Dissertation motivation!

sali_mali

Ok, not my dissertation but I'm having a panic so I've come to rant!

I've got an exam at 12pm today and I have to write an essay about E. Coli, although I don't know the exact title. I haven't had any time to revise and am having a minor panic attack, whilst trying to cram something in my head, which won't happen unless I calm down. ARGH!!!

Grace_

Hey guys, replying after a little while due some personal reasons. Because of the circumstances surrounding this it has been really difficult to do any work, but progress is being made-albeit slowly

Hope you're all well, and the works not giving any of you too much bother.

Sali, my advice is to try and read over the stuff that you understand and will be able to use in the actual exam, don't try and teach yourself anything new now as its late. Just keep re-reading over your notes, try to imagine how the question will be structured and try to devise a short answer in your mind. Another thing you can try to do is remember key words within your revision notes, thinking of this word in the exam can then trigger off the whole sentence in your mind.

Good luck with your exam, i'm thinking of you!

xxx

pavlovs_dog

sali - hope the exam went well

grace - hope you're ok.

ames - hows it going? you made any progress?

jolaaled - is ferris' system working well for you?

bamber - any progress on the 450 words?


im just about getting ready to settle down and get into it again. have taken the weekend to do sod all (bliss ) and celebrate the welsh grand slam. need to settle down and start working again now, but am scheduling in lots of little treats along the way to keep me motivated.

my 'to do' list for the next fortnight has the following items on it, in no particular order:

*type up bibliography (:eek: why did i read so much?!)

*finish reading and take all books that i dont need back to the library. you can barely move in my study at the moment

*go through my questionnaires, quantify and analyse my results.

* decide on a definite title, rather than my current selection of working titles

*write up introduction

*go through my research notes and write up a lit review plan as per ferris' fantastic suggestion

* tackle lit review a section at a time

*results section

*conclusion section

*submit first draft to supervisor (28th april at latest).

im not going to be seeing the light of day much over the next 12 days :rolleyes: please send cookies and ice cream soda. inspiration and good wishes also appreciated


it sounds and looks like a lot, but i know what im like and the pressure of time will help motivate me, hence why i choose to set a submission deadline for draft one. treats like watching the several hours of quality tv ive recorded on the pvr but am yet to watch will break up the work nicely. ive got a date with friends to go see the other boyelyn girl tomorrow evening, a trip to the new swimming pool for thursday, and a hen party saturday night, so im not going to become a total recluse... well, not this week anyway!!!

Jolaaled

Pavlov...Ferris suggestion has really helped me get going, as have other tips that people have so generously offered.

and, i'm finding using Headings/style thingy really good. (thanks, Meema).

I'm still on the Lit review: have sorted all evidence and key findings into sections by moving my Post-It notes about and have started to write up first draft on a few of these sections. Sometimes it goes well.... a lot of time, it doesn't..but at least i'm writing.

Have been to library this evening...Uni have given me a SCONUL access card, so i'm now able to borrow books from my local uni, rather than the one i'm actually attending, which is miles away..so that's saved a bit of time too.

cupid_s

hope everyones work is going well. sali - hope the exam went ok.

your advice re drafts was very helpful pavlovs_dog. I think i've been spending too much time trying to make them perfect when i'll probably have another 3 drafts after this one to get it better. And your plan seems so complete and well thought out i'm jealous. Maybe i'll make one myself.

I find subheadings etc make it so much easier. And using styles for that helps. Making the table of contents is then much easier as is cross referencing because all you have to do is click one button.

I've been doing nothing since last week due to me having a preliminary telephone interview on friday which I had to prepare for from wednesday. And then there's another interview tomorrow where I have to give a 20 minute presentation on my thesis work which still isn't done.

But after that there will hopefully only be one interview for a while (as long as I get a second one with the company from friday - fingers crossed as that would be the best job in the world ever for me) and so my writing can take preference again.

pavlovs_dog

cupid_s wrote: »

your advice re drafts was very helpful pavlovs_dog. I think i've been spending too much time trying to make them perfect when i'll probably have another 3 drafts after this one to get it better. And your plan seems so complete and well thought out i'm jealous. Maybe i'll make one myself.

glad it helped. we shouldnt let perfectionism hold us back.

as for my plan... well at least i look organised i typed up the bulk of my bibliography yesterday, and considering how much reading i felt like i did, it doesnt look as long as i thought it was going to. there a few more books and articles to be added, and its yet to be formatted (god bless double line spacing ), its just a bit disappointing when it doesnt look like it reflects the amount of work i feel i put in.


today, i face the MAMMOUTH task of quantifying my results :eek: questionnaires seemed like such a good idea at the time :rolleyes:

Jolaaled

Pavlov: hoping that your work plan is going ok..at least you've got your biblio done, which is so time-consuming.

I'm still on my lit review but things have come to a bit of a standstill, brought on by panic. I'm hoping to get most of it done and dusted over the easter weekend.
my main motivation is just to get the damn thing written, as it seems to have been hangin over my head for months now and it's starting to get very boring!

matt1980

Keep at it guys, fortunately I've gone through the struggle of doing mine and it didn't turn out anywhere near as bad as I thought it would. My advice would be to ensure you have a plan and structure sorted, keep up with your bibliography and avoid doing word counts every 10 minutes! Plenty of books will help you out a lot but don't be afraid to get lots of sources like journals, newspapers and the internet of course (be very careful with your sources online and never use wikipedia - as tempting as it is!).

pavlovs_dog

why does no one tell you that when it comes to your dissertation you should expect everything to take about 3 times longer to do than you thought it would? :rolleyes:

sali_mali

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

why does no one tell you that when it comes to your dissertation you should expect everything to take about 3 times longer to do than you thought it would? :rolleyes:

Beause dissertations are specifically designed to drive you insane. I'm actually pretty sure that the computers are programmed to delete large chunks of your work after you log off, just to keep you on your toes :rolleyes:

On the plus side, I got an offer for med school today!! :j