Dissertation Nemesis

nem·e·sis (noun) : an opponent or enemy that is very difficult to defeat

Right now I am struggling through my PHD thesis. Calling it my nemesis would not be an understatement. Even though I am in the home stretch, motivation to finish it has been hard to come by. I recently read Reality is Broken and starting toying with an Alternate Reality Game to find the element of fun and make this job a game. This was inspired by the part of the book talking about SuperBetter, an alternate reality game to help with injury recovery. While SuperBetter could conceivable be used to motivate thesis work, I think some variations are needed. In particular, every PHD student is working on a thesis and could use a support group. Hence, the dissertation version is more of a team game than SuperBetter.

In this game, you and your fellow dissertaters are part of some team working together for some purpose, like protecting the world. But each team member has their personal adversary, their Nemesis, that they alone can defeat. The team can and should support each other in this endeavor, but no kill stealing. Two obvious ways to theme your team would be the Justice League or the Avengers. They are working together to save humanity, but each has their own personal enemy. Thor has Loki, Captain America has HYDRA, the Incredible Hulk has his anger issues and Robert Downy Jr. Tony Stark his alcoholism.

The first step is to assemble your team. This means recruiting like Nick Furry. Your team can come from any discipline. It doesn't have to be just people in your program or sub-sub-sub-specialty of your program. In fact, it is helpful to have other perspectives and not have to worry that you are directly competing with those on your team. Recruitment is probably the hardest step. Programs tend to be very insular, especially near the end. Just remember that everyone is in the same boat as you and wants people to commiserate and support them through this. Don't get discouraged. It took Nick Furry 6 movies before he could get the entire Avengers team together.

Once you have assembled your team, everyone needs to pick their in game identity and Nemesis. Your group doesn't need to have as tight themeing as the Justice League or Avengers. Mixing DC and Marvel is perfectly fine. Or a mash-up like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen does for classic literature or Fables for faerie tales.

Picking your nemesis is as important as who you are. This dichotomy represents the major focus of your energies. While some characters, like Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty, are easy to pair, others are much harder. Batman has so many great opponents in his rouges' gallery that you can really fine tune you Nemesis to how your thesis feels to you. Maybe it is the Riddler if your thesis is an enigma to solve. Or perhaps the Joker because your dissertation is just wonton destruction and chaos. Or Ra's al Ghul if you keep having to rewrite the same portion of your thesis over and over again. I would just recommend against Captain Ahab chasing the white whale as that doesn't end well.

Once you have your team and nemesis, you need a base of operations. The Avengers have the S.H.E.I.L.D. helicarrier and the Justice League their satellite. This is your teams safe area. It is a place you can go and talk shop without reservations. It could be a lounge in your department, some meeting room on campus or even your groups' favorite coffee house. Any place you can all gather and talk about the dissertation writing process comfortably will do. In addition, also schedule a weekly meeting there. During this meeting your team should discuss how they are faring against their nemesis. Is the battle going well? Do they need some help? What are people worried about that is coming up? This way the team can support each other and help those that are struggling.

Contact with your team should not be limited to just the weekly meetings. Members of your group should be in contact daily. This does not mean talking to everyone every day. If you know someone predicted a hard week or had a hard previous week, check in to see how they are doing. Conversely if you are struggling, don't be afraid to reach out, that is what your team is for. This can be as simple as and e-mail, Facebook Post or text. Or if someone needs something bigger people can meet up for lunch or coffee to help formulate strategies.

Outside of the normal meetings and check-ins, having group writing sessions is extremely valuable. Having everyone gather to write for a few hours is a great commitment device. In this scenario, all your nemesis have banded together to create a super team to challenge your own. Only a concerted, joint effort can push them back. This is a great way to start the game or re-set people's writing if their schedules have gotten screwed up.

Finally, you need goals and achievements. Goals are things that you have set out to do and achievements are things that other people bestow upon you. Both are important to the process. Goals enable you to focus your efforts. Achievements show you hidden strengths and provide positive reinforcement.

Clearly, your ultimate goal is the defeat of your Nemesis finishing your dissertation. This should be broken into smaller pieces so that every day you can complete a goal. Goals should vary in length and difficulty with some of them being quite a stretch. Short term goals can be like writing a page of text or finishing a subsection. Stretch goals are things that you would like to see in your dissertation that aren't key to its completion. Keep a running list of these and update your team on your progress at the meetings. This provides both a way to track progress and a commitment device for accomplishing your goals.

Achievements aren't things you can work for but can give others. They should be recognitions of a job well done or acknowledgments of a strength the person is overlooking. Obvious achievements would be congratulations for finishing a chapter or surviving giving a presentation on your work. Smaller ones could be about regaining momentum after a speed bump or making a really cool graphic for your thesis. Even things like recognition for a very cool turn of phrase in the text or handling a tough adviser meeting are achievement worthy.

Everyone should make an effort to hand out achievements to other people and publicize them. Group meetings are a good place for them as everyone is there. But even during a daily check in they can be awarded if you think the person has done something achievement worthy which they might have overlooked. So if you see Batman working for 8 hours straight, especially if he has never done this before, telling the group that he is a Diligent Detective would be in order.

Doing a dissertation is a unique experience, which can be very isolating. The alternate reality game outlined above is an attempt to create a framework where dissertaters can socialize around their work. Its goal is to provide a support network of like minded individuals so you can push each other over the hump and finish your thesis. I am not sure it is complete in its current form, but should provide a good starting point. Hopefully, I'll assemble a team and be able to post updates to the rules as we play.