Let’s face it - a college dissertation has to be your most ambitious academic project but writing it is a gruelling process. In my career as a thesis and academic coach, I’ve tutored thousands of students and helped them finish these lengthy documents on time. Trust me, the four most essential elements required for nailing down any dissertation are academic prowess, writing style, perseverance, and motivation.
Even students who are highly committed to working on their dissertations typically face a set of common challenges. It’s not that these challenges are unsurpassable or some students are more intelligent than you. But they do utilise time efficiently and take regular advice from their supervisors.
For students pursuing their PhD study in Europe, online thesis portals such as Dart Europe, Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NLTD), EThOS, and Spain’s Thesis Doctorales provide excellent dissertation help.
In each of these portals, you can effortlessly search across a million peer-reviewed papers. I took help from these portals for writing my science thesis; which I completed in far less time than expected as I also followed the steps given below.
Shifting Attitude from Reactive to Proactive
The result of motivation is always meaningful progress. Proactiveness comes naturally, whether or not you realise it. But how does one stop being reactive? Here’s an example-cum-comparison of two scholars -- Ashley and Jeremy; both pursuing PhD in Psychology at the Heidelberg University in Germany.
Ashley replies to all the emails sent by her thesis supervisors; follows their instructions, and even reacts to situations which as and when come along. She is doing her work, but progress could take several weeks or even months.
On the contrary, Jeremy knows that he will receive avalanches of emails from the thesis community. So, instead of reacting to all of them, he knows what to accomplish during the week. He also takes an active part in deciding the topic, research methods, and learning the basics of SPSS for conducting data analysis.
If you’ve been wondering, ‘how to motivate me to write my dissertation’, then read this.
By using a proactive approach, you can significantly reduce distractions, give direction and take control over it to finish your dissertation faster than your peers.
Having a Plan for the Day
Imagine coming to your class without having a plan devised for the day. How unproductive would that be, right? To make your proactive approach more impactful, you should map the top 3 priorities for a particular day.
The traditional way is to have a to-do list but to be more effective; you can further narrow down your activities or goals to the top 3 priority tasks for the day. Schedule them right. Be realistic.
I did all this a day in advance so that I was mentally-prepared as soon as I stepped into my class. At times, I made mistakes in defining the day’s priorities which lead me to procrastinate -- just the opposite of what I wanted to accomplish.
No matter what happened at the university, such as an unexpected event, I made sure to complete my #1 priority each day. This indeed helped me plan my dissertation the way I wanted.
Communicating Regularly with Supervisors
Are you a shy introvert or have conflicts with your supervisor? Avoiding him/her in both circumstances might not resolve your problems; in fact, it will delay your dissertation.
Surprisingly, I know some students who did not talk to their supervisors until the last year of graduation. They openly revealed how difficult it became to write the thesis. Only a handful of them did not even begin writing it by then and eventually had to take help from a professional dissertation writer in Europe.
You might get discouraged by the thought of discussing the thesis with your supervisor. Common questions that would provoke are, ‘what if my dissertation topic is ridiculous?’, ‘what if he/she assigns more work to me every time we meet?’, ‘what if he/she is not satisfied with the research methodology?’
Enter: Assertive Communication
Whether you’re in a graduate or postgraduate university, it is the most incredible opportunity to develop assertive communication abilities. With these skills, you can effortlessly communicate your ideas while also being aware of the needs of your supervisor, which will eventually help you bring out mutually beneficial agreements.
Listen to Your Supervisor Even if He/She Disagrees
Just like any professor at your university, supervisors too have several things to do during the day. Congratulations, your dissertation made it to top the 50 items on his/her mind.
Now don’t start cribbling as soon as you meet him/her. Always greet with a clear plan, and it will be a bonus if you can come up with possible solutions to the problems.
Next, use the rule of thumb -- listen to him/her 80% of the time and talk for the remaining 20%. Instead of openly disagreeing with him/her with what he suggests, try asking more questions to get information.
Most importantly, no matter what conflicts you had with him/her earlier, you both will have to work together. He/she will more likely listen to your ideas and provide you with constructive feedback.
Thanks a lot for proactively reading this blog till the end. I am glad that it was of some help to you. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed as you could find yourself swaying away from the direction amidst the day-to-day life. Should you need a dissertation writing expert to help you with your dissertation, do contact us right away. Assignment Help Era is committed to your academic success and will offer support to finish your dissertation on time. Simply fill the form, and we’ll connect you with a dissertation help expert in Europe within minutes.