I've hit the wall

[notsayingmuch]

I am in the last two months of an intensive three year degree - part-time alongside working 4 days. I have 5,000 words to write and need to get 80% on my final assignment to achieve a distinction. It has been so personally enriching and I have loved it, but I want it to be over now. I just don't have any more energy to give to this. I tried to quit but my tutor keeps talking me into keeping on with it. What makes it worse is that I self-funded, so I am 8K down if I don't finish.

I know that no-one has magic words that can make this last push achievable but I am so miserable. Why did I do this to myself?!

Look at it this way, you've done the hard yards and the finish line is in sight. You'd regret it forever it you through in the towel at this late stage.

Don't put pressure on yourself by aiming for distinction. Aim to do as well as you can.

You may be £8K down but its not a waste of money by any means. As you say, you've found it enriching. The sense of achievement is you'll feel once you've obtained your degree will be priceless.

I know it can be overwhelming and all encompassing but you're nearly there! Well done for putting in the graft, you'll reap the rewards for it.

Thank you for this, I will keep re-reading your lovely message as I crack on with my books today.

I feel you OP. I did an MSc which started just before COVID and what should have been a 2 year course dragged on for 4 years.

Don't aim for a distinction, aim to finish. No one has ever asked the classification of my degrees and frankly by the end of my Masters I couldn't have cared what I got, as long as I passed.

You've done amazing to get this far... Final push. 5000 words could be done in 2 days. Aim to finish.

Good luck

I did my masters the same way- so stressful!
5000 word essay- not too hard now is it? It's a few pages of A4.
Sit yourself down with a coffee, open your laptop, put in the title and start typing. Doesn't matter if it's not right yet- just start typing your intro.
As things occur to you, write them down on a bit of paper to add in.
Get your reference books near, and start looking for things you want to quote- put a paper marker in the book with a work about what the ref is about. Then slide them into your essay where they fit.
It's all good! Nearly there.

Break it down into tasks. How much actual time do you have to get this written? What do you want to do in the first hour available for working on it? What with the second hour etc? Are you at the stage where you’re still mainly reading or can you alternate reading and getting some sections/paragraphs written? Can you add treats/bribes for achieving an hours work as planned?
the other thing that works for me is the pomodoro technique - work in 25 minute chunks with 5 minute break. So you’re only ever committing to the next 25 mins which somehow feels more manageable.
If you’re in a position to chose - are there places where you enjoy working more than at home (university library?)

Good luck, you’ll get there. 🍀

Honestly, so many of us have been there, you are on the final stretch - don't worry about the distinction the achievement is getting here.

Thank you everyone. I am going to have a hot shower and dig into it today. Hopefully I will have a word count for you by this evening!

I struggled with motivation to complete a PhD. The advice that I was given that really worked was to decide to try and do it for 15 minutes. If at the end of the 15 minutes I wasn't getting anywhere, make a coffee and have a break. 9 times out of 10, after 15 minutes I didn't want a break as I was getting into the flow of writing. It worked as thinking I only needed to try for 15 minutes wasn't too daunting!

You absolutely can do this!

my advice would be to work in Pomodoros of between 20 & 40 mins then give yourself a proper break in between as a reward.

doing my PhD (which I hated large portions of!!) this was genuinely the only way I could work

good luck - you got this!

Good luck OP! You can do it!

I'm in the same boat...5k words left to do and wondering why I signed up for this!

I've got another few weeks before my deadline but putting it off.

Just keep at it. Like PP said 15 min at a time if need be.

Why did I do this to myself?!

The good news is that almost everyone feels this way towards the end of any academic dissertation. It's all perfectly normal and to be expected.

Your tutor knows you and knows that you have got this. Strangers on the internet know that you have just got to keep at it a short while longer and you will be through it.

At the same stage, my tutor made me right the words

Tell a story
Keep it simple
You have got this

on an index card and pin it above my desk. That was decades ago. That same card is still pinned over my desk. I can't tell you how often it has provided much needed encouragement to me.

