Advice for Budgeting Time When Writing Master's Thesis

[fouler657]

I am currently in the process of writing my Thesis. My proposal is written, defended, and approved. Now, I just have to start actually writing the paper. I am an awful procrastinator, and I know that if I don't make some sort of plan and stick to it, I'll be in big trouble.

Does anyone have any advice on the best way to budget your time when writing your thesis?

Thanks!

[rising_star]

There are several things you could do, but it all depends on knowing how you work best. For me, I like having a list of what I need to do, broken down into steps (for example, "summarize sources A-D to integrate into lit review" rather than just "write lit review") that I can cross off once they're complete. I also like working with printed out journal articles and quotes and tend to have a stack of papers and books around when I'm writing. I also prefer to carve out a few hours each day for specific tasks, to ensure that the task doesn't fulfill all the available time in my day. I work better when busier so I took on additional work and home responsibilities while writing my thesis (as in, a part-time job and two foster dogs that needed to be housetrained). But, YMMV.

[radioalfredio]

Remember that you don't need to write everything in a linear order. If you're having trouble with your introduction, write that later. I find that the introduction can't really be written until I'm done with everything else, but I always get bogged down by it in the beginning. Also, I find it helpful to set goals. Say that you want to finish your discussion one week from today. Hold firm to that deadline like your adviser is expecting it then. You can either work on it in little pieces or pull an all nighter. Just remember that you have a deadline to meet.

[Behavioral]

Write anything now. Edit later.

I tend to write a lot after drinking some scotch.

[wintergirl]

Write anything now. Edit later.

I tend to write a lot after drinking some scotch.

You are a wise one. Change bourbon for the scotch and I think you've just described my plan for the weekend.

I'm also applying to PhD programs right now (and teaching, working, taking classes) so it seems that anything BUT my thesis has been my priority for the last few weeks. I've got my proposal defended and a solid draft of my 2nd chapter; drafts of the first two chapters are due to my advisor early next week. So, @fouler657, I'll be slogging it out with you. : )

[purpledinosaur]

I found that starting a document with the title THESIS in big scary letters helped, and making a table of contents for it. Obviously that will change, but messing around with the order of the chapters forced me to make my larger organizational scheme really concrete. Then I brought it to my adviser today to look over, along with one of my analyses.

I second radioalfredio's suggestion to set yourself deadlines. I'm terrible at these big projects with long timeframes as well, so I have to set deadlines for myself. I don't always stick to them precisely, but they work.

Edited February 2, 2012 by purpledinosaur

[Hugh10]

How is the Master's Thesis writing going for everyone? I applied to PhD programs and have had a really hard time concentrating. I am not exactly "behind" yet... but if I don't pick up the pace soon I will be scrambling. It is also very unfortunate that the schools I applied to will be sending out acceptances roughly at the same time my thesis is due so I don't think I will have any relief from the anxiety during the writing process.

As a seperate problem I have been thinking about my Thesis for quite some time now... it has been a project that I have been working on in some form or another for a year and a half and I feel like I have read so much on my topic I wouldn't know how to explain it to someone who knows nothing about it. The first time I wrote anything about it, it was like a process of discovery and I really enjoyed it because I was just formulating my own opinion. Now, though, the topic seems so large, and in some ways obvious. I am having a really hard time getting it together. It is partially a motivation problem, I am not that excited about it anymore, but it is also a structural problem I can't figure out what my narrative should be because all the information is on one even plane in my head. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone?

[talific]

@Hugh10 That actually makes perfect sense. I felt the same way while writing my undergrad honours thesis. The more I learned about the topic, the less I was able to explain it to others. Unfortunately, I possess no great wisdom for you.

[Cup of Tea]

Hugh10, the same thing is happening to me right now (I am writing my BA thesis). After a while I realized continuing like this and just feeling incompetent is not going to solve the problem. What I did was first I took a day off to gain some perspective and look at my situation from the outside, and then I sat down and tried to approach everything rationally. I have read absurd amounts of literature on my topic, I have my material gathered, I worked on this intensively for quite a while - there is no way I am unknowledgeable about what I am doing, and all I have to do now is put everything into a coherent narrative. So this is what I focused on and I think the most important thing is to formulate an outline, a structure, let it marinate for a day, and then stick to it. I just took a blank paper and a pencil and started visualising, sketching, matching,... the main arguments/themes of my thesis, came out with a few different variants and then ended up deciding on the structure I thought was the best. You have to realize there is not only one correct way to do this and a good thesis argument can be narrated in different ways. Of course it is healthy to question yourself in the process in order to improve your work; but after I chose a structure, I stuck to it, and my writing is now going great.

Well, I did not want to get too carried away. I hope this helps you; good luck with your thesis!