"When pressure exceeds your perceived ability to cope"

"When pressure exceeds your perceived ability to cope" - (Palmer & Cooper, 2010, p. 7)

The above quote is the definition of stress. It's like a light bulb went off in my head when I read these words. How in all of my schooling, and all my classes with psych PhD's had I never heard this? It's a brilliant concise way to describe stress and it's the reason I bought the book: 

How to deal with Stress by Drs Stephen Palmer and Cary Cooper

I haven't finished it yet, but I'm trying to get through the book so I can deal with my stress better. At this point it bottles up inside and I erupt like a crazy person. I owe it to myself, my husband and friends to get a grip, so I'm reading my first "self-help" book. It's by a couple of PhD's so I feel a little better about it. 

The best part of it though is the concept of control. Once I read that definition of stress I understood: I can cope with this dissertation... it will be mine, oh yes, it will.

So, as I continue to chart these rough waters (I love a water pun!), I'm happy to say that I'm getting closer to finishing my looming, anxiety-inducing chapter 7. This is the first of my results chapters - there are three total. There's a lot left to do, but I'm coping.

It's been a long time...

It's been an embarrassingly long LONG time since I worked on my dissertation and subsequently added to this little blog.

In the meantime, I got married, went on a fabulous honeymoon, started a new job with Nielsen doing research at a international CPG company, and moved to CT. (Not necessarily in that order!). Needless to say a lot has changed, but happily, the dissertation topic has not!

At the moment, I am procrastinating. I'm hitting a bit of a wall because, frankly, it has been ages since I have had to write intelligently and I am finding it intimidating. Some of what I wrote before April is really very good. I feel like what I write now is monosyllabic and uninspired. I'm frustrated because I worked so hard in graduate school to have style in my writing and now, out of practice, I feel I've lost it. I'm hoping it's something I can get back into, but for now, I need to plow through and not let it keep me paralyzed.

My husband (still so fun to say that!) is amazing. He keeps me focused and even gives me a little tough love when I start making excuses for lack of progress. I think this might be a way to keep me on task and on point since I never want to let him down. I have made a new timeline, shared it with my advisor and am trying like hell to keep to it. More on that later!

Thankfully, I have a partner in crime. A good friend of mine from my PhD program is in the same boat - same job, same point in the dissertation, same big move away from normalcy, and same desire to GET IT DONE.

So, inspiration of the day to keep me pushing along: if I complete my goal, I have a fabulous date night ahead!

Music inspiring today's outlook on the D:
Aaliyah feat. Timbaland - Try Again