In retrospect, knowing that I kept on when the going was tough is one of the things that continue to be helpful to me.

You are almost there, keep going. All the best

Do NOT quit when you are so close. Absolutely not.

5000 words is not a huge task. You don't need to get a distinction. You just need to get down and do it the best you can.

Don't you dare quit!

Hello. Also been there!

You can do this!!! You are finding it challenging because is, but would you trust someone else to wrote your essay for you?

In retrospect I would NOT have read around too much; the detail was not relevant to essay title, nor did it fit in the word count. So stay focused. Intro. Para subheadinģs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 etc Conclusion.

And fgs use a reference management tool to save you time!

Look forward to hearing how you get on.

P.S. Love the tell a story, keep it simple approach above.

Yeah, it makes you so bloody grumpy. I have two essays to go, around 6000 words. You know you need to complete it but why are you putting pressure on yourself to get a distinction?

5000 words? Leave 1000 for introduction and conclusion so 4000 to go.

Can it be broken down, so you can think in terms of 1000 word sections?

Best thing, however, is to just start writing something. Good luck!

You can do this 💪
When does the final assignment have to be submitted? Could you aim to write 200 words per day, or 1000 words per week? I find breaking it down into smaller targets helps to feel like I am winning.

Joining the chorus of those who’ve been through the same!

I was almost weeping with exhaustion when I told my Head of Department - in April of my MA year - that I just had no energy left to get to the end. He pointed out how difficult it would be to get an extension, and, more crucially - how many people would be disappointed if I gave up. He also laughed at my over ambitious and unworkable plans for my dissertation. I crawled away and realised I had actually done almost all the research - it was simply a matter of organising it into ’a little essay’ - rather than the enormous thing I’d been imagining.

I was in my mid-fifties, studying a completely new to be subject. Came out with a Distinction.

5000 words is surely only 10 pages?! Start at the easiest point and expand from there. You’ll be so proud of yourself when you finish it.

Same boat here - last two assignments of a 6 year part time degree and I am so over it now 🙈 Keep on keeping on, we can do it - and then we can enjoy all the guilt-free free time in the world once it’s done!

I write 4500 words in the 24 hour exams I did at end of law degree. So physically writing 5000 words is doable.

I'd not worry about the end mark -I assume you must be open university to be speaking of 80 for an overall distinction?

Rather than a normal university where it's 70 at masters level? (As in the second case needing 80 to bring an average up above 70 would be very unlikely unfortunately)

If your average is usually around 85 to only need 80 this time, then it's more a case of crack on and write enough words. Then edit edit edit to make it very good!

@Whyhellodaffodil

I am currently imagining that life with no deadlines. So much freedom awaits us.

If it makes you feel any better I have over 30,000 to write in the same timescale.

You'll be fine, you've got this far, don't stress about getting a distinction, passing is what matters.

Totally feel your pain. I’ve just finished my MA (part-time while working full time) and had three extensions. Even with those, I was SO close to just quitting when I was in the final two months of my dissertation. It just felt completely overwhelming and I felt burnt out with academia. All I can say is, I got through it (partly with tough love from DH who got the balance right between support and being strict!) and now I’m on the other side, I’m so glad I did it. Just think, this is temporary and soon you will have lovely free evenings and weekends again. You CAN do this. Remember that saying, “it always feels impossible until it is done.” You have got this OP.

Aaargh! I really must not sign up for any more study next Sept but the tutor has already been putting ideas into my mind. It's just some research, apparently. Nope! This is awful, but thanks to everyone for reassuring me that it is a normal kind of awful and I should just knuckle down and start.

and for everyone who is in the same boat.

Haha I’m also tempted by a masters starting in September 🤣😬. ‘Normal kind of awful’ sums it up well - good luck!

Thought I would report back that I did finish, just in the nick of time. Thanks again to everyone for the advice. I remembered to tell the story and I got the mark I needed. So glad that I didn't throw in the towel.