writing your phd in 15 minutes a day

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Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis (my reading notes)

The first book in a series of volumes I have been interested in reading is Joan Bolker’s “ Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis “.

First on my list of books is Joan Bolker's Writing your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day. Wishing had read this during grad school. pic.twitter.com/FBh9v3tjox — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

What sold me from Bolker isn't the advice she gives to PhD students, but the fact that she included a chapter for PhD ADVISORS. Golden. pic.twitter.com/u26z9V2YDd — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

Bolker takes a very similar approach to writing to the one that Joli Jensen preaches: you should have constant contact with a writing project (Bolker suggests at least 15 minutes every single day). For me, writing IS a way to get myself out of a writer’s block. For example, I am writing this blog post precisely to get out of a rut and find the headspace again where I can make final edits to a Revise/and/Resubmit (yes, yet another one!)

Bolker, Elbow, Skinner, @explorstyle and I all agree that we write TO THINK. I believe that's how we end up producing text that's solid. pic.twitter.com/0C3oATrywo — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

Bolker is right and that’s why her book works. You MUST write text for your doctoral dissertation at least 15 minutes every single day. This, obviously, doesn’t guarantee that you will finish the dissertation in 3, 4 or 5 years, but like Joli Jensen suggests in her book “ Write No Matter What ” ( which I’ve also written about here on my blog ), gives you constant contact with a writing project, and particularly low-stakes kind of contact. Reading Jensen’s Write No Matter What changed my life and cemented the thought that constant contact with a writing project is fundamental.

I champion the "write memorandums" and "scribble notes in your Everything Notebook" because that's how you "write your way in". #PhDChat pic.twitter.com/irVFyKl9hM — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

On the topic of advisors, I strongly disagreed with Bolker, particularly because I am kind of slightly famous on the internet, and therefore I felt like this was a jab at me. I do remember a professor at UBC telling me “you don’t want to do your PhD at Harvard only to have your advisor be travelling the world and forget about you”. I DO travel the world and my schedule is tremendously busy, but my students are my priority and I make sure to give them time, regardless of whether I am at a conference, workshop or doing fieldwork. As I said on Twitter, Elinor Ostrom was SUPER famous and she was an incredibly dedicated advisor. It’s not about the fame, it’s about making yourself (as a PhD advisor) available to answer questions and help your students.

Uh oh. The "setting writing quotas" convo. Pages vs words vs hours. Oh dear. Personally I've made much more progress setting small goals. pic.twitter.com/yQPCnbZ9y9 — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

As I said on Twitter, by now I know just about everyone suggests a daily writing practice, even if it is for just a tiny bit of time. Don’t ask me, ask Dr. Joan Bolker, and Stephen King.

This is going to make some people's blood boil but yes, Virginia, Bolker suggests the first thing in the morning is you should do is write. pic.twitter.com/T31C1eNhBg — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

I do not champion the 1,500 words or 5-10 pages a day approach. On the contrary, I suggest that we find a different measure of scholarly writing success: filling up sentences , completing paragraphs one idea at a time , and writing small bits and pieces of text ( 50-100-200 words a day ).

Jesus, I wish I had Bolker or King's speed. 1,250 words doesn't take them more than 1-2 hours? Some days all I generate is 50 words pic.twitter.com/uJzHxueYNJ — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

Bolker dislikes chaos and disorganization as much as I do, apparently. She encourages students to revise their processes/setup often. pic.twitter.com/Cy4MzIFG7n — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

The idea of a Dissertation Writing Group is useful. The main shortcoming with Bolker and just about every book I’ve read on writing is that they devote the least time to the final stages of the PhD dissertation (or of writing a book, like the conclusion, and how to put the book together). Yes, the best dissertation is the DONE dissertation but there isn’t a solid roadmap (or I haven’t seen it yet) for a student in the throes of final submission.

This shortcoming and oversight reaffirms my belief: no book is perfect and nobody covers everything that is needed, so there's always room. pic.twitter.com/lBy32MzQGA — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

This sentence sums up my feelings about Bolker: A MUST READ BOOK for all doctoral candidates.

