By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: I work full-time and more! How can I write my dissertation?

 — Overworking and Underwriting

A: Most doctoral candidates work full-time. And have families and responsibilities. If you’re at the dissertation stage, finding time for writing is especially hard. Maybe a few fortunate students can quit work and devote themselves completely to the dissertation. But if you cannot quit, there are still ways to make decent time for it. Other than speaking harshly to yourself to devote Saturday to the dissertation instead of the game, one way that many candidates have found effective is to meet with your employer or supervisor.

Employers often encourage employees to pursue higher degrees, and some even pay for them in whole or part. Your boss may be supportive of your goal and willing to give you released time and preferential schedules to meet the demands of the graduate courses and dissertation. But to gain what you need, you need a plan for the talk. (Doesn’t hurt either to rehearse beforehand.)

First, Thank and Explain

Preferably with the boss’s door closed, first express your gratitude as sincerely as you can and without fawning. After all, you’re asking for a special dispensation, and really are grateful for the hearing and (expected) accommodation.

Then explain why you’re asking. Go into as much detail as will make your

case but without theatrics or poor-me self-pitying stories (“I’ll lose thousands in tuition.” “My wife will divorce me if I don’t finish.”). Instead, for example:

Thank you for this meeting and for listening. I have reached the point in my doctoral program where the dissertation has to be written. [Wait for congratulations and acknowledge with a smile.] This “book” requires blocks of concentrated time. Of course, I will keep fulfilling my job duties completely while I write.

I would be very grateful if you could arrange my schedule so I could double up on some days and have others off for the dissertation. I’m glad to answer any questions.

If your employer shows interest in your degree program and/or dissertation topic and asks for more information, by all means give it. The boss’s genuine interest and intelligent questions, and your equally intelligent responses, will only help your case.

Next, offer job-related bribes . . .

How Your Degree Benefits the Company

Your employer may be supportive, cooperative, and generous but may hesitate and will likely be stretching to grant your request. The boss may still need reminders of how your degree helps the company and your doing your job even better. So, do not talk about your personal benefits, such as higher pay, bigger and better title, other r opportunities. Keep in mind, without voicing it, that all of the benefits you list should reflect well on the boss.

If your degree is directly related to you job, great; if not, you can still point out many pluses. A few:

• This degree will increase my knowledge, skills, and abilities to do my job.
• I will gain more expertise that can be applied to my work here.
• I will be able to train others more effectively.
• My leadership skills will be developed, and I will use them as appropriate.
• With the greater knowledge from the degree, my duties and responsibilities can expand as you need.

Prepare Alternative Schedules That Work for Both of You

Remember that your employer needs you and wants to keep you. But you don’t want to jeopardize your responsibilities or their impact on others. Your task is to negotiate schedules and workloads that honor your job and also allow for steady progress on your dissertation.

So, in advance, prepare you best plan for a schedule—specific times off and ways you can compensate, such as taking work home, coming in on weekends, staying later some nights. Then wait for your boss to suggest a revised schedule. If it’s not forthcoming, suggest your own.

Decide clearly what you will give up—say, instead of three afternoons off, you’ll settle for two. Maybe you ask for six months for the new arrangement; the boss may suggest three. Compromise at four and a half.

Then stop speaking(!) Let the boss make suggestions for your revised schedule. If they really aren’t feasible, gently suggest a couple of amendments.

For the final answer, your boss may have to confer with others to work out your schedule and workload (and it probably will involve others). Be gracious about the time and leeway needed. Showing panic or urgency about your revised schedule only indicates weakness.

Also promise to inform the boss of any changes in your situation. I know it’s highly unlikely, but you may actually complete your draft earlier than anticipated and be able to handle a full week of work once again.

It’s important to get the new arrangement in writing. If you need it for any reason, you can point to the date and boss’s signature.

And as you wrap up the meeting, thank, thank, thank and smile (curtsies and bows aren’t necessary).

You Can Have a Job and Do a Dissertation Too

When you use these suggestions to request time off, you’ll be showing your employer you care about your job and the company. The benefits you cite, and your sense of responsibility, will demonstrate you’re worthy of the special and temporary considerations you’re requesting. And, without too much strain, you’ll be able to continue to do your job responsibly and finish your dissertation, finally.

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Dissertation coach, nurturer, bolsterer, handholder, and editor; scholarly and mainstream writing consultant; author of writing craft, spiritual, and academic articles; and spiritual and motivational counselor, Noelle Sterne has published many pieces in print and online venues, including Author Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Children’s Book Insider, Graduate Schools Magazine, GradShare, InnerSelf, Inspire Me Today, Transformation Magazine, Unity Magazine, Women in Higher Education, Women on Writing, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. Noelle’s ninth story for Chicken Soup for the Soul appears in June 2025 in the volume Self-Care Isn’t Selfish. With a Ph.D. from Columbia University, Noelle has for 30 years helped doctoral candidates wrestle their dissertations to completion (finally). Based on her practice, her Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping with the Emotional, Interpersonal, and Spiritual Struggles (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2015) addresses students’ often overlooked or ignored but crucial nonacademic difficulties that can seriously prolong their agony. See the PowerPoint teaser here. In Noelle`s Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go After Your Dreams (Unity Books, 2011), she draws examples from her academic consulting and other aspects of life to help readers release regrets and reach lifelong yearnings. Following one of her own, she is currently working on her third novel. Visit Noelle at www.trustyourlifenow.com