23 DIFFERENT SHADES OF A DOCTORATE STUDENT – can you spot your type?

"Humour is the sunshine of the mind". 

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

This should be fun 😀 

Can you spot your doctorate persona? Or know anyone fitting into one of these types??

1 You’re the Half and Half. A lazy bum but an ox at work.

2 The Drifter. Everything excites you. No anchor.

3 The Shifter. Can’t think for themselves.

4 The Dreamer. Shirking responsibilities. No care for priorities. Lives to daydream.

5 The Ideal Prototype. Damn you and your well balanced perfection.

6 The Content One. Guided by their schedule. An achiever.

7 The Mother Hen. Always ready to put a pause on their priorities to help another.

8 The One Who Insists That Things Must Be Their Way. Living in a bubble.

9 Sherlock Holmes. Always inquisitive and strategic with a plan for everything. Moody too.

10 The Huh Type. Always unsure. Now what? Help!

11 The Diplomat. Considers everyone’s views. Nice chap. Not capable of critique.

  

12 The Ying Yang Type. Can’t work solo. Must work in pairs. Supervisor must hold hand.

13 The Perfectionist. Things must be in a certain order. Forever planning.

14 The Visionary. Sees beyond what’s there. Creative. Inventive. Fun to be around.

15 The Devil’s Advocate. Second guesses themselves.

  

16 The Leech. Always desirous of recognition and praise.

17 The Deadline Defector. Never does anything on time. Beyond help.

18 Can’t Mind Own Business Type. Very nosy. Social media stalker. Busy body.

19 The Sloth. Shame on you, you negligent one.  

20 The Ticking Time Bomb. Abhors that their view is contradicted. Do not debate with this type.

21 The Imitator. You want to do what others are doing.

22 The Vainglorious Type. Self-aggrandizing. Go worship yourself then!

23 The Work in Progress Type. But full of self-doubt

Have I missed your type? Drop me a comment! 

You and Your #PhD. Is It A Neglected Relationship?

‘It cannot be when the root is neglected that what springs from it will be well ordered” Confucius

We always know what we must do. Yet some of us, for reasons known only to ourselves, shirk and dismiss priorities. I am guilty of neglecting my PhD. There is no excuse for this. Others may not understand how I can let weeks go without working on my research. Yet, there are days when I spend 6-8 hours writing and editing. And there are weeks when I read all day. Then there are weeks when I know I must continue with my research, but I stop myself. I don’t worry when I don’t work because I push all pending work to ‘tomorrow’ to then find comfort in lazing about for days.

These are real conversations I have had with, and on my PhD. They may resonate with some of you

PhD: It must be done.

Me: Not today.

PhD: The chapter is overdue.

Me: I will block the weekend to work on it.

PhD: First draft should have been ready by now.

Me: Yes, but, look at my CV and all the new experiences.

PhD: Week two and you’ve not done any research, reading or writing.

Me: I have time.

Brain: You really should get working.

Me: I know. I don’t know what’s wrong. I will start tomorrow.

Tomorrow: You’ve woken up late… wow! Check out the twitter debate. Engage!

Me: It’s mid-week anyway, I promise I will get to work on PhD next week.

Mum calls: I know you’ve been working so hard. Hang on. Allah will not let your efforts go to waste.

Me thinking: *How can I pray for the resolve to get this research done, when Allah sees me waste time all day* Am such a shit.

Friend: Can’t wait for you to come back. You must be done by now.

Me thinking: *Bloody hell. What’s wrong with me. I can’t stick to my timelines*

PhD Colleague: …So after you wake up, how is it possible that you don’t work on your thesis?

Me thinking: *Conscious neglect. Easy to waste time. Finding security in summoning tomorrow*

My thoughts as I lie in bed waiting for sleep

I’m utterly useless.

I am not cut out for this.

I should have finished this draft chapter two months ago.

Six weeks since the interviews and I still haven’t analysed the information!

Why am I not consistent?

What’s wrong with me?

Everyone else is so invested in their research!

I don’t even know who the authors in my chapter 4 are?

Why am I doing this?

Wait, I can’t return home without the degree. Am not a loser. I can do this. Tomorrow!

  

The PhD procrastination is REAL because you let yourself FALL INTO IT. You convince and pacify yourself that tomorrow will be different.

This is my third year and I CONTINUE in procrastination, lacking self-discipline, pushing deadlines, reshuffling timelines, avoiding the PhD, prioritising other tasks unrelated to my PhD and finding so many justifications to distract me from my lack of seriousness in giving 100% to my PhD.