Bottom line: PhD advisors – if you can, purchase this book and if you have the means (grant funds) acquire copies for our students. — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) May 12, 2018

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Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis

Expert writing advice from the editor of the Boston Globe best-seller, The Writer's Home Companion Dissertation writers need strong, practical advice, as well as someone to assure them that their struggles aren't unique. Joan Bolker, midwife to more than one hundred dissertations and co-founder of the Harvard Writing Center, offers invaluable suggestions for the graduate-student writer. Using positive reinforcement, she begins by reminding thesis writers that being able to devote themselves to a project that truly interests them can be a pleasurable adventure. She encourages them to pay close attention to their writing method in order to discover their individual work strategies that promote productivity; to stop feeling fearful that they may disappoint their advisors or family members; and to tailor their theses to their own writing style and personality needs. Using field-tested strategies she assists the student through the entire thesis-writing process, offering advice on choosing a topic and an advisor, on disciplining one's self to work at least fifteen minutes each day; setting short-term deadlines, on revising and defing the thesis, and on life and publication after the dissertation. Bolker makes writing the dissertation an enjoyable challenge.

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Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis (English Edition) 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

Expert writing advice from the editor of the Boston Globe best-seller, The Writer's Home Companion Dissertation writers need strong, practical advice, as well as someone to assure them that their struggles aren't unique. Joan Bolker, midwife to more than one hundred dissertations and co-founder of the Harvard Writing Center, offers invaluable suggestions for the graduate-student writer. Using positive reinforcement, she begins by reminding thesis writers that being able to devote themselves to a project that truly interests them can be a pleasurable adventure. She encourages them to pay close attention to their writing method in order to discover their individual work strategies that promote productivity; to stop feeling fearful that they may disappoint their advisors or family members; and to tailor their theses to their own writing style and personality needs. Using field-tested strategies she assists the student through the entire thesis-writing process, offering advice on choosing a topic and an advisor, on disciplining one's self to work at least fifteen minutes each day; setting short-term deadlines, on revising and defing the thesis, and on life and publication after the dissertation. Bolker makes writing the dissertation an enjoyable challenge.

• ISBN-13 978-0805048919
• Edition 1st
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Holt Paperbacks
• Publication date 15 Aug. 1998
• Language English
• File size 991 KB
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Product description

Amazon review.

While some of the book's advice is of interest only to dissertation writers, much of the information--on battling writer's block, for instance--is valuable to anybody engaged in writing. Rather than being filled with rules defining how to become a great writer, Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day is about finding the process by which you can be the most productive--it's a set of exercises that you can use to find out more about you and the way you write. Along the way, you'll do a bit of writing. And that's what matters, especially when you experience writer's block--as Bolker says, "Write anything, because writing is writing." With its helpful advice and supportive tone, Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day should be required reading for anyone considering writing a dissertation. --C.B. Delaney

About the Author

Editor of the best-selling The Writers Home Companion , Joan Bolker, Ed.D ., has taught writing at Harvard, Wellesley, Brandeis, and Bard colleges. She is currently a psychotherapist whose speciality is working with struggling writers. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003E74BPG
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Holt Paperbacks; 1st edition (15 Aug. 1998)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 991 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
• 1 in Test Guides - Graduate & Professional (English)
• 3 in Writing Skills (English)
• 4 in Publishing & Books (English)

About the author

Joan bolker.

Joan Bolker, Ed.D., has taught and counseled writers at Harvard, where she cofounded the Writing Center; at University of Massachusetts, Boston, where she began The Language Place; and at Wellesley, Brandeis, and M.I.T., where she was a psyco-therapist and writing consultant. She has coached the authors of more than one hundred doctoral dissertations and is currently a clinical psychologist who works with many writers in her private practice. She is the author of Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day.

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Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day

Joan bolker.

