Dissertation Tips

It’s 1am and you’re cooped up in your room, hunched over your laptop, typing ferociously and scanning over endless sheets of notes, peering hopelessly at the screen wondering how many more words you can physically write without falling asleep. Yep, I’m talking about that dreaded time of year for final year students – the month before dissertation!

DON’T LEAVE IT LAST MINUTE

You may have got used to it in the past, but make sure you don’t leave your dissertation to the very last minute! It’s an extremely weighty assignment which is going to take a substantial amount of time, so you certainly don’t want to rush it. You’ll just find yourself in a panicky, stressful state if you do, which won’t be productive at all. So make sure you get it all done in good time, as this is one assignment you definitely don’t want to be cramming in an hour before the deadline! Remember the printing and binding as well, because that’s going to take a considerable chunk out of your calendar.

BIT BY BIT

As soon as you’ve finished procrastinating and finally cracked on with your dissertation, it may be tempting to just do it all in one big bulk to get it out the way. It may feel like you’re on a roll, but you will need to step back and take a break after a while. It’s all about time management, so you have to consider the deadlines and then prioritise your tasks. Frequent break times are crucial too, because they allow you to clear your head.

DON’T PANIC!

It may seem like everyone else is ahead of you, the deadline is right round the corner and you’re running out of time, which could send you into panic mode. But getting frustrated about how you wish you’d started sooner or organised yourself better isn’t going to change the past - you’re just going to have to get on with it. It is a stressful time and there will be moments when you feel the pressure building, but you have to reel in the tension and make sure the time you have left is productive, rather than getting het up.

ORGANISE YOURSELF

Keep a folder of all your notes and research, so it’s easy to refer back to. It’s easy to lose yourself in endless sheets, notes and textbooks, but you need to keep track of what you’re doing. Organisation is definitely important for this module; getting muddled and losing notes is definitely not desirable.

EXAMPLES

Ask people who have already completed their degree if you can borrow their dissertation to have a look at. It may be useful in terms of seeing how they set it out and the tone they adopted. Many courses will also provide example dissertations from previous years too, which is even better as these dissertations will be even more applicable to you in terms of topic.

DON’T NEGLECT YOUR SOCIAL LIFE

This is really important. You can’t just spend day after day with nothing but your laptop and a vast  selection of library books to keep you company. Finding the time to go out and relax is essential, whether that means watching a film, going out for lunch or treating yourself to a shopping spree.

TWITTER THOUGHTS:

@elladegenius: ‘Plan your time in advance, and do not underestimate how long each section will take to complete. Start your research as early as possible. Get someone else to proofread’

@be_n_: ‘I read an article in the Scientific American Mind about resisting temptations – it has some really good insights that can be put into action when you find yourself procrastinating (a great enemy of the dissertation!)’

@AnnaRuggs: ‘Chocolate helps.’

By Grace Montgomery