The Chunnel and Dissertations
On May 6, 1994 the Channel Tunnel, connecting England and France, first opened for business. It took 8 years to build and now takes 20 minutes to traverse. So, how do you make your dissertation less like build the Chunnel and more like using it?…
The Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel, as it’s affectionately called, allows people to simply hop on a passenger train or drive onto one with their car, and zip between France and England, under the English Channel. This is definitely the quickest way to move between the two countries, but getting the Chunnel built wasn’t so simple.
The first ideas about building the tunnel were documented in the early 1800s, but concerns about security, safety, expense, and cooperation between countries prevented made the going really slow.
A few trials were executed in the 1870s, a joint UK/Franco goverment-backed effort was canceled in the 1970s. A treaty was signed in the 1980s finally clearing the way for the eventual project to begin. Digging started in 1988. Even then, it took eight years to make the Chunnel operational.
What can we learn from this? Let’s look at two scenarios and then see how they apply to our dissertation process:
“I need to go to France right away! I know, I’ll build a tunnel under the English Channel!”
—British person in 1975 who’s going to be late
“I need to go to France right away! I know, I’ll take the tunnel under the English Channel!”
—British person in 2002 who’s going to be on time
See where I’m going with this? If you’d like to complete your dissertation soon (you do, right?) you really don’t need to build a new structure for your research or for the way your dissertation is laid out. You need to use the successful patterns of others who have come before you. Save your originality for after graduation.
Go to the library. (Or, log on to your university’s library.) Skim through some of the dissertations there. Do any look like something you could do? Which are the simplest? Are there patterns to how they are laid out? Utilize the plans and frameworks others have used, successfully. Don’t go reinventing the entire dissertation process! Take the most direct route.
If you need help finding that direct route to finishing your dissertation, click here to schedule a quick, 15-minute chat with me to see if you’re a good fit for our Fast Track Your Dissertation Coaching Program. If you are, then I’ll invite you to join the fastest group of dissertation students out there and help you to reach graduation a good year or two faster than you would on your own.