Then, I came across a book…

And

I read these words…

I am done being ungrateful for my days. These words have inspired me to action. Inspiration is just 1%. Getting down to work is the 99% that I must now put in.

SUBSTITUTE TOMORROW WITH NOW

SAY NO TO DISTRACTIONS

The importance of spending QUALITY time with your PhD

Take time by the forelock. Lost time is never found again. You just add on days, months and even years to your PhD.

Dedicate time to your PhD (it doesn’t have to be 9-5)

§  You want to finish on time – there is so much more to do. You want to put to use the skill set that you have developed throughout your PhD

§  You want to free up time for other things – otherwise you will keep worrying about your unfinished research. You will constantly be stressed. You will become one of those complaining aunties whose company no one will want

§  You want to engage with others in the same field – how are you going to do that, if you waste time and set no targets

§  You want to see growth – you should be able to look back and assess how far you have come

What then is quality time?

Strict 9-5? Is this even possible? What can you get done between 9-5? A lot? Reading, writing, socializing, exercise, preparing meals, eating, shopping, sleeping in, taking a nap, idling? How can you pluck out quality hours out of your 24hrs? Shakespeare advised: ‘Let every man be master of his time’. Know what you need to do and get it done. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted. If you have not completed reading an article, please read it. Do not start on new activities without completing old tasks! You may itch to postpone your reading time, but don’t’ do it. Give yourself 2 uninterrupted hours to get your reading done. Then do whatever else you planned to do. Remember, distractions and leaving tasks undone keep you from answering your research question, exploring a theory, preparing for field work, or preparing an outline of a draft chapter. Start by giving yourself 2 hours of substantive work, meaningful work, written work. Then dash off to do other things if you must or continue with the substantive work.

Draw quality out of your distractions

Distractions are always welcome. They are addictive. They are friendly. They are a time pass. They present this surreal world for you that gives your mind a break from the PhD. You get distracted because you want to. So, when you do get distracted, do something worthwhile – either for your present or toward your future, or for others. Write a blog on your PhD journey, write about how you would yourself supervise your potential future PhD students, write tips on how to do research, work that bibliography, enhance your social media presence. Distract yourself by some YouTube history clips, documentaries, some politics, something that adds to your knowledge. Remember:

If you foolishly spend your money,

you can always earn some more.

If you happen to melt your sundae,

there's plenty more at the store.

If you happen to wreck your bike,

you can get one just alike.

Carelessly drop your candy bar?

The candy store's not very far.

But when you're old and look to the past,

wondering how it went so fast,

You realize all things you waste,

that of time you can never replace.

Measure your quality time by how you balance your work and life

Do try to wake up early. It is sweet to sleep in but just get up, start. Eat, and be on the move. Please don’t skip breakfast. Working on a hungry stomach leads to you being UNPRODUCTIVE. Plan what you want to do for the day, otherwise your day will start to slip away, you will be bored out of your mind with nothing to do but to waste time. Shakespeare reminded us: “The course of true love never did run smooth”.  Therefore, plan. Plan your day. Traveling for a conference requires planning. Preparing your paper/presentation for the conference requires planning. Your physical health and nourishment require planning (if you don’t think of your meal plans, you will slip into KFC’s claws, ruin your health, fall into the constant fatigue mode and become unproductive). Socializing also requires planning. Consistency also requires planning. 

A procrastinating lion never did any game kill!

What does it mean to spend quality time with your PhD?

Knowledge is like a garden: If it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested. If you do not spend quality time with your PhD, you are not likely to get that PhD. 

§  Do not neglect yourself. Decrease your stress and anxiety levels, improve your immunity, understand what gets you to ‘tick’, work on your physical health, and focus on thinking positively – all this will increase your productivity.

§  Understand the worth of your PhD. If you do not have time to read and reflect, you will not know what to write. Interact with your work. Cross check your work for consistency in the claims that you are making and the discussions you are developing. Do not be afraid to go back and forth between your current and previous writings. Keep your research questions in mind at all times! Think about how your work falls within a particular school of thought and keep confirming this.

§  Don’t settle for mediocrity. Do not rush your PhD. Do not rush to write immediately after reading. If you do that, you are influencing your PhD based on someone else’s thought. Think, relate the content to your work and write your opinion. Study your opinion later, can you develop it further? Can you use it to draw out a fresh argument in explaining current academic debates? If not, delete that work and go back to reading. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on! 

§  Keep to your deadlines. Determine your own finish line. For this, you need deadlines. Don’t allow yourself constant adjustments.

