A phone conversation with my mentor a few weeks ago highlighted a problem I am having with my dissertation that is compounded by working full time (and more so in the last few months) and trying to still be present with the family; dropping the ball. My dissertation proposal has stalled in this state of being unsure about the problem, the research, the everything. It was so confusing that I was allowing myself to dig into working insane hours and agreeing to bad projects at work. I was trying to do anything vs. trying to do something.
My mentor and I agreed to speak via phone and talk through what was going on and the feelings I was experiencing of uncertainty, confusion, frustration, and inadequacy. The good news is that these feelings were commonplace at this phase of the process and compounded by the work full time-study full time aspect of going to school as an adult.
I was thankful to hear that I was experiencing something normal and that this was the real point of proving my metal. I was so thankful that I inquired about how I can press on vs. step out. My mentor informed me that sometimes beginning with the end in mind is helpful (who would have thought Covey was right on this? ha). Her guidance was to understand the problem in general and select a sample population then work from there on the design. It seemed like cheating to do that but in the world of being a scholar, practitioner, leader, we need to find a process that is academically and business sound. This might work.
We discussed a few other ideas for my project like using only podcasts or linking blogs and podcasts through a literature search. We talked about sample size and the statistical analysis. All helpful conversations. I felt re-energized with the project again.
So I’ve set off to get some initial documentation completed and working a bit backwards to accomplish the while goal. Thanks Maureen!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
