Excuse me, it's Dr. Gradhacker

Clearly, the obnoxious title signifies that I have officially filed my thesis and finished grad school. Hooray. Although I have yet to receive my diploma, I did get a “receipt of filing” which literally has a gold star on it and, more notably, a See’s lollipop that says “Phinally Done” on it (with the Ph and D in bold just like that). Cute.

Now as for my lack of blogging, one may think it was because I was in a mad frenzy to finish my thesis and just didn’t have time for anything, in the spirit of How to Act Productive. I can honestly say, however, this was definitely not the case. I had plenty of time.

I just felt I didn’t have anything more to say.

I started this blog bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, suggesting this tip and that tip that would make you more productive. Then I realized some folks have these hilarious habits that make them seem productive, and are fun to make fun of, so I did — fully aware that I slip in and out of those characteristics all the time (e.g. bringing too much work on a plane and pretending I’ll do a lot over holidays, among others).

I then moved to a frame of mind where I realized that a lot of people who do cool things simply work well and work hard because they like it. So what additional comments are there to make? If you like it, you will end up making it past the various roadblocks of work-life that we all encounter.  And more than likely, you’ll put it enough hours to start to get good. Michael Jordan didn’t need a “system” to go practice. He liked basketball.

Wait, I’m not done with obvious analogies, here’s a better one: High school kids don’t need a “system” to try to get tail. They like getting tail, so they keep at it, over and over again, despite severe setbacks for all but the best looking of them, who everyone secretly hated. (not bad, huh?)

For me, after the first year or two, I simply didn’t like research anymore. It was work. So entered the productivity obsession. I figured there must be a magic pill that would make me damn good at what I do, thus increasing the chances of me liking it again.

Surprise. I didn’t find it.

But along the way I learned that the lack of magic pill doesn’t mean that there aren’t some useful tidbits you can pick up that makes the ride smoother or perhaps more efficient — most usefully from the people that have been there before.

That is my segue to the next couple of posts, which will be me recalling certain lessons I learned from my experience in grad school. They won’t translate to everyone, but they may help someone with something.

In a few days I’ll post the first, titled: Writing My Dissertation.

Good to be back.

Photo by: j.o.h.n. walker