The Finance on Steroids Tax Dilemma Posed by FinTechs

I am writing this brief snippet on the recently leaked Mauritius Papers and what I call is becoming the "Finance on Steroids Tax Dilemma" posed by FinTechs just to reflect on possible questions arising that need answers....soon.  With the recent release of the Mauritius Papers, tax evasion and tax avoidance are back under public debate as governments and individuals ponder how best to ensure that everyone pays the taxes they owe. The data leaked by the Mauritius Papers put into the spotlight the blurred lines between tax avoidance and tax evasion, which are often facilitated using the same complex mechanisms and can confuse our understanding of what is acceptable tax reduction and what is not. This has put international governments under pressure to address the growing consensus that tax avoidance and the exploitation of tax loopholes has gone too far. Internet technology has further complicated this for governments by transforming the provision of financial services. FinTech has made these services limitless and unregulated by enabling the customer to access all of the financial services that are available, only with the help of a gadget. Of course this can facilitate one or another form of tax abuse. This therefore means that we have to ask ourselves the following questions and find the prompt answers:

1. How does tax evasion and tax avoidance affect FinTechs and what are our responsibilities in combatting it?

2. How are FinTech products used to collect payments or to facilitate tax evasion and tax avoidance?

3. How are FinTech products used to process funds derived from the hidden economy?

4. How are FinTech products used to mask the origin of funds?

5. How can tax authorities leverage against FinTech? By demanding more e-invoicing, e-reporting, e-assessments and e-audits?

6. How can tax authorities have a clearer window into a FinTech company’s tax operations?

PhD Doubts… (“an illness that comes from knowledge and leads to madness”. Gustave Flaubert)

 Doubts will give you constant heartbreaks
sleepless nights,
and mood swings too.

The PhD is no easy feat. We know that now. If you think reading 3 to 5 books or even 7 to 19 or about 10 plus journal articles or even more than that makes you a star, think twice, thrice and think many times over.

All that reading will get you to write a whole lot of stuff.

You will be glorifying yourself as you write all that you have recently absorbed. You will feign upon yourself the fact that you are advancing a never thought about argument, only later when revising the draft will you wonder upon why you had so much zeal coming up with nothing that adds to the growth of your PhD.

Or someone (someone senior, your professor friend or post grad) will read it and will ask you:

‘Why is this section here? It should have been discussed under your conceptual chapter’,

or

‘Why have you in detail engaged with these norms? They contribute nothing to originality’

or further still,

‘I don’t see the point you are trying to make’.

Feedback that breaks your heart
but is necessary
to clip out your weeds

This feedback will break your heart because you will feel that all your ‘hard work’ and late nights into writing the draft and shunning of all social activities to focus on your writing has been of zero value.

You will start comparing what others are doing and even feel more miserable and will probably cry and deem yourself an unworthy PhD candidate.

However, you must keep telling yourself:

And be gentle with your heart. 

Remember:

Those at the top of the mountain didn’t fall there. Hard work spotlights the character of people: SOME TURN UP THEIR SLEEVES, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.

Everything along your PhD journey is geared towards your growth

All that information you read and write on, and which cannot be used in your draft, is the foundation you are cementing for yourself.

It’s the information that you need to incubate within yourself before your mind can open towards using it to chart new terrains.

“And let a scholar all earth’s volumes carry, he will be but a walking dictionary: a mere articulate clock”. George Chapman.

Progress is measured through micro, mini, small baby steps. Yes, you read all that material and you put down in writing what you felt was going to benefit your argument. The fact that others gave hard comments on your work and did not praise how amazing your work is, doesn’t mean that what you have striven to accomplish is zero.

It means you need to read more, shuffle the various parts of your drafts internally or across chapters.

Blind men and the elephant syndrome

Doubts are a reflection of the blind men and the elephant syndrome. Since you are unable to see the entire picture (the full draft of your thesis) before you, you are unable to tell how its story is going to flow.

Remember, only when you put together your entire draft will you fully be able to understand what is wrong (if at all) with the thesis and how to fix it. Feedback at each stage therefore doesn’t have to be heart breaking. It should serve as a guide towards improving the first full draft.

Therefore, keep writing and re-writing, editing and re-editing, add and delete paragraphs.

• You are learning a skill set.
• You are learning to critic the information before you.
• You are learning to understand how the information before you can be improved.

Don’t be afraid to call yourself out on ‘bad’ work. When you are able to do that it shows growth on your part. It shows that you are able to improve upon what you already thought was great, to make it better.

“A scholar must not only be capable of hard, OFTEN TOTALLY RESULTLESS WORK – he must actually RELISH IT”. Richard D. Altick.

See the positive merit in everything you do during your PhD journey. It is a reflection of you. Enjoy it. 

Lyla Latif, 2019