The Student Room Group

Struggling to deal with workload - just need some advice!

Hey guys,

I guess I just need someone to talk to, because it isn't easy talking to people in person, especially about personal issues.

I'm studying abroad for a year, in Poland, and it's my final year of my Masters degree. The educational system over here seems to be solid compared to what I am used to in the UK. I decided to take all of my credits in the first semester alone because I want next semester (from mid-February to August) to focus solely on my Masters thesis and I am going to Russia as a result. It turned out that I ended up taking 5 compulsory classes, Russian language, and 2 additional courses that I kind of had to do. A lot of these courses and their content were entirely new to me - stuff to do with European integration/EU/Qualitative methodology etc - so it made it even more difficult for me. I am more concerned about the assessments, and how I am managing them. As a result, I have 9 exams altogether, a group project, a presentation, and 2 essays to complete within the space of less than 3 weeks. One essay is due on the 29th of this month, roughly 6 pages of work, so I am trying to focus on that now. My first oral and written exam for a class in which only consisted of lectures is next Friday, and because a lot of classes were cancelled and the tutor never stuck to the course syllabus and each specific topic in a given week, my head is all over the place, I don't even know how to effectively revise for this - we have been given a list of 15 potential questions in which we have to randomly choose 3. My other essay is due on the 2nd February, which I am really worrying about since we have to come up with our own topic and that's even more hours of thinking. Then a research project on the 29th also. And then, the first week of February consists of all the other written exams + Russian written and oral exam I need to do. To top it all, I have my dissertation supervisors breathing down my back (not literally, they are really nice and helpful, and it's good that they actually give a **** and want me to stick to agreed deadlines for pieces of work) and I just feel like a failure because I have literally had no time to work on my literature review for them. I had a big presentation this week about my dissertation, so a lot of work went into that.

I just don't know how to comprehend it all. I was planning to get the essay due on the 29th done by the end of the weekend (it's needed a week before the oral exam because it is partially based on that - that is a week later), and then spend next week on revision for the exam next Friday, and then after that focus on the essay for the 2nd of February. But none of this accounts for revision of all the other exams in the first week of February plus the research project due on the 29th in which we need to come up with a 25 page research methodology. Any advice/encouraging words/tell me to get off this/similar experiences/anything would be appreciated.
Original post by koba112
Hey guys,

I guess I just need someone to talk to, because it isn't easy talking to people in person, especially about personal issues.

I'm studying abroad for a year, in Poland, and it's my final year of my Masters degree. The educational system over here seems to be solid compared to what I am used to in the UK. I decided to take all of my credits in the first semester alone because I want next semester (from mid-February to August) to focus solely on my Masters thesis and I am going to Russia as a result. It turned out that I ended up taking 5 compulsory classes, Russian language, and 2 additional courses that I kind of had to do. A lot of these courses and their content were entirely new to me - stuff to do with European integration/EU/Qualitative methodology etc - so it made it even more difficult for me. I am more concerned about the assessments, and how I am managing them. As a result, I have 9 exams altogether, a group project, a presentation, and 2 essays to complete within the space of less than 3 weeks. One essay is due on the 29th of this month, roughly 6 pages of work, so I am trying to focus on that now. My first oral and written exam for a class in which only consisted of lectures is next Friday, and because a lot of classes were cancelled and the tutor never stuck to the course syllabus and each specific topic in a given week, my head is all over the place, I don't even know how to effectively revise for this - we have been given a list of 15 potential questions in which we have to randomly choose 3. My other essay is due on the 2nd February, which I am really worrying about since we have to come up with our own topic and that's even more hours of thinking. Then a research project on the 29th also. And then, the first week of February consists of all the other written exams + Russian written and oral exam I need to do. To top it all, I have my dissertation supervisors breathing down my back (not literally, they are really nice and helpful, and it's good that they actually give a **** and want me to stick to agreed deadlines for pieces of work) and I just feel like a failure because I have literally had no time to work on my literature review for them. I had a big presentation this week about my dissertation, so a lot of work went into that.

I just don't know how to comprehend it all. I was planning to get the essay due on the 29th done by the end of the weekend (it's needed a week before the oral exam because it is partially based on that - that is a week later), and then spend next week on revision for the exam next Friday, and then after that focus on the essay for the 2nd of February. But none of this accounts for revision of all the other exams in the first week of February plus the research project due on the 29th in which we need to come up with a 25 page research methodology. Any advice/encouraging words/tell me to get off this/similar experiences/anything would be appreciated.


Just to say, firstly, sorry you're feeling so stressed!
As for advice or similar experiences, I think everyone has some experience of a crunch period of work (though perhaps not as many things to do at once as you in many cases!), but the key is just staying organised and disciplined. You seem to be good at creating a schedule and imposing deadlines on yourself, so that's good - keep doing that, and keep your head down, and you'll get it done.
I think it's also important to remember that the best piece of work in many cases is a finished piece, rather than some 'perfect' essay that exists only in your head! So of course do the best that you can, but try not to get hung up on any perfectionist tendencies you might have, and focus on doing everything as best you can, but most of all getting things finished!
As regards your dissertation supervisors, it might be good to drop them a line or go for a brief chat and explain just how much you have going on, and that you might need an extra week or whatever for your lit review. If they are as nice and helpful as you say, I don't think this will cause major issues, especially as you are dedicating the entire second semester to the thesis, so you can easily 'catch up' if necessary once you have finished exams, since the diss will then have your undivided attention. You are not a failure at all - you just need to re-order your priorities for a few weeks, and then re-prioritise the dissertation once you're done.
Just my 2 cents - good luck with the work, and try stay off the internet as much as possible :wink:
I think the best - and only - approach is to take how much time you have and then divide it by the number of different deadlines you're working towards. Do that amount of time working on each and then just accept what comes out of that. Don't give into temptation to go over the pre-decided amount you decide to allocate to each thing. And I think it also helps to have a visual sign of your progress... like a list on the wall that you cross off. When I was revising for finals I had an A4 page on the wall for each day that I had, and a list on it of what bits I'd do for that day. At the end of each day I removed a piece of paper from the wall. So it got less and less each day, and that helped psychologically.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you