Day in the life of a Literature PhD 📚 📖 Dissertation Writing

A realistic day in my life working on my doctoral dissertation: some reading, some writing, some spiraling into self-doubt...

I talk all the time about the process of writing my dissertation, and my next video will be digging into the actual -content- of my dissertation: what my research topic is, and how I arrived at it! Let me know in the comments any questions or curiosities you have, and I'll answer them in that video.

Thanks for watching!

✨ & you can find me on all social media platforms as @ glutenbergbible talking about what I’m reading, writing, and eating

0:00 Morning Reading
1:29 Setting Workday Intentions
4:56 Reading, Annotating, & Scheduling
7:36 Discussing Revision Timeline (and lunch)
11:03 Talking Through Academic Anxiety
12:43 Evening Writing Block
13:45 Workday Debrief

[estheraraujo]

You are such an inspiration for me (writting my graduation monography) everything u said u felt I am also feeling. Thanks for creating a such confortable place for us to rely on❤

[janniagomezgonzalez]

As someone writing their doctoral dissertation in the humanities right now (planning to submit on late June), I NEEDED you to upload some longer format stuff. I sighed with relief. And I haven’t even watched the vlog jajaja. Thank you for the work that you do. It helps a lot!

[GodwardPodcast]

Fun to watch. I did mine mostly on weekends. Used to pound diet mountain dews. And spread books and articles out on the floor around me. Madness. Good job.

[morganeua]

I sent my committee my first attempt at a chapter like a year ago, and it was so bad. Now, I'm nearly ready to resend it... Why does everything take SO long?! Dread, inadequacy, and panic. Yeah. I'm in exactly the same position right now. I wan tot be done by August, but the pace I need to maintain to achieve that is... overwhelming.

[fadrian]

You should really get Rectangle and AltTab for your MacBook (and a second monitor). Great apps for window management, less moving back and fourth from mouse and keyboard

[bibliosophie]

i'm not yet in the official candidate stage (i'll submit my diss proposal next month), but i def recognize the rhythm of thanks for the reminder to focus on specific tasks, to step away sometimes, to enjoy the process, etc. good courage and good luck!

[martynkal.]

Ive only just discovered you & I love your vlogs! I find them so centering and inspiring, I love the way you discuss your work & process.

Would you be open to share where you bought your hourglass? I cant seem to find any online

[FreeElf]

Your meals look delicious! Could you do a vlog on the challenges you experienced while in your final year ?

[elyssasalinas]

Thank you for sharing (found you here via tiktok)! I'm also working on my dissertation and this video felt so grounding for me, love it!

[tayhuzzahn]

1. I recently discovered your videos and am deeply inspired by your work! What an amazing dissertation!
2. I love the Union Square poster!!!! I spent several lovely years there and am partial to the Fluff Fest myself. :)

[allisarcadia]

I find visual timers, like hourglasses, to be more useful to me and far less stressful. For some reason (likely from spending a lot of childhood watching my siblings play videos games that made timers AN END GAME BOSS BATTLE of intensity) numbered timers give me a sense of urgency in the most aggressive, distracting way. Hour glasses just putter along quietly until they run out, after which there is no alarm or buzzing or anything. If I want to keep going I can without being interrupted by a reminder that time has passed, and I think that's beautiful.

[hawasaleh]

Hi Carson! Love your content. I had a couple of questions such as when did you nail down your dissertation topic in your PhD program? What is your writing routine like?

[Aalliiccee]

very nice video, I love seeing writing vlogs and how someone structure their work and routine⚘ my questions would be, is your phd related to previous research topics you worked with (eg for a master thesis)? And how much freedom did you have in choosing the topic?

[anikkalekven]

omg that salad looks so good! Can you drop the recipe?? (esp for the chicken!!)

[Squigsnwiggs]

I have got a few questions regarding research: what did/does your timeline look like for finding your research topic + then pursuing it? Can you describe the experience/thoughts/etc of finding your topic (i.e., how you knew it would become your thesis)? How do you deal with anxiety + overwhelm when looking towards the end of the project? How do you structure your time for research (and do you set time based goals, content goals, writing goals, etc.)? How are you structuring your actual thesis? You said there were four chapters--how is each chapter + the whole project laid out?

[insertevillaugh]

Would love to know what text/source inspired you to come to this topic? It’s fascinating!

[Hana-zrnn]

What led you to the decision of enrolling into Phd program?