Final Year - what can I do to get extra help?

I'm in my final year at university. I have an assignment (4k) due in January & my dissertation (7k) is due in February.

I'm quite aware that I'm in a key period where I'm still (relatively) in control but I seem to be losing so many hours, I spend so long just getting familiar with things, write about 20% of what I ideally should for the day & then go again in the morning. It's become exhausting.

I've been talking to my tutors but due to distance learning I can't get much more help than 15 minutes here and there planning my work.

I'm thinking of getting a tutor who can help me get through some of these mental blocks which are tiring me out & killing my productivity.

Any advice here is really appreciated & I'm open to tutor recommendations!

Original post by Anonymous #1

I'm in my final year at university. I have an assignment (4k) due in January & my dissertation (7k) is due in February.

I'm quite aware that I'm in a key period where I'm still (relatively) in control but I seem to be losing so many hours, I spend so long just getting familiar with things, write about 20% of what I ideally should for the day & then go again in the morning. It's become exhausting.

I've been talking to my tutors but due to distance learning I can't get much more help than 15 minutes here and there planning my work.

I'm thinking of getting a tutor who can help me get through some of these mental blocks which are tiring me out & killing my productivity.

Any advice here is really appreciated & I'm open to tutor recommendations!

Hi,

My experience at university is that my university offered services which can help you with time management, assignment planning and general work advice. I would definitely see if your university offers these too as I know how stressful and frustrating it is in third year with lots of important deadlines but struggling to know what to write.

A piece of advice which I found useful when writing assignments to spark my brain into knowing what to write and not getting mental blocks is planning out the assignment into sections and putting next to it what needs to be in each section. For example,

Introduction
(what needs to be written in this section, themes you have discussed within the rest of the assignment)

paragraph 1

1.

point/theme/finding 1

2.

point/theme/finding 2

paragraph 2

1.

point/theme/finding 1

2.

point/theme/finding 2

paragraph 3

1.

point/theme/finding 1

2.

point/theme/finding 2

conclusion
(key findings)

This helped me as it set out what I need to write and then I could work on little sections at a time without thinking of the assignment as a whole and getting mental block. But definitely find out if there is other people which can help you at your university other than your tutors, this could be student services which are offered or other students on your course.

I hope this helps🙂
Louise - The University of Wolverhampton

Hi there,

Reaching out to a tutor is definitely a great option.

Of course you can brain storm your ideas or right down random thoughts whenerver they might occur (exersiece really helped me come up with arguments for my dissertation for some reason).

Thankfully, you still have over a month until you reach your deadlines, and at the moment 4K or 7K words may feel like a lot but believe me once you'll be writing about something you're very interested in, it will only be a matter of days for you to complete your assignments.

Perhaps you can reach out to previous uni students who completed your course? They will definitely share useful tips which helped them complete all coursework.

Additionally, don't be afraid to reach out to your fellow coursemates as they might be struggling as well. Maybe you can brain storm ideas together? Or create group study sessions to motivate eachother?

Finally, if you still need help, keep reaching out to your tutors. They are here to help you and give you feedback so make sure to take advantage of that.

I hope I managed to help!

Best of luck,
Melanie
LSBU Rep

Reply 3

University of Huddersfield

Official Rep

16

Original post by Anonymous #1

I'm in my final year at university. I have an assignment (4k) due in January & my dissertation (7k) is due in February.

I'm quite aware that I'm in a key period where I'm still (relatively) in control but I seem to be losing so many hours, I spend so long just getting familiar with things, write about 20% of what I ideally should for the day & then go again in the morning. It's become exhausting.

I've been talking to my tutors but due to distance learning I can't get much more help than 15 minutes here and there planning my work.

I'm thinking of getting a tutor who can help me get through some of these mental blocks which are tiring me out & killing my productivity.

Any advice here is really appreciated & I'm open to tutor recommendations!

Anon,

You might be losing time because of the way you are working.

It might be the way you are organising or have organised your notes. It may be that you are losing time finding relevant articles, so it might be reflecting on how you do this at the moment or getting help on better ways to use search databases. It may be that you are reading everything in an article, when you can actually skip parts, or that you are spending so much time at your computer day in, day out that you are just fatigued and need to schedule in some breaks. You might need to do something different, so that you can approach you work with a fresh mind. Finally it could be stress that is making it difficult to write, so you might need to break down what you need to do into smaller tasks rather than thinking " I need to get 4,000 words done and another 7,000 done in two months!" which might be giving you writer's block.

It might also be useful to work in time blocks, so doing two hours of work and then stopping. So you could, go do laundry, clean, cook a nice meal, go to the gym etc and then do another two hours. Take a break, again do something else and then maybe do some more. It may be that working to more focused time slots helps you be more productive and to prioritise your time e.g. spending the morning on the 4,000 word assignment and then an hour or two in the evening on the 7,000 assignment. You could then have a time when you just stop. When you draw the line for the day and know that you can just rest.

Hope that helps,

Oluwatosin – 3rd year student – University of Huddersfield

Original post by Anonymous #1

I'm in my final year at university. I have an assignment (4k) due in January & my dissertation (7k) is due in February.

I'm quite aware that I'm in a key period where I'm still (relatively) in control but I seem to be losing so many hours, I spend so long just getting familiar with things, write about 20% of what I ideally should for the day & then go again in the morning. It's become exhausting.

I've been talking to my tutors but due to distance learning I can't get much more help than 15 minutes here and there planning my work.

I'm thinking of getting a tutor who can help me get through some of these mental blocks which are tiring me out & killing my productivity.

Any advice here is really appreciated & I'm open to tutor recommendations!

Hey!
It sounds like you are having a challenging time in your final year! I would recommend you to check your university academic support services like University of Southampton has Academic Skills Support department in the Library. Further, you can explore productivity techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique to manage your study sessions effectively. Break your work into smaller, manageable tasks to make progress more achievable. Don't forget to take breaks and prioritize self-care to maintain a healthy balance. Don't worry, you will navigate through the crucial period successfully. Best of luck with you assignments!

Best Wishes
Priya :smile:

Postgraduate Ambassador
University of Southampton

Final Year - what can I do to get extra help?

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