The evolution of my thesis (and I believe of many other students) follows a similar exponential development, with a lighting-speed sprint before the finish line.

I went to middle school and high school in Kenya and one of my favourite places to visit was (and still is) the Museum of Nairobi National Park (by the way, the movie “Night at the Museum” does not do its magnificent exhibits justice). A very memorable exhibit is the “Evolutionary Clock” which compresses the evolution of the Earth (about 4 billion years) into a 24-hour day. On this clock, eukaryotic cells only appeared around 2pm, and multicellular organisms made their entry around 8 pm. Dinosaurs arrived an hour before midnight, followed by mammals at 11:39 pm, and humans at 11:58:43 pm.

The evolution of my thesis (and I believe of many other students) follows a similar exponential development, with a lighting-speed sprint before the finish line. During the first five and a half years, I completed coursework, learned the basics of my field and figured out 1001 ways to set up my experiment, so I would not get reproducible results.  Five months before graduation, my methods were finalized, and I finally produced publication-quality data three months before the thesis deadline. My thesis committee then gave me the green light to graduate, and scheduled my defense less than 3 weeks later. Twenty days to be exact. Twenty days is less than 1% of a six-year doctoral program (about 15 minutes on a 24-hour clock), but I have more vivid memories of those twenty days than the rest of my years in the program put together. I had twenty days to put together a 50-slide presentation and write my thesis.

How did I pull through? Here are the top five strategies that kept me going:

1. Summarize your dissertation in one sentence. This is called the thesis statement. For example, “The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of XYZ mutation on the development of tumours (result) in order to gain a better understanding of the causes of cancer (purpose).” Write this sentence somewhere where you can see it all day. You will become more focused when you repeat it to yourself several times a day.
2. Keep writing, even if you are out of ideas. As you write, ideas will come to mind and will eventually make it onto the computer screen. If you are really out of ideas, write 3 letter-size pages by hand. I have tried this strategy hundreds of times, and I always have a few usable ideas by the end of the three pages.
3. Pesky little thoughts popping into your head? What to make for dinner? Need to call XYZ or check your email? All those can (and must) wait. Keep a little notepad next to you and jot down all your to-dos until the end of the day. They will not seem so urgent by then.
4. Write every day, preferably at the same time and place. If you have a few months to write, aim for at least 2 pages a day. If you need extra motivation, ask someone to read your thesis by a certain day. External deadlines can do wonders for your productivity.
5. Remember that no one wrote a doctoral thesis in one day. Build up your arguments gradually. Begin with your core statements and add more arguments and references as you write. Each time you proofread, you will probably get more insights to enhance your writing. Complete your abstract at the end.

Finally, visualize yourself defending your thesis every day. What will you tell your audience? What was the purpose of your thesis? How did you contribute to your field of research? What are the 3 to 5 chapters of your thesis about? The more vividly you imagine your defense and your written thesis, the more focused you will become. Soon, you will become unstoppable, writing and proofreading without the need for external motivation.

A final piece of advice: Aim for excellence, not perfection. No matter how many times you read it over, you will make little corrections here and there. The priority is to confirm that your data and references are correct, and your arguments are built up logically. Once your thesis is 98% complete, it is time to let it go. If you want to be extra diligent, give it to a friend (in exchange for reading their thesis), in case they notice any small imperfections.

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For more ideas, here are a few books and resources:

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

• Writing the Doctoral Dissertation by Gordon Davis

• Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process by Kjell Erik Rudestam