​Best advice ever: Take some time off!
For most doctoral students, the need to complete their doctoral program is overshadowed by the passion they have for their project, which usually takes them for detours, writing frenzies, and/or derails them from their initial project. In this blog, I share 3 pragmatic reasons of why you should take some time off to be able to move forward.
It may appear illogical or contrary to purpose to take time off to move forward, but it is not. Let me prove my point here.
Doing a dissertation, writing a dissertation, working on a dissertation is a unique experience, unlike any other. No matter how many graduate classes you have taken, or if you are working with your favorite faculty, the whole process and dynamics are quite different. And sadly, nothing prepares you for dissertation, and most often, it is something you learn on your own. Most sadly, by the mistakes is how you make the most progress, but way of learning is quite emotionally taxing for you.
Therefore, here are 3 practical reasons to take time off to move forward.
1.     Financial reasons and savvy economics
Usually, a college class is around $3,600 per semester. When you are dissertating, it is likely that this is the only class you take. This means, you register and thus pay:
i.to write on your own,
ii.to read on your own,
iii.to think on your own, and
iv.to make a series of methodological, investigative, etc. decisions on your own.
Do you get the gist? On your own, but you pay. Why? What for? My advice: Have a plan.
While you must pay an institution to be registered for the dissertation process, that you do mostly on your own, you do not have to do it every single semester and there is no restriction that you cannot take 1 or 2 semesters off if you are not making progress. A doctoral program is intended to have a maximum of 6 to 10 years. You do not want to go this long, but the point here is 1 or 2 semesters off to gather your thought and reach your writing goals can save you money!
If you do not have a clear writing goal, fail to use your limited time with your advisor, Chair and/or committee members could lead you to spend money, but without any other outcome than saying you have been registered for multiple semesters, and not even defense a defense date has been set up
. 
What you are often NOT told is that you do not have to register every single semester for dissertation. You are not told that taking 1 or 2 semesters off will not change the time limit for your doctoral program (often 6 to 10 years). Nonetheless, in the fear that something bad may happen, could happen, might happen, students register semester after semester, and receive very little, if any feedback from their advisors, Chair, and committee members, but they accumulate more and more, debts. Consequently, registering for a dissertation class/course, but having not outcome at the end of the semester, not only is frustrating, but one of the worst forms of spending, thus wasting money.
 
Learn to be savvy; if you see that you have not made the progress you wanted one semester, do not register for the next one. Talk to your Chair and tell them that you need some time off. They may not like it at the beginning, but first, it will save money; second, you will not look bad in their eyes by trying to complete something for what you are not prepared to do, and third, did I say you will save money? Oh, yes, I did.
 
During your time off, 1 or 2 semesters, hire tutors, consultants, and someone like me, a methodologist. You will get your money’s worth no matter what. If you do not, stop paying and find someone else. You save time and money that way.
 
Usually, a consultation can go from $150 to $250 per session. Writing tutors can charge per page and/or word. Thus, saving $3,600 in one semester gives you the opportunity to have 10 to 12 consulting sessions with an expert and/or having multiple chapters edited in compliance with the latest APA version.
 
Meeting with your advisor while you are still confused may not take you anywhere.
 
Writing on your own, while you have paid $3,600 is not the best way you have to spend your money.
 
If you spend a full semester writing and getting nowhere, it’s best
i.to hit the brakes,
ii.learn what you are missing, and
iii.register when you have a realistic date to defend, propose and/or collect data.
 
Thus, be savvy on how you spend your limited financial resources, and attain realistic goals.
Hire professionals!!!
 
2.     Consult with experts
For a dissertation, you need a methodologist, a writing editor, a mentor on the doctoral dissertation process, and someone who can couch you on how to present your study, yourself to your entire dissertation committee, and likely a reader. Unfortunately, rarely, as you may have heard from other doing a dissertation, your Chair will do all these tasks, and he does, it may not be at the pace you wish he did. Most likely, you are on your own.
 
a.A methodologist will help you to make up your mind on what methodology, approach, and research design fit best your study, and how you can write that rational.
 
b.A writing editor will correct your grammar, syntax, language, and do for you the painful process of fitting your document to the latest APA style, every step of the way, word, line, and section.
 
c.A mentor is someone who can help you to make decisions, be someone you can lean on in moments of distress, and become a sounding board when you need one.
 
d.A reader is someone you always need. He is someone outside your field who can read your work, so he can tell you whether that you are making any sense. Often, you reach a point when you write for yourself and to yourself only. You often reach a point where no one else can tell what you are writing about. This is because you reach too deep into your passion, so you lose contact with reality, and thus, the potential for readers to lose you is higher.
Consequently, spend part and/or all the money you would spend for a semester in school in outside help, especially when you are not going anywhere. Thus, my recommendation is hire consultants. Your work must always be your own work, and no one should write your dissertation for you, but it is ok to ask for help and have others to consult with. Another piece of advice, hire multiple people. Once you make a contract with one, you may not be able to get out of that contract or they may ask you to pay in advice; the result is that you may have more questions than 1 person can answer or have more needs than one person can fulfill and there is more than one chapter in a dissertation.
Ideally, hire 3 different competent professionals. If possible, ask for samples of their work, and consult personal references. Do not trust what you find on the Internet about them. If possible, interview them, as if you were human resources staff, hiring a new employee. It’s your money, and it’s your time, do take care of it.
3.Protect your image and care for your Chair and committee members.
The personal relationship that you may develop or have to be drawn towards committee members and/or a Chair is often quite strong. Nonetheless, you should never lose sight of the fact that you may want to ask them for a letter of recommendation later on. Also, you need them to see you in your best light as often as possible to believe in your project. They are potentially future colleagues, and you need to be careful not to appear too vulnerable. Having expert consultants will help you to process how you communicate with them, set up realistic goals, and how you communicate your expectations. Not showing all your weaknesses may be a positive strategy, if you want them to write a glowing letter of recommendation in the near future. Saying that you are resourceful sounds better than telling how low you start on your project in a letter of recommendation.
 
Therefore, using consultants you may do faster and more reliable decisions that speed up your progress. Consultants are accountable to you, and they can share with you directly what you need to do. You do not need hide anything from them, they will give you what you asked for, and you are not bound to them in the long term. You can hire them as you can hire others. A Chair may not as easy to change, if possible at all. Consequently, take time off when you are not making the progress you want and hire help.