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100 Days of Dissertation – a motivational experiment

Today I want to talk about motivation and the last long days of corrections, revisions and re-writing of your thesis or dissertation.

When I first stumbled on the #100daysofdissertationchallenge on Instagram, I thought about it as a very good idea, but I could not quite stick to it. When I finished my thesis in its first complete version in December (read about it here and here) I figured that for the last run of corrections and revisions I will be in desperate need of motivation – after three long years full of writing, doing research and growing with a topic, there was no motivation left. I spent my Christmas break doing nothing, reading a lot of novels, watching TV and sleeping, just to re-start my brain. But this very needed break did not help with my motivation problem.

Again, I lost myself on Instagram and again I came across the hashtag #100daysofdissertation – and at this time, when my advisors had handed in their recommendatins and opinions on my thesis text, I just picked it up and thought just about 100 days left – I thought about the silver lining, about coming to the end of my PhD journey. I thought about my LAST 100 days of dissertation.

I was inspired by the acount of @academeology, because of the very honest and intelligent postings – and because of the 100 days of dissertation.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu2eLJJBXx2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

So, what do these 100 days actually mean? For 100 days you will try to work constantly on your thesis – finishing a certain chapter, doing research for one experiment, analyse some data for your work – whatever you want, it’s your goal. The first rpund startet back in March 2019, but I think it is still a thing going on out there somewhere, for there are many people in the same situation as I am currently.

So, I decided that I would like to work for 100 days on my final revisions – this does not just mean any corrections or the re-writing of some passages, it means taking my time to overthink some advices, to get a feeling for my written text, to use this amount of time to prepare for my thesis defence. And there are a lot of other challenges too – I wrote some applications, I got invited to job interviews, I am about to teach my first course at another university, I am a participant of the well-known three minute thesis competition, … Actually, I will not get bored these 100 days. 😉 But, then, again, this is me we are talking about. I am never without any work to do…

I am actually at 25 from 100, and I am quite good with my goals. And it is not easy. But somehow, it keeps me going. If you want to follow my story and the last 75 days of my dissertations journey, check on my Instagram profile (@labyrinth_bewohner).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8VuxTbHuvu/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

I will not post regularly every day, because there is every day the same view on my desk – my laptop, lots of sheets with corrections, books and coffee. 😉 Who can relate?
I wanted to share this with you – if you are in desperate need of motivation, inspiration, if you are feeling completely isolated and alone, sitting at your desk and writing your own thesis – you are not alone. The struggle is real – and there is this thing I like to call academic fighting spirit.

Shoutout to all fierce warriors of academia! I hope this post can provide some help and inspiration – I wish you very good writing, may your cup of coffee never be empty! 🙂

All the best – Astrid


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Astrid Schmölzer (February 9, 2020). 100 Days of Dissertation – a motivational experiment. Epigrammetry. Retrieved March 21, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/og6j


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1 Response

  1. 31/08/2020

    […] recently tracked my work and ouput using a few challenges such as #100DaysofDH and #100DaysofDissertation. Now I wanted to share some of my experiences. This is, like so often, a reflection that got a bit […]

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