Reflections on Dissertation Work 

July 10th, 2023

Genaro “Chip” Iglesias

Moving from learning the building blocks that support a dissertation journey to executing the writing based on the literature takes time and effort. The greatest challenge to overcome is synthesizing the relevant content in the literature, given the vast amount of information. The biggest challenge has been transitioning from learning building blocks to dedicating the proper time to identifying the literature, notating, and reading for depth. Enough time has yet to be available to develop a depth of knowledge to have confidence in drafting a literature review. I want to have a firmer grasp of literature at this stage. I remind myself that it is part of the journey, but not being in more control feels like uncharted territory.

The pace slows down when more relevant content is identified, requiring efficiency yet mastered. More time is needed for researching, skimming, notating, and reading in depth before drafting dissertation sections. My pace moves forward when I decide which content supports my topic. Focusing my work on each heading and subheading will help increase my attention to the relevant literature. I need to improve my writing pace to feel better about my progress.