the Thesis 30

One of the (many) things I have learned while writing my thesis is that I will most definitely never get my PhD, that's for darn sure. Not because I don't enjoy research. Not because I don't enjoy learning. Not because I don't enjoy reading. I do. I enjoy all those things, extensively even, But the thesis? Geeez. It's a lot. A dissertation? No thank you.

The problems with writing a thesis are this:

1. If writing at home, you can find SO many other things that also need to be done. Cooking dinner, cleaning the house, playing with the dogs, watching TV, hanging out with the siblings.. ANYTHING really.. anything else.

2. If you can't write at home, you go somewhere. The library, a coffee shop, or my all-time favorite study spot, Panera. While I would love to study/write at Mill Mountain, that just can't happen since I work there. Too much work time. Plus you see too many people that you know and want to/have to chat with.The problem with writing elsewhere is you have to buy something. This gets expensive... and makes you fat. Freshman Fifteen is nothing next to the Thesis Thirty.

3. The internet. I would much rather be reading my favorite blogs, the news, checking my email, writing emails, updating my BLOG (yea yea, I know), checking my facebook (yes, I'm ashamed of this), updating my goodreads account, etc. And since I'm writing my thesis ON my computer, my internet is constantly ON. This, my friends, is a major distraction.

4. Pleasure reading. I am a book hound. I love reading. I have to always be reading for pleasure. In college, I would not allow myself to read for pleasure during classes because it took away from my school reading/school work, but now I need an escape.. I need to read for pleasure. But again, if you make me choose - thesis or pleasure reading? What am I going to choose?! Duh.

5. Work. In college, working and taking classes led me to be disciplined and manage my time well. Now, it's an excuse. If someone needs a shift taken, I should say no, but I don't. After being at work for 8 hours (even my mindless, glorious job that I love), I am still tired and unmotivated to work on my thesis.

Yes, there are other problems with the thesis. For instance, having to read related articles which is nearly impossible for me to do on the computer because it makes my eyes burn, yet the articles are so very long that I would be killing a forrest to print them all, not to mention spending all of my Mill Mountain money on paper and ink. But the major problems with the thesis are self-discipline. Which is why I have taken a week off of work to finish it completely! Next week is my official THESIS week. I have taken the entire week off of work to go hibernate at 'the Compound' with no distractions. I will not touch my email or Facebook for the entire week (forizzle). With 40 pages under my belt, I hope to pound out the last of them in a mere 7 days. It can happen. It will happen. And then, all that will be left, is my defense before I am a Master of Science :)