The Importance of Time Management When Writing a Thesis

A school year may seem like plenty of time to write your thesis, but without good time-management strategies, you may find yourself scrambling at the end. Learning time-management skills will help increase your productivity and efficiency. The key to managing your time effectively is prioritizing your goals when writing your thesis. So before you commit pen to paper or keystrokes to screen, here are a few time-management tips for thesis writing.

Plan a schedule.

Pick your deadlines for each phase of writing the thesis and stick to those deadlines. Compare your thesis calendar with the deadlines the graduate school is imposing. Plan accordingly.

Give yourself space to think.

Find a place where you can be productive in your research and writing. If you need some movement or white noise, a coffee shop and a laptop might be right for you. If you need silence, then the library is where you write.

Listen to your body.

Figure out when you’re most productive. If you’re a morning person, doing research and writing might suit you best at sunrise.

Cite as you go.

As you’re reading reference material for your thesis, keep track of your references for when you start writing. Formatting the reference or works cited page may seem mundane, but working on it as you go will save you time in the end when you’re doing final edits and revisions.

Take a break.

Factor in downtime in your thesis writing schedule. Allowing yourself a scheduled night off will ward off burnout.

Talk to your thesis adviser throughout.

This person has seen and experienced the pitfalls of unforeseen time issues that arise throughout the course of the thesis writing process.