Preparing a university dissertation can be a long and arduous task, which requires managing your time efficiently and prioritizing your most important tasks over your least important tasks. Without proper time management skills, you’re bound to lose out on important facts for your dissertation and the result will be a low quality dissertation which will not earn you your degree.

Here are a few good time management practices which will make finishing your dissertation a lot easier.

Create A Schedule

A long-term schedule is an ideal asset to keeping your dissertation on the right track. You can start with your desired graduation date and then look up all the most important dissertation submission dates from this date. For instance, mark your calendar for when you need to submit the final version, when do you need to defend your dissertation to the dissertation committee etc. Allow a cushion time for reviewing & editing your dissertation. Finalize a deadline for drafts of all of the chapters and your proposal.

On The Job

Treat your dissertation like it was a (non-paying) job. Chalk out specific times when you’ll be able to spend on your desk each day. Work on your dissertation during this time even if you don’t want to, and continue working on it until your scheduled time is up. Sometimes, you won’t have a choice about when you need to work on your dissertation, but sticking to a daily work schedule can help you make progress.

Time Yourself

When you start your dissertation ‘job’ as mentioned above, set a timer for that timeframe and work on your dissertation till the time runs out. Better yet, set a timer for a particular goal in your dissertation of a short period of time. Work on it till the time runs out. You can use a digital watch or web software to help you on this. This method is ideal for writing, reviewing and editing tasks. You can use it for other tasks such as analysis or citations etc.

Make a Pact

Make a pact with a fellow student that you’ll dedicate yourself to your dissertation. It could be something like you’ll write 10 pages or work on the dissertation for 3 hours a day. Your friend can then keep tabs on you to see just how well are you doing and what progress is there. When you meet your goals, celebrate and set new goals. If you or your buddy doesn’t make the goal, the other can provide encouragement.