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

Expert writing advice from the editor of the Boston Globe best-seller, The Writer's Home Companion Dissertation writers need strong, practical advice, as well as someone to assure them that their struggles aren't unique. Joan Bolker, midwife to more than one hundred dissertations and co-founder of the Harvard Writing Center, offers invaluable suggestions for the graduate-student writer. Using positive reinforcement, she begins by reminding thesis writers that being able to devote themselves to a project that truly interests them can be a pleasurable adventure. She encourages them to pay close attention to their writing method in order to discover their individual work strategies that promote productivity; to stop feeling fearful that they may disappoint their advisors or family members; and to tailor their theses to their own writing style and personality needs. Using field-tested strategies she assists the student through the entire thesis-writing process, offering advice on choosing a topic and an advisor, on disciplining one's self to work at least fifteen minutes each day; setting short-term deadlines, on revising and defing the thesis, and on life and publication after the dissertation. Bolker makes writing the dissertation an enjoyable challenge.

• ISBN-13 978-0805048919
• Edition 1st
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Holt Paperbacks
• Publication date 15 Aug. 1998
• Language English
• File size 991 KB
• See all details
• Kindle (5th Generation)
• Kindle Keyboard
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• Kindle (1st Generation)
• Kindle Paperwhite
• Kindle Paperwhite (5th Generation)
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• Kindle Fire HDX 8.9''
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Product description

About the author, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003E74BPG
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Holt Paperbacks; 1st edition (15 Aug. 1998)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 991 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
• 47 in Graduate & Professional Test Guides
• 74 in Educational Research
• 323 in Publishing & Books

About the author

Joan bolker.

Joan Bolker, Ed.D., has taught and counseled writers at Harvard, where she cofounded the Writing Center; at University of Massachusetts, Boston, where she began The Language Place; and at Wellesley, Brandeis, and M.I.T., where she was a psyco-therapist and writing consultant. She has coached the authors of more than one hundred doctoral dissertations and is currently a clinical psychologist who works with many writers in her private practice. She is the author of Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day.

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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyses reviews to verify trustworthiness.

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Writing your dissertation in fifteen minutes a day : a guide to starting, revising, and finishing your doctoral thesis

Available online, at the library.

Law Library (Crown)

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Description

Creators/contributors, contents/summary.

• Choosing an advisor and a committee
• Getting started writing
• From zero to first draft
• Getting to the midpoint : reviewing your process and your progress
• Interruptions from outside and inside
• You, your readers, and the dissertation support group
• Revising : the second draft and beyond
• The best dissertation is a done dissertation
• Life after the dissertation.

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Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis Paperback – Aug. 15 1998

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 208 pages
• Language English
• Publication date Aug. 15 1998
• Dimensions 13.97 x 1.32 x 20.96 cm
• ISBN-10 080504891X
• ISBN-13 978-0805048919
• See all details

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From amazon.

While some of the book's advice is of interest only to dissertation writers, much of the information--on battling writer's block, for instance--is valuable to anybody engaged in writing. Rather than being filled with rules defining how to become a great writer, Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day is about finding the process by which you can be the most productive--it's a set of exercises that you can use to find out more about you and the way you write. Along the way, you'll do a bit of writing. And that's what matters, especially when you experience writer's block--as Bolker says, "Write anything, because writing is writing." With its helpful advice and supportive tone, Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day should be required reading for anyone considering writing a dissertation. --C.B. Delaney

About the Author

Editor of the best-selling The Writers Home Companion , Joan Bolker, Ed.D ., has taught writing at Harvard, Wellesley, Brandeis, and Bard colleges. She is currently a psychotherapist whose speciality is working with struggling writers. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Holt Paperbacks (Aug. 15 1998)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 080504891X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0805048919
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 203 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 1.32 x 20.96 cm
• #78 in Professional Test Preparation
• #1,073 in Writing Guides (Books)
• #2,298 in Foreign Languages (Books)

About the author

Joan bolker.

Joan Bolker, Ed.D., has taught and counseled writers at Harvard, where she cofounded the Writing Center; at University of Massachusetts, Boston, where she began The Language Place; and at Wellesley, Brandeis, and M.I.T., where she was a psyco-therapist and writing consultant. She has coached the authors of more than one hundred doctoral dissertations and is currently a clinical psychologist who works with many writers in her private practice. She is the author of Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day.

