The Importance of Planning Your Dissertation

Writing a dissertation can be a hugely daunting task. That's why many students decided to buy dissertations online. But before you start thinking like ‘i want to buy a dissertation too’ just decide if it is worth it. Dissertations are often used by Universities as a means of assessing how well you know a particular area of the subject that you are studying at degree level. Often a dissertation can be worth an entire year's University points for one of your study modules, and if you find that you have to complete a dissertation for more than one of your study modules, the prospect of a year spent focusing on what is ultimately one long essay can not only be daunting, it can also feel exhausting before you've even begun!

One of the most important things you can do to stop yourself feeling completely overwhelmed and drown out by the task of completing a dissertation is to spend a decent amount of time planning your dissertation. If you have a robust study plan in place with key milestones in terms of your research, drafting your work and finalising your dissertation piece you will find that the task in hand becomes more manageable as you are able to break it down into individual activities that can almost be completed independently of each other.

So a good, solid dissertation completion plan is what's needed! Sounds easy enough...
If even the thought of planning your work is causing you to hide under the duvet each morning, here are a few tips to help you get that all important study plan in place:

1. Firstly think about your time availability. Realistically how much time do you have available to you for the completion of this dissertation? An academic term can seem like a lifetime but in reality it is probably about 12 weeks. There are 168 hours in a week. Take away the time you need for sleeping, eating and other elements of daily living and see what time you have left. It'll probably be between 6 and 8 hours. Now think about the other demands on your time. You may find that you have other assignments to complete for your other modules, other lectures to attend and seminars to participate in. With a dissertation you cannot simply decide to prioritise by deadline.

A smaller essay for another module that has an earlier deadline cannot take priority over your dissertation all of the time because the level of work required to complete your dissertation successfully will be significantly greater than the time needed to finalise your smaller essay. So look at the hours available to you each day between now and your dissertation deadline. Factor in the time needed for other activities and other academic assignments or commitments and see what you have left. Now block out the time available to you as 'dissertation time'. By doing this visually, i.e. on a calendar, you are more likely to stick to this timetable of action.

2. Next remember that your plan will have to change as you start working on your dissertation. So keep 'flexibility' in mind at all times.

3. Now come up with a list of all of the tasks you need to complete to ensure that your dissertation is finalised. This could include for example, 'carry out internet search', 'produce list of research questions', 'consult text books on research methodologies', 'draw up questionnaire', etc.

4. Work out the order in which you need to complete these tasks. Now allocate a time allowance for the completion of each task. Perhaps task 1 will take you 1 day to complete, task 2 may take 0.5 days, etc. Slot these tasks into the time you have allocated yourself for 'dissertation work' on your calendar. By doing this you have set yourself a number of interim deadlines to complete each crucial dissertation task. The overall task in hand should now feel more manageable.

5. Finally set yourself a 'comfort deadline'. Don't plan to complete your dissertation on the day that it is due. This is far too stressful. Aim to complete your dissertation at least one week before the formal deadline. This will allow you to respond if you have any unforeseen setbacks to contend with as you complete your dissertation.