Dissertation Skills

Over the months I've been doing my research, it is difficult to detect any improvement.  I feel like I"m going around in circles.  I just encountered a line in a book, Talent is Overrated, that gives this warning: "Extensive research in a wide range of fields shows that many people not only fail to become outstandingly good at what they do, no matter how many years they spend doing it, they frequently don't even get any better than they were when they started" (p. 3). While it is sad that people feel like they don't have to get any better at what they're doing, and they can just keep on keepin' on, I think that's exactly what I've been doing in my dissertation research just to stay afloat.  And yet I'm reminded of another quote, "What e'er thou art, do well thy part."  I don't know how long I'll be doing this research, so I might as well get better at it.

While I realize sometimes there is seemingly no pattern at all to dissertation research, I believe there are many skills which, perhaps if I practiced, would help me get better at being a Ph.D. student.  Here are some skills I feel might contribute to my becoming a better graduate student, that would be interesting to observe in myself...

Dissertation Skills

Work/Concentration Skills

• Setting a goal for what to find before going on to something else (or checking fb)
• Setting goals each time I sit to work
• Working for a chunk of time
• Sticking with a particular topic
• getting more specific within the topic
• Recording progress 
• Drinking enough water 
• Good posture/ergonomics for working on the computer
• Typing skills (speed, accuracy) 
• Avoiding bad habits (the ones you don't think about while reading/doing something else)
• No self-pity!

 Literature Review Skills

• summarizing articles
• where to skim vs. where to deep dive
• using the right search terms, databases
• Keeping track of search terms and databases
• creating a system with note-taking/citation tools
• aligning searches with set topic
• Finding joy in my learning
• Sharing/Articulating what I find
• Note-taking skills 
• When reading an article, look into articles that cite that article, and articles that are cited by that article (forwards and backwards)

Reading Skills (speed, comprehension, enjoyment)

• # of articles/books read each day 
• "reading to write" - finding the points I need from the things I read

Committee Skills

• Meeting with committee members regularly, to be accountable for what I say I will do
• Communicating where I'm at to the people who need to know
• Understanding/articulating what my committee members are suggesting
• Making discussion points to prepare for conversations
• Taking notes afterwards to remember/parse conversation take-aways
• Setting a next appointment before the end of the conversation
• Acting on the conversations
• Asking for help at the right times, from the right people
• Welcoming Correction/Taking correction well (not being a pushover, but not blowing up at committee members)
• Pacing changes in my dissertation (changes in direction, in drafts, in committee members, not getting impatient or acting too quickly)
• Organizing people
• Making meetings as efficient as possible 
• Expressing gratitude for the help I receive 
• Being patient with committee members
• Being firm with committee members

Learning Community Skills

• Volunteering time and effort to help others in their research
• Finding connections between what I'm studying and things that might help others
• Building human capital/Networking 
• Giving Back to my Department
• Communicating articulately and accurately with others what I am working on and the status of my research

Presentation Skills

• Looking for opportunities to  present what I'm working on
• Making presentations interesting
• Writing academically, but making it interesting
• Feeling confidence in myself (aligning thoughts/words to end goal)
• Making deliberate attempts to articulate my project and my work to other people

Faith/Academics Balance

• Remembering to pray for help/opportunities
• knowing how I feel about my topic
• understanding the topic's significance for my personal life
• believing in my future
• Forgiving others

Life Balance Skills

• Doing things with friends-- People skills, Being polite, being relaxed, being funny, having fun
• Prioritizing research with school/church/family/community responsibilities
• exercise, diet
• Acknowledging the good things that are happening in my life from my dissertation experience
• trying new things
• Remembering my talents/hobbies that are not developed through the dissertation research
• when to engage in outside projects to develop practical skills not being developed through dissertation research