The Akashic Field Chronicle

I’ve always thought Jorge Cham’s PhD (Piled Higher and Deeper) Comics are simply brilliant, ever since someone recommended it to me at the start of my career as a grad student. Here’s one that’s very close to my heart right now:

Okay, I haven’t been in grad school that long and I definitely don’t have a kid yet, but I don’t want it to come to that either. I’ve actually been thinking a lot about this recently and I’ve come to the conclusion that I should finish my Masters as soon as possible. This way I can move on with my career path as early as possible. Whether that is to teach, to work in the industry, or to go straight to a PhD (I’m kinda hoping for this last one).

Full-time Master students in our department are expected to finish in 2 years. However, the sad reality is that I don’t really know of anyone (especially not among those who also teach), who have actually managed this. The course work isn’t really a big issue, since they don’t really fail a lot of people in grad classes. It ultimately boils down to how long it takes for you to finish your thesis. From what I’ve observed, that can be really long time.

The Problem of Focus

Why do people take forever on their thesis? I’m not exactly sure. Since it’s my first semester working on mine, I can’t really be considered as an authority on the matter. It’s safe to say though, that a lot of it’s got to do with maintaining focus.

A graduate level thesis usually involves a lot of open-ended research work. This is in contrast with most undergraduate work which follows a very strict schedule, usually in the form of a syllabus which they give to you at the start of the semester, or maybe a course checklist. Point is, you know exactly what to expect, and if you work hard enough, there really shouldn’t be any reason to spend a long time in college (okay, maybe that’s not exactly true).

In actual research, you constantly find yourself stumped by some new problem, or maybe an unexpected result. There’s also usually so much happening that you find yourself distracted all the time.

My Plan

I want to finish my thesis this semester. I really do. So what am I gonna do about it? Remove all distractions and try to maintain focus. Of course, that’s not exactly a walk in the park. So, what I’ve done, is to lay out a plan which I’ll try to stick to as close as I possibly can until I manage my goal.

That’s actually the main reason I’m writing this post. I love writing down my plans. Plain and simple, clear and concise, listed down on paper (ok, on a blog). Most of it, I’ve actually managed to do in the past month or so. Others, I still have to work on. Some of them might seem really extreme to a lot of people, but then again, extreme cases call for extreme measures.

1. Zero Distractions – The amount of distractions you run into in a single day is staggering. I think, the best way not to be distracted is to not allow for the possibility at all.
   • Email – I only check my email once a day (in the evening).
   • IMs – I have actually turned off my instant messenger by removing it at start-up. If you want to reach me, use email (which again, I only check once a day).
   • Feeds – Same as email. I might not even read them at all in a day.
   • Blogging – Ummm… I’m blogging right now. Haha. Just on the weekends I guess.
   • Stocks – I initially planned to stay “in-cash” (i.e. no stock) and have managed to sell everything at a decent price. However, now that the market seems to be swinging up again, a friend suggested that it might be a better idea to pick some “blue-chips” and then just check on them once in a while. (I chose, ABS-CBN, Metrobank, and First Gen)
   • Web in general – I try to avoid the web if possible since I consider it the #1 reason for being distracted
2. Forming a habit - Plans like these are easier to implement if you make them part of your routine.
   • Office Time – I arrive at school at exactly the same time (8:00 am) every single day. That’s a feat, considering I have almost 2 hours of travel time
   • Break Time – Strictly 1 hour for lunch. That’s it.
   • Work Time – I do teach, so I can’t really neglect my duties. However, I try not to be distracted too much by it. I can always devote more time on this after I graduate if I decide that this is what I really want.
3. Thesis Work – The key part of this plan is really the schedule. I have outlined everything that I have to do in order to finish my thesis and I regularly check if I’m still on schedule.
   • Adviser Updates – Every week, I will email an update to my adviser. No matter how little work I actually managed to do. This way, someone can track my progress, besides me.
   • Publication – I try to motivate myself to work by aiming for a conference. My adviser suggested submitting to this conference in Hungary. This way I have a deadline which is beyond my control.

That’s it. That’s my plan to finish my thesis either this sem or the next. Hopefully, this will allow me to graduate by April 2009. I’ll bookmark this entry so that I’m constantly reminded that I made this plan. If you know me, and you find me slacking about, just tell me that you read this post so I will remember my plan.

Please pray for me. See you in April!