, take a walk, or simply rest, and when you take a break, really allow it to be a break (not switching to answering texts or working in another capacity). In addition to scheduling breaks, ask yourself this question: what activities actively nurture me physically, mentally, and emotionally? Put these activities on your calendar, and . . . go to bed, doctoral student. No revenge bedtimes, okay? 

        Plan with Flexibility

        As you plan, keep in mind that your plan is meant to serve you and not the other way around. You need structure, but you also need to let your plan breathe. One of the best ways to allow a plan to breathe is to infuse it with kindness. This attitude of kindness may not align with how you have been trained to think of “hardcore academics,” but can we all be honest for a moment about just how much of our conditioning to work as academics is not in our own best interest as humans? A humane plan is a flexible plan.

        A flexible plan entails the following elements:

        • The plan breaks work into monthly, weekly and daily goals.
        • The plan includes buffer time for when life throws you a curveball. It will. 
        • The plan contains a contingency plan for when your technology decides it needs the day “off” (e.g. malfunctions). 
        • The plan includes moments for you to pause, check-in, and if necessary, recalibrate.

         

        Remember: You’re Not Alone

        The dissertation journey can feel pretty lonely, but you don’t have to navigate it by yourself. Whether you’re working with abundant resources or carefully maximizing limited ones, there are ways to create a sustainable approach that works for your situation. Read that again. There is a way forward for you in 2025. Dedicating the time this year to make next year a success is well worth the effort, and remember that additional support is here. 

        Let’s make 2025 your year of dissertation success!