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Writing your dissertation in fifteen minutes a day

A guide to starting, revising, and finishing your doctoral thesis, by joan bolker.

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Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-172) and index. "An owl book."

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How to tackle the PhD dissertation

Finding time to write can be a challenge for graduate students who often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities. Mabel Ho provides some tips to make the process less daunting

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Writing helps you share your work with the wider community. Your scholarship is important and you are making a valuable contribution to the field. While it might be intimidating to face a blank screen, remember, your first draft is not your final draft! The difficult part is getting something on the page to begin with. 

As the adage goes, a good dissertation is a done dissertation, and the goal is for you to find balance in your writing and establish the steps you can take to make the process smoother. Here are some practical strategies for tackling the PhD dissertation.

Write daily

This is a time to have honest conversations with yourself about your writing and work habits. Do you tackle the most challenging work in the morning? Or do you usually start with emails? Knowing your work routine will help you set parameters for the writing process, which includes various elements, from brainstorming ideas to setting outlines and editing. Once you are aware of your energy and focus levels, you’ll be ready to dedicate those times to writing.

While it might be tempting to block a substantial chunk of time to write and assume anything shorter is not useful, that is not the case. Writing daily, whether it’s a paragraph or several pages, keeps you in conversation with your writing practice. If you schedule two hours to write, remember to take a break during that time and reset. You can try:

• The Pomodoro Technique: a time management technique that breaks down your work into intervals
• Taking breaks: go outside for a walk or have a snack so you can come back to your writing rejuvenated
• Focus apps: it is easy to get distracted by devices and lose direction. Here are some app suggestions: Focus Bear (no free version); Forest (free version available); Cold Turkey website blocker (free version available) and Serene (no free version). 

This is a valuable opportunity to hone your time management and task prioritisation skills. Find out what works for you and put systems in place to support your practice. 

• Resources on academic writing for higher education professionals
• Stretch your work further by ‘triple writing’
• What is your academic writing temperament?

Create a community

While writing can be an isolating endeavour, there are ways to start forming a community (in-person or virtual) to help you set goals and stay accountable. There might be someone in your cohort who is also at the writing stage with whom you can set up a weekly check-in. Alternatively, explore your university’s resources and centres because there may be units and departments on campus that offer helpful opportunities, such as a writing week or retreat. Taking advantage of these opportunities helps combat isolation, foster accountability and grow networks. They can even lead to collaborations further down the line.

• Check in with your advisers and mentors. Reach out to your networks to find out about other people’s writing processes and additional resources.
• Don’t be afraid to share your work. Writing requires constant revisions and edits and finding people who you trust with feedback will help you grow as a writer. Plus, you can also read their work and help them with their editing process.
• Your community does not have to be just about writing!  If you enjoy going on hikes or trying new coffee shops, make that part of your weekly habit.  Sharing your work in different environments will help clarify your thoughts and ideas.

Address the why

The PhD dissertation writing process is often lengthy and it is sometimes easy to forget why you started. In these moments, it can be helpful to think back to what got you excited about your research and scholarship in the first place. Remember it is not just the work but also the people who propelled you forward. One idea is to start writing your “acknowledgements” section. Here are questions to get you started:

• Do you want to dedicate your work to someone? 
• What ideas sparked your interest in this journey? 
• Who cheered you on? 

This practice can help build momentum, as well as serve as a good reminder to carve out time to spend with your community. 

You got this!

Writing is a process. Give yourself grace, as you might not feel motivated all the time. Be consistent in your approach and reward yourself along the way. There is no single strategy when it comes to writing or maintaining motivation, so experiment and find out what works for you. 

Suggested readings

• Thriving as a Graduate Writer by Rachel Cayley (2023)
• Destination Dissertation by Sonja K. Foss and William Waters (2015)
• The PhD Writing Handbook by Desmond Thomas (2016).

Mabel Ho is director of professional development and student engagement at Dalhousie University.

