Any advice for an overachiever?

ShantiOm

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting to this thread, I am 37, have a wonderful career and am in the process of writing my doctoral dissertation.  After receiving news of my pregnancy this is the icing on the cake.  I am just feeling overwhelmed and not wanted to write my dissertation and want to look at baby stuff all the time!  This is the last step in my life goal and I need to get it done.  Any advice to keep me focused on writing instead?

Thanks for listening! 

CarolynTheRed

I wish I had advice, since I'm in a similar situation. I really want to figure out where my PhD is going, and more particularly, if I need to rework my research to land me somewhere I want to work afterwards. But it's hard to focus, especially since I'll be taking a couple terms parental leave, and may change supervision after.

I'm trying to put myself on a sort of schedule, put the "obsess about cloth diaper choices" hour into a time slot, after the "Read another paper from ICSE" hour, and before the "Create a make-up exam" two hours. Maybe it will work.

Nita14701

I have no advice. I've just changed my procrastination areas of interest to focus on baby related reading. I tried to put myself on a schedule of getting back into the swing of things and reading articles again and working on proposal, but I keep goofing off.  I am totally lacking any motivation to work on dissertation.

JennyP1

All I can suggest is that you find time to work on it now, because if you think you are distracted during pregnancy...just wait until you have that little infant to care for. Then it's really hard to devote much time to anything but them for a long while. Not to mention being a zombie for the first few months due to lack of sleep

Maybe you can set aside some time to work on your dissertation and then reward yourself by looking at baby stuff.

Good luck!

3rdat40

While you are looking for your lost motivation, could you keep a look out for mine as well? I know it's out there somewhere, LOL!

I am a teacher and had a list of projects to get done over the summer, but between the naseau, tiredness, and keeping up with my kids who are now on summer break, I haven't had much success tackling my list. I am still in my first trimester, so I am hoping that my energy and motivation come back during the second trimester!

Maybe you can set up a reward system for yourself? Say, if you spend X hours writing you will spend X time on baby things?

stever

I have no advice as all my productivity goes out the window when I'm pregnant. Good luck, though!

benniferbaby

Hmm, that's a tough one. I was in the same boat back in January and Feb while studying for the NY bar exam, but that had a finite date and I still had many months ahead of me, so it was easier to stay (mostly) on track. I've no idea how long it will take to complete a dissertation, but PP said it best - if you think you're distracted now, just WAIT. Plus, being that this is the last goal you want to accomplish and now here you are, keep in mind that completing your doctorate goal should come first right now. I doubt that anything other than LO will ever come first again once he or she arrives!

jennypasadena

I'm  a PhD dropout, so probably not the best example for you!  I find I'm very "project-oriented" and of course, the baby is the most interesting project.  But I try to create work in the form of projects at work, and then it's easier to be productive.  I absolutely can't just go about the boring day-to-day at work and concentrate, though.  

MAtoNC

I defended my dissertation at about 14 weeks pregnant, revised the document and turned it in at the deadline for graduation about 2.5 months before delivery.

I think the thing that kept me motivated was fear. Fear of not finishing. There is no way I would have been able to get anything done once DS was born.

One suggestion would be to organize tasks related to the diss and then reward yourself with something baby-oriented when you complete each one. 

ShantiOm

Great advice everyone!!!  Thanks so much for letting me know the last thing i will want to do when the baby arrives is work on this.  I will give myself a kick in the rear!