How do you keep yourselves motivated?

LadyMayBelle

I'm 5 months off finishing a two year full time masters which has sucked the life and soul out of me, literally. I feel like a different person, and almost as clueless as I went in!

I have an 8000 word portfolio to hand in tomorrow and the 20000 word dissertation by mid may. I have delayed the proposal/lit review a)because I fell victim to numerous health problems last year and b) because I genuinely haven't a clue what to do it on. Okay, well the last one I understand is part laziness!

But my motivation is at minus 5. I find it very hard to press on because I am not interested anymore and other things seem so much more appealing. I'm obviously not going to quit, but I would love to know how other PGs keep themselves focused and motivated etc., practically and emotionally!

El Siglo

I don't, I sink further into depression and then binge drink. It also doesn't help when you fancy one of the other people on the course! The best thing is to take it one day at a time, one assignment at a time, one chapter, one page, one paragraph, one sentence, one line. Don't worry about stuff down the pipe, do what you can each day. It's like getting fit, you don't get fit in one day do you? No, it takes months and days of work, which little by little build up something like fitness. The same principles apply to your masters. Bit by bit, you need to set realistic day to day tasks because if you don't the work will overwhelm you and then you're fucked. Get what you can done each day, reward yourself and then keep going. Eventually you'll see all of the work coming together. This is all you can do.

Cannibal Ox

Coffee. Lots and lots and lots of coffee. Friends in the course help too. It's good to know other people are in the same position as you, and to have a lengthy moan with them about the course.

I also try to think about the future and what I'm going to have gotten out of it. That helps a lot when I'm reading an article in some obscure journal on some technical point/issue that nobody outside a handful of dusty old scholars in the world care about and who aren't even sure whether that point/issue exists outside of their own imagination.

I still struggle. Most of the work I did last term was theory driven. I like theory, but I only like it in tandem with empirical research. I don't like theory for theories sake. I find it utterly, completely, incredibly, mindbogglingly, pointless. I have two essays to get done by Friday week. I've done way more reading then I should have, but I haven't written a word yet. I've never had that problem before (it's normally the other way round), and part of it's down to both of the essays being largely about theory, and it's very hard for me to motivate myself for it because I just don't see the point in writing about theory for theories sake.

I don't even want to think about my dissertation yet. I should really be starting the lit review soon, but I haven't even gotten together an idea that I'm happy with yet.

AARRRGH

I did a 12 month part-time masters one/two years ago.

My motivation was aiming for straight-As. I knew if I didn't constantly make an effort it wouldn't happen. I also purposefully picked difficult topics so it would force me to work hard.

I made sure I never missed a class so I would have no reason to feel lost or upset with myself.

All this took a lot of effort though, and frequently I did find my brain wanting to do anything (anything!) other than study. So you've just got to force yourself.

Max001

El Siglo wrote: »

I don't, I sink further into depression and then binge drink. It also doesn't help when you fancy one of the other people on the course! The best thing is to take it one day at a time, one assignment at a time, one chapter, one page, one paragraph, one sentence, one line. Don't worry about stuff down the pipe, do what you can each day. It's like getting fit, you don't get fit in one day do you? No, it takes months and days of work, which little by little build up something like fitness. The same principles apply to your masters. Bit by bit, you need to set realistic day to day tasks because if you don't the work will overwhelm you and then you're fucked. Get what you can done each day, reward yourself and then keep going. Eventually you'll see all of the work coming together. This is all you can do.

Agree. Way back when, my supervisor gave me some good advice.....simply try to do a page, or a few pages a day. Gets to be a habit. I compartmentalise in that I mostly only think about the current chapter/task. Realise also, you're not alone. Seems to be, most of us experience the same roller coaster. Same as you, I've had health issues that have disrupted progress, but I'm just about to submit my masters and immediately starting a Phd in a subject I really enjoy. Free your mind n yr ass WILL follow!

SoupyNorman

Im approaching the first exams, it's been a crazy 1st semester what with projects and getting to class ofter work.

I hope to be alot more organized for the coming semester, it was hard to stay motivated last semester as we got bogged down with so much work, so much quicker then expected. Now, armed with the knowledge of what to expect I hope to stay atop of the pile abit better.

For future projects I am going to start them the day I receive the brief, even if it's just a page here and a page there it will be a start, the start is always the most difficult.

