Tips for Finishing a Dissertation at Distance Learning

Tips for Finishing a Dissertation at Distance Learning

Back in February I finally handed in my last assignment for my degree this was the one everyone dreads the Dissertation! Over the past 3 to 4 years I have been completing this degree while working full time and I can definitely say there have been some times when this has been a struggle and the burnout has been strong!

With the current situation alot of you I'm sure are finishing off your degrees or doing assignments at distance learning from home and I wanted to share with you some of my tips that helped me be productive when finishing off my dissertation.

1. Gather all your Research First

When completing my dissertation and all my assignments really I tended to gather all my research that I wanted to use first. I then used to identify all the quotes that could be useful to be included into the assignment based off of the question that I was trying to answer. I felt this saved me so much time when starting to write the assignments.

2. Create your References

When I would find a quote I would always create the full reference and add it onto the document then and there. This saved me so much time and meant that I didn't forget which text I had found the quote from or the page number.

3. Plan Your Time
I set aside certain days and evenings of the week purely for university work. I found this worked well for me as I had time for my personal life on the days when I was not doing university work. Sticking to a schedule is the best way to be productive and get work done by set deadlines.

4. Take Breaks

It is important if you have limited time in the week and can only work on weekends to take breaks. Grab a drink, some food, watch an episode of your favourite programme. This will help keep you motivated and clear your mind rather than working non-stop and feeling burnt out.

5. Change Your Workspace
Do your work in different places that suit you I found working in multiple places such as my computer room, the library or even at work helped change my headspace.

6. Keep in Contact
Keep in contact with your tutor, any questions you have e-mail and ask, contact over e-mail helps ensure you feel supported and ensure that you have some guidance that you are going in the right direction with the structure and content of your dissertation.

These are all the tips I feel that helped me and may help you while completing a dissertation at distance learning. Are you studying via distance learning? What do you feel helps you keep motivated and what tips do you have?

Thanks for Reading! 

Basic Banana Bread

Basic Banana Bread

Lockdown has given me far more time to bake than I normally would have and it seems like ABSOLUTELY everybody has baked banana bread at least once during this time! Having never made banana bread before I figured I would give it a go due to all the hype and the fact that I already had the ingredients ready at home. The recipe I followed was super simple and I figured I would share it with you:

How I'm Managing My Mental Health in Lockdown

How I'm Managing My Mental Health in Lockdown.

I'm sure the current situation surrounding lockdown over the last month has affected everyone's mental health in differing ways. During this time I have set myself many routines aimed to help and improve my mental health during all of this uncertainty and I thought I would share with you the routine tasks that have been helping me:

1. Exercising Everyday

Before Lockdown I was lucky if I found time to exercise twice a week, during this period with all the additional time I have forced myself to exercise in some way everyday be it going for a walk or following exercise videos on YouTube. I find even if I haven't been feeling the best that doing some form of exercise has always boosted my mood and made me feel better about my self image.

2. Reading 

I finally can read for joy again now my degree is complete, so this spare time and the kindle daily deals have given me chance to get stuck into some fiction. You can see what I have been reading in this post.

3. Baking

I have been practicing and perfecting a lot of baking recipes that I have never tried before such as banana bread (as who isn't baking that currently?) and brownies. The only problem with this one is I then have to eat all that I have baked!

4. Watching Movies/TV Shows

Catching up on the shows and films that I have not seen, either on Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney+. You can see what I have been watching recently here.

5. Practising Self-care

My self-care before lockdown was awful, I never left time for any extra pampering. So during this time I have made full use of face masks, practising with makeup, having baths to relax and finally sticking to a skincare routine.

These are all the tasks I have been doing to aid my mental wellbeing during this time. What have you all been doing to help your mental health during these strange times?

Thanks for Reading!

What I'm Currently Reading

Currently Reading

With all of this time on my hands I am actually catching up with my reading list. I think this year will finally be the year I hit and surpass my Good Reads book goal!

I figured I would share with you some of the books I have started that I am intending to finish. I always seem to have multiple books on the go and tend to start another one before I have finished one, I just can't help myself!

Here is what I am reading currently:

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

This book follows the lives of a group of children, focusing on the main narrator Kathy who is trying to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic boarding school Hailsham and the fate that has always awaited her and her friends in the outside world.

I am really enjoying this story, I had already seen the film so it does take away the plot twist in the book! The film I remember being incredibly emotional so I expect the book to end in much the same way. I am half way through this currently and hoping to finish it shortly.

5 Things I Want To Do After Lockdown

5 Things I Want to Do After Lockdown

This post was inspired by Hello Miss Jordan's post 7 Things I'm Going to Do Once Lockdown is Over. 

I like the idea of looking ahead past all the doom and gloom of the current situation and setting future plans and goals that I can look forward to.

Currently I am very much enjoying the break this lockdown is providing me with, I don't think I realised just how rundown I had been feeling and I am incredibly grateful that I am in a fortunate position where I am currently able to work from home. 

Despite the break however I have been very sad to have a lot of future plans cancelled, while I understand it is necessary in the current climate it has definitely taken away the joy of having things booked in advance to look forward to.

With all that being said the 5 things I want to do after lockdown include:

Memory Scrapbooking

 Memory Scrapbooking

With all this extra time on my hands I have finally got around to starting a task I have had on my to do list for years! This would be my holiday memory scrapbook.

Over the past 6 years whenever I went on holiday I took photos and kept hold of tickets to sights, boarding passes, metro ickets etc. This was all with the intention of putting them together creatively into a scrapbook so that I could look back on my favourite memories from my various trips.

Included in this post are some pictures of my progress so far with this scrapbook. I've already managed to fill nearly one book because I just cannot choose between photos!

What I have enjoyed the most about this project at this time is that it has given me a creative outlet and something to focus on amidst all the chaos going on in the world currently.

I've really let my creative juices flow and created things out of coloured paper like mini planes, mini suitcases and flags for the different countries all to stick onto the pages with the photos and tickets to make them stand out.

I love the idea of having a book like this put together that I can pull out and have a look at over the years.

I still have a long way to go with this project but I am grateful to have something that I can use as a creative outlet where I can look back over my favourite memories and happier times while new memories currently cannot be made.

What have you been doing with your extra time during this lockdown? What do you enjoy doing that brings out your creativity?

Thanks for Reading!