If you’re a final year undergraduate student or a postgraduate student, it’s come to that time of the year where you’re planning, or about to start writing, your dissertation.
For those who don’t know, a dissertation is a research project completed at the end of your undergraduate or postgraduate course on a topic of your choice.
Writing your dissertation can potentially be a stressful and time pressured experience – but only if you don’t manage your time effectively!
When you first start thinking about your dissertation, you may feel like you have all the time in the world, so it’s easy to get complacent about planning and writing, and then, before you know it, the deadline is just around the corner.
If you struggle to stick to deadlines, try following our six tips to get you back on track.
Create a timeline for your dissertation
Whether it’s on a calendar, a piece of paper or just on your phone, having a timeline is an excellent way to keep track of your progress.
To make your timeline, split your dissertation into several sections, and decide an approximate time that you want each section to be finished by. It’s important to be realistic about these timings – if not, you either won’t follow them, or you’ll just burn out.
Setting realistic goals can help you feel motivated and less stressed, as it divides the dissertation up into achievable bite size chunks, rather than letting it completely overwhelm you.
Structure regular times in your normal week for writing your dissertation
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t actually have to write your dissertation every single day, just as long as you do it regularly. Set up a structured time to work on your dissertation – in the same way you might put time aside for the gym. While it’s important to spend time on your dissertation, it’s worth remembering that it’s about the quality of work you produce, not the number of hours you spend working on it.
Some people find it useful to treat the uni day like a nine to five job, and only work within those hours, so that there’s structure to the working day. Other people prefer a more irregular working pattern, for example if they work better at night or in the morning – so decide what’s best for you and stick to it!
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