Thesis Writing: 5 tips to actually enjoy the process
Hello there,
...it's me, your chaotic story teller, blogging even though I should be doing other things... Said 'other things' include texting my boyfriend to clear up the air (there's been more hurricane than sunshine recently), tidy up the crazy amount of dirty laundry scattered all over my floor and at least take a glimpse at my very long and probably overflowing to-do list... Well all of those things are stressing me out because of one big reason: Thesis writing.
Believe it or not, but your girl is actually pretty good at all things school, organising and time management, sometimes creating the illusion that I've got my shit together (believe me, I don't). In Austria, all students that want to take part in the Matura (Austrian equivalent of A-levels, Abitur and whatever exam there is that you need to take at the end of High School. You need it in order to go to University) need to write a thesis. I already wrote mine during summer holidays, therefore I can spend my spare time now to focus on other important exams and actually enjoy midterm holidays. Well- others, (including pretty much all fellow students in Year 12) didn't do that and are now freaking out because little time, much work, much drama, many tears. You can see me rolling my eyes because c'mon, who laughed at me because I have rather spent one week in August on my desk while others were out swimming? It's called time management and it's one thing I am insanely good at.
Well it's also one thing my boyfriend is shit at. This crazy dude started writing his thesis two effing weeks before the hand-in date, which is this Friday. Obviously he is super stressed now, panicking 80% of the time because what if he doesn't finish in time aaand 100% of the time he is super angry and I'm the one he's letting it out on.
All the drama around me proved one thing to me: I might have actually managed writing my thesis quite well! So here's 10 tips by yours truly to make the writing process actually enjoyable!
1. Choose a topic you are actually interested in and are willing to invest a lot of time
...it needs to be a topic you always wanted to know more about, something you love reading about in your free time and something you don't mind getting tricky with the time. My topic was the reciprocity between creativity and mental illness: Something that has always fascinated me. Psychology was one of my favourite subjects in school, so it only made sense to choose a topic in that genre.
2. Time management is key
This is my advice concerning everything school, university, basically life. There's nothing better for me that an agenda that tells me when to do what. It hinders your need to procrastinate, the feeling of achievement is incredible once you can tick a few tasks off your list and you'll most likely finish on time!
3. Prepare yourself for a wild ride
If you've never written a thesis before, it can be quite a challenge. For me it wasn't really the writing process that was hard (I actually really enjoyed writing something so sophisticated!) but citing and formatting were quite the challenge.
I think if you start the process, knowing that not everything will go down smoothly you can really grow with the challenges and in the end you have something you can immensely be proud of.
4. Choose your professor/teacher that coordinates the writing process wisely!
I chose my English and Drama professor with whom I've been getting along very well. I think it's vital to choose someone with a very similar work ethic. For example, I looove planning and organising and having everything really structured and planned out, she's similar therefore we could work well together. You need to be aware that your professor only coordinates the process, he/she is not supposed to carry you through the writing process!
5. (if possible) take one week off of school/uni or use the holidays for writing!
Writing is so much easier and more fun if you can actually spend multiple hours at once. You really get into the writing process, you know that this is your thesis-time and you won't get distracted easily. I noticed that my boyfriend always took twice as long getting into the literature and back into his thesis because he only wrote for like two hours at a time. I occasionally spent one whole afternoon writing, just taking loo breaks or food and drink breaks. You'll be surprised how much you get done!
The most important tip I can give you is to try and enjoy the writing process, always having in mind that at the end you'll have something you can be really proud of!
Keep smiling,
Julia
...it's me, your chaotic story teller, blogging even though I should be doing other things... Said 'other things' include texting my boyfriend to clear up the air (there's been more hurricane than sunshine recently), tidy up the crazy amount of dirty laundry scattered all over my floor and at least take a glimpse at my very long and probably overflowing to-do list... Well all of those things are stressing me out because of one big reason: Thesis writing.
Believe it or not, but your girl is actually pretty good at all things school, organising and time management, sometimes creating the illusion that I've got my shit together (believe me, I don't). In Austria, all students that want to take part in the Matura (Austrian equivalent of A-levels, Abitur and whatever exam there is that you need to take at the end of High School. You need it in order to go to University) need to write a thesis. I already wrote mine during summer holidays, therefore I can spend my spare time now to focus on other important exams and actually enjoy midterm holidays. Well- others, (including pretty much all fellow students in Year 12) didn't do that and are now freaking out because little time, much work, much drama, many tears. You can see me rolling my eyes because c'mon, who laughed at me because I have rather spent one week in August on my desk while others were out swimming? It's called time management and it's one thing I am insanely good at.
Well it's also one thing my boyfriend is shit at. This crazy dude started writing his thesis two effing weeks before the hand-in date, which is this Friday. Obviously he is super stressed now, panicking 80% of the time because what if he doesn't finish in time aaand 100% of the time he is super angry and I'm the one he's letting it out on.
All the drama around me proved one thing to me: I might have actually managed writing my thesis quite well! So here's 10 tips by yours truly to make the writing process actually enjoyable!
 |
| I really wish this would have been my place for thesis writing, although the mess on the desk looks quite like mine did... |
1. Choose a topic you are actually interested in and are willing to invest a lot of time
...it needs to be a topic you always wanted to know more about, something you love reading about in your free time and something you don't mind getting tricky with the time. My topic was the reciprocity between creativity and mental illness: Something that has always fascinated me. Psychology was one of my favourite subjects in school, so it only made sense to choose a topic in that genre.
2. Time management is key
This is my advice concerning everything school, university, basically life. There's nothing better for me that an agenda that tells me when to do what. It hinders your need to procrastinate, the feeling of achievement is incredible once you can tick a few tasks off your list and you'll most likely finish on time!
3. Prepare yourself for a wild ride
If you've never written a thesis before, it can be quite a challenge. For me it wasn't really the writing process that was hard (I actually really enjoyed writing something so sophisticated!) but citing and formatting were quite the challenge.
I think if you start the process, knowing that not everything will go down smoothly you can really grow with the challenges and in the end you have something you can immensely be proud of.
4. Choose your professor/teacher that coordinates the writing process wisely!
I chose my English and Drama professor with whom I've been getting along very well. I think it's vital to choose someone with a very similar work ethic. For example, I looove planning and organising and having everything really structured and planned out, she's similar therefore we could work well together. You need to be aware that your professor only coordinates the process, he/she is not supposed to carry you through the writing process!
5. (if possible) take one week off of school/uni or use the holidays for writing!
Writing is so much easier and more fun if you can actually spend multiple hours at once. You really get into the writing process, you know that this is your thesis-time and you won't get distracted easily. I noticed that my boyfriend always took twice as long getting into the literature and back into his thesis because he only wrote for like two hours at a time. I occasionally spent one whole afternoon writing, just taking loo breaks or food and drink breaks. You'll be surprised how much you get done!
The most important tip I can give you is to try and enjoy the writing process, always having in mind that at the end you'll have something you can be really proud of!
Keep smiling,
Julia
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