Dissertation tips

Working on your dissertation can be a daunting experience, as it’s probably the largest piece of work you’ve done with more research needed, more self-discipline, and definitely more words. Third year, in general, can be a stressful time with keeping on top of every deadline, and the addition of a dissertation can cause a lot of people to worry. However, there are a few things you can do to help relieve that dissertation fuelled anxiety.

Stay in frequent contact with your tutor.

Everyone is assigned a dissertation tutor and it is so important to use them. Make sure you’re arranging regular meetings so they can check over some of your work and give you feedback.

This can help you spot things that need improving in your work, but also sometimes it helps to discuss your ideas. After a meeting, there is a good chance you will feel like you have a clearer sense of direction for your work.

It is especially important to seek out help from your tutor if you’re struggling. If things don’t seem to be going well, it can be tempting to hide from it and deal with it another time. But the best thing to do if you’re feeling stuck is to ask your tutor for some advice. After all, they are there to help you. Frequent contact can also include just dropping them an email to ask a few questions. They won’t mind.

Time management.

It’s completely understandable that everyone has multiple things going on in their life, and it can already be difficult to balance university, work, friends and time for yourself – as well as some time to deal with those pesky household chores.

It’s also really easy to push your dissertation to the back of your mind when the deadline seems as though it’s forever away. However, that date will come around quickly (speaking from experience). So, getting an early start is very beneficial.

Entering third year with a good idea of what you want to do for your dissertation, and with a start on some research will put you at an advantage. From that point on, just putting aside one day a week or a couple of afternoons/evenings a week to solidly work on your dissertation is a good idea.

Self-discipline.

We all know the struggle of knowing we should do work but then being invited out with friends. But a dissertation is so big that it requires some serious self-disciple in order to both get it done, and get it done to a good standard. If you set aside days to work on your dissertation, you should really try your hardest to stick to them. If for some reason you have to switch it round for one week, then it is important to make sure that you do end up spending time working on it.

Don’t worry, don’t panic.

The various stresses that come with a dissertation include how big of a project it is (obviously), but also the fact that it is third year – this is an important year, these marks are important for your overall degree. Those are all scary thoughts, so understandably many people do panic and worry about it.

But as long as you are putting in the time and communicating with your tutor, there really isn’t anything to worry about. Just think, pretty much everyone else in your year is in the same boat. At the end of the day, all you can do is try your best and once it’s all over, you will most likely feel incredibly proud of yourself.

You can do it!

Once you have finally finished it, here is how you bind your dissertation:

Please note: This content was created prior to Coronavirus, and some things might be different due to current laws and restrictions. Please refer to the University of Lincoln for the latest information.