El Siglo

The one thing people here must remember to do is: RELAX! And have a little Perspective. You will crash and burn if you don't keep these ideas firmly in place. You have to think of yourself like a soldier. A soldier in war, might be fighting long and hard for a week, two weeks or three weeks solidly. No real rest, no relaxation, just on the job. However, a soldier can go even longer into boredom as a demob, no enemy to fight except time. Strike a balance between these two.
I've gone nights and weeks without sleep, and I've gone nights just drinking and doing nothing. Boredom is as bad as being over worked. So learn to relax, you won't know everything but you'll know enough. And if you know enough well, then that's even better. Theory can be a pain so that's why you have to come up with mind tricks to get through it, really mix your theory with an appropriate case study. If you know a case study or example well you'll know the theory part as well, and it'll make the theory more interesting.
Whatever you do keep your work into perspective, the PGrad Dip/HDip/Ma/MSc/MLitt/PhD isn't the 'be-all and end-all', it's study, it's work that has to be done, but it's not everything. Remember to go out, remember your friends and family, remember that at the end of the day it all comes down to one day, probably in winter where you're dressed to the nines wearing a ridiculous cape and learn to laugh at it!:D It's a postgrad, not your life.
There are times where you will work late into the night, early morning or indeed for 38 hours as one girl I know did on Monday and Tuesday, but try and avoid these situations at all costs. Balance is key, I'd rather spend 15-20 hours a week of lazy reading than breaking my balls to cover stuff. You'll never learn everything, but you'll learn enough and that's all that matters.

The main thing to remember is, it's education! It should be enjoyed not endured.;)

Ellajane

Hi guys,

I understand how you're feeling at the min, I'm second year of a PhD which is very interesting but I haven't really settled into it yet, it still seems so daunting and there is practically no support from the Uni - supervisor included... so enough of my whining...

When I was doing my MA my old (wonderful) supervisor gave me a book called "Writing your dissertation in 15 minutes a day" by Joan Bolker (I think that's how you spell it)... yea yea I know it sounds like tripe but if you read it it actually starts to make sense...

Give yourself a deadline: e.g. I'll write two A4 pages every day until I finish.... or I'll write 500 words everyday until I finish, or I'll write for 30 minutes a day non stop etc etc. The crucial point here is not to sit down and write exact, precise, constructive things - sometimes it will be about that but most of it will be almost like brainstorming ideas that you can flesh out when it comes to writing the essay / thesis / whatever

Now - it's easier than it seems - some of my best ideas came from the drivel I found myself writing just to fill up two pages so I could "clock off" for the day. At the end of the day it's ten times easier to sit down to write a thesis when you have a pile of papers / essays that you have written that you can copy and paste from - or even ideas that you can pick out of the waffel that you wrote one random day months previous to that...

Anywho hope that makes sense...best of luck!

Red Alert

I'm all for keeping stuff in short deadlines. It can be very disheartening when one particular task ends up taking months over its due date, so I'm in fire fighting mode on that at the minute.

Ellajane

Yup, me too...

One more thing that I forgot to mention about the technique used in the book I mentioned - the most important part is to STOP writing when you've reached your deadline... NEVER go over your deadline because when you've done your quota for the day you have a sense of achievement and you have somewhere to begin the following day. So for me the most important thing is to set small, realistic, manageable goals to get through it and stick to them - don't fail to meet them but don't go overboard

I'm going against the last few posters here, but what works for me is only working when I'm in the mood. If I'm not in the mood, it's just not going to happen. Likewise, if I am in the mood, I keep going for as long as I feel like it. I used to sit for hours trying to write and just wasted loads of time. Now, if I sit down and can't focus I just give up and go and do something else. Often the next day, I'll be able to sit down and write pages - perhaps my brain needed the break. This only works if you genuinely can't focus though, not if you just can't be bothered.

pow wow

Knowing I didn't have a Plan B :P Well I did, but it would have made me feel like I was selling myself short. My dissertation was written in about 6 weeks from start to finish, 6 weeks of blurred misery! I sort of lost interest in the middle part of my MA for a while, hence the sprint to the submission deadline.

At the end of the day you know what works for you, some people write x words per day/week etc. whereas some leave everything until the last minute.

Console yourself that most postgrads are in the same position as you at some point (or throughout the entirety of their postgrad course!) and you're on the home straight now. It also helps to have friends in the same position and a sense of optimism about the freedom you'll have once it's done.

El Siglo

I hate my postgrad at the moment, I really hate everything about it. I hate living in Dublin and Ireland, I'm sick of college. I'm in a different college now and honestly I hate the place. I think the worst thing you can do is go from undergrad to postgrad without any time off in between (this is what I've done!). I know this sounds silly, but seeing people who've taken a year or whatever off between courses, they're just different people to the ones who go straight in after undergrad.

LadyMayBelle

El Siglo wrote: »

I hate my postgrad at the moment, I really hate everything about it. I hate living in Dublin and Ireland, I'm sick of college. I'm in a different college now and honestly I hate the place. I think the worst thing you can do is go from undergrad to postgrad without any time off in between (this is what I've done!). I know this sounds silly, but seeing people who've taken a year or whatever off between courses, they're just different people to the ones who go straight in after undergrad.

Well I took five years out and going back was so disappointing, not at all like I had hoped. 5 moths off finishing now and still don't have an idea for my thesis which is nuts. Decided to move out of home for a few months to live with some girls from the course, most of whom are serious studiers but I hope it is the right thing. Was doing and am doing zero at home, because it's home and I get spolit and there is so much hustle and bustle I feel guilty if I lock myself away! Really need motivation for the next while, and an idea!!