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Find the best tips and advice to improve your writing. Or, have a top expert write your paper.

How To Write Your Dissertation In 15 Minutes A Day

Dissertations can take a long time to finish. The good thing about it is that you have time to write it. However, you should not rush the process. You may have to struggle with motivation to work daily. You may even begin to think you have a lot of time on your hands to finish the dissertation.

Before you know it, you’ll have just a few weeks to turn in your paper. It may be difficult to produce your best work if you rush it. Try your best to create a decent paper. Experts recommend the 15-minute rule to follow while writing your paper. Is writing your dissertation in fifteen minutes a day feasible?

Some experts believe that it may take a longer time to finish the paper. Still, you can make the rule work in your favor, and it will keep you inspired enough to finish up. This guide will show you how to write your dissertation in 15 minutes a day.

What Does The 15-Minutes Rule Say?

This rule says that students should commit barely fifteen minutes daily to writing their dissertation. It means that you must write it no matter your mood, how you feel, or other problems you are facing at this time. Sometimes, it may get difficult to follow the routine and spend that time on analyzing data, reading, or penning down ideas on the topic. Still, you should try.

The trick is that this time is enough to serve as a warm-up so you can move to a valuable work session.

It is a very effective strategy, but you can still choose to get dissertation writing help from an expert.

Writing Your Dissertation In 15 Minutes A Day – Steps To Follow

Here’s a brief guide on how to write a dissertation for 15 minutes a day:

When the fifteen minutes elapse, evaluate the content you have written, and start to remove the irrelevant information.

• Expand All Work Sessions And Be As Productive As Possible When you get used to this rule, plan to add more 15-minute sessions per day. Expand the sessions and make them longer. This makes it easier to cope with the task of writing your dissertation. To succeed, you must dedicate at least fifteen minutes a day. It will really keep you motivated.

Whatever information you add to your dissertation should be both quantifiable and measurable. Remember that writing a dissertation is complicated, and you can always get writing help from experts.

Extra Tips For Writing Your Dissertation In 15 Minutes A Day

It can be very tough to dedicate time daily for your dissertation work. You have to analyze data, read, and put down your findings. This is why the 15-minute rule comes in. It smoothens the transition period from not being engaged to sitting down to write your dissertation daily.

With the rule, you must commit 15 minutes to the relevant parts of your dissertation.

You should get a dedicated timer for this purpose. Don’t rely on using your laptop time. After going over your work at the end of the fifteen minutes, you will feel inspired to continue. It is a lot like warming up before exercising. This one works for your brain.

This rule is an excellent way to repress a lack of inspiration that comes with working on long projects. No matter how clear or detailed your action plan or outline is, you may still feel some apathy towards working. You can lose days of work on your dissertation if you keep up with this system. When you implement the rule, it helps you to make discoveries, connect ideas, and analyze sources. This motivates you in the long run. But, there’s also nothing wrong with getting some help from others, or getting online cheap dissertation help .

It seems strange because it actually involves working before being inspired.

Start with fifteen-minute sessions daily and add a few more sessions daily. Two or three times spread out in the day is ideal. It is an excellent way to motivate yourself when you’re struggling to work.

In addition to this rule, you need to note that staying connected to the outlines, ideas, intellectual quandaries, argument, data, and your notes is important as well. These things keep your inspiration alive. Try to write or do dissertation work for just 15 minutes daily. After finishing the fifteen minutes, push yourself to add extra minutes. You can have a total of 30 minutes each session. Then, schedule another session for later in the day and repeat the strategy. If you engage in this rule consistently, you will be able to spend longer periods on your paper. Also, it can be a great way to teach yourself focus and discipline.

Get Dissertation Help Right Now

Writing a dissertation for 15 minutes a day requires a long period of time overall. What if you’re on a tight deadline? Instead of spending hours toiling over your work, you can hire expert dissertation writing help, and even pay for dissertation . Our service provides all kinds of assistance and we have the best writers in the business. So get in touch with us and ace your dissertation.

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