A Dissertation Doesn't Have to Be a Nightmare

Have you heard horror stories about people who spent years writing a dissertation and still fell short? As we approach Halloween, the half-finished dissertation may be the goblin at the front door for you or someone you know.

In this post, I share the strategy that took me from start to defense in six months.

Do you have a dissertation story to tell…either something that made it easy or a “Halloween horror story”? It could be something you experienced or something that happened to a friend.

When I am taking notes, I always add a date in the body of the note. This practice is especially helpful when the note relates to a person or company with whom I have frequent conversations. I list the conversations in reverse chronological order so that the most recent one is on top.

Evernote has introduced a "date mention" feature. Type the "@" symbol, and with one click, you can insert today's date or choose any other day. You can also use the "@" symbol and type any reference, such as "@tomorrow" or "@next Tuesday" and Evernote will add the correct date for you. You can choose the format you like for your date by going to the account settings and in Preferences, choosing Notes, and you will see the Date Format section.

For example, if I want to insert today’s date, I type @t, and “today” is the first suggestion, so I press Enter. So, three keystrokes (@t + Enter ) inserts today’s date in my desired format.

Here is a help article.

You read it correctly, and it’s a shame. Too many people are too busy and still not making progress on things that matter. That’s what a recent study finds. If you find the article interesting, share it with others in your organization. Our time is all we have. It’s the one thing that makes all the things possible.

This is a big one. Evernote has had tables for quite a while, and they have gotten better along the way in terms of adding columns, changing colors, and so forth. But that was about it.

Now, you can sort and filter. It’s still not an Excel spreadsheet…and frankly, I don’t want it to be. But for those times when you don’t need formulas, but simply need to manipulate information, it’s a huge step forward.

To get started, look at this video from Jon Tromans.

Evernote Made Easy (updated to include Evernote 11). So much about Evernote has changed in just the last couple of years. This ebook brings you up to date. In a digital world where information is power, making organizing your information easy is huge.

Maybe Google Drive is More Your Style. Is Google Drive the place where you store your information? If so, I have an ebook for you. I've taken what I know about developing a system for digital notes and applied it to Google Drive.

Subscribe to the YouTube Channel. You’ll find new content every week. Encourage friends to subscribe.

Visit the Website. Whether it’s enjoying free content on the blog (all searchable), listening to a guest podcast episode, or finding out how to work with me, FrankBuck.org is the place to be.

Did someone send this newsletter to you?
Subscribe to get it each week.