How to Write a Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day

Completing your dissertation is extremely important to achieving your academic degree. Many studentsfail to earn degrees even though they completed all their course work because they do not finish their dissertation. These students are called "ABDs" (all but the dissertation). This tutorial will explain how to finish your dissertation by working only 15 minutes a day, earn your degree and avoid becoming another ABD.

Step 1: Select a dissertation topic that you love. Yes, your topic will need to be approved by your dissertation committee, but topic approval should not deter you from picking a topic you really want to spend time learning about. You are going to spend a lot of time on this topic, be sure you really are interested in it. Refine the topic with your dissertation adviser until it is one that both meets the committee expectation and is still a topic you want to pursue.

Step 2: Create an outline of your dissertation. Your outline should be a blueprint for your dissertation. Break the paper into parts so you can research and write the paper one part at a time. If you endeavor to write your paper as a series of parts rather than a huge assignment it will seem a lot less overwhelming.

As a student you have likely written many 20 pages in the course of a semester and you are unlikely to have written a 100+ paper. If you look at the dissertation as a series of 10 to 20 pages papers linked together it is easier than attempting to sit down and write one 100+ paper.

Step 3: Budget your time to determine how much time you will spend researching or writing per day. Too much research and you will never sit down to write. Too much writing and you may run out of things to say. Strike a balance. Make a schedule setting your expectations for yourself. Stick to your schedule making modifications only when absolutely necessary.

Step 4: Write every day. If you write two pages a day, then it will take you less than a semester to complete a 100 page thesis even if you take time off for breaks and some weekends. If you write only one page a day, then you can finish your thesis in under an academic year.

Commit to writing every day for at least 15 minutes. Use a timer if necessary. You can always chose to work longer. When you sit down to write you may find yourself in a zone and decide to write longer. If you commit to writing for only 15 minutes a day, your dissertation will soon be done.

Tips & Warnings:

1. Once you are done, consider publishing your dissertation as a book or in a scholarly journal.

2. As you work, consider presenting lectures on your dissertation topic to interested parties. The lecture can help you
develop your thesis with other interested parties who may not be at your home educational institution as well as serve as
incentive to keep working.

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