The semester is over and you're turning your back on the university for the next few weeks. Finally time to relax, meet friends, travel and do all the things you don't get to do during the semester. Your student life could be so wonderful if you didn't have term papers, essays, internship reports, etc. piling up on your desk. By now it will be clear to you why the lecturers always talk about lecture-free time and not semester holidays : you may not be physically at the university, but it will still take up your brain capacity for the next few weeks. In order to get as much free time as possible in the next few weeks, you have to lose your fear of the blank page and get your writing done quickly and in a disciplined manner. We'll tell you how to do it.
Create an outline
First of all, you should take the time to think about: What needs to go into my work? Which theories need to be explained? Which discourses do I need to shed light on? What could my argument look like? What should the conclusion of my work be? Because without a good outline you are lost!
The answers to these questions are by no means set in stone. If, while researching and writing, you realize that you were wrong in your initial assumptions, then don't cling to them desperately.
Create a logical sequence from the answers to the question. What do you need to cover first in your work? Which aspect is based on which assumptions? How can your thesis be argued conclusively?
Determine the scope of each point
Once you have your outline, you should then think about what exactly the content of the individual points should look like. Given the given number of pages, estimate how much space each individual point can take up and weight them: give more space to important sub-points than to less important ones. If you miss the page number by miles - in one direction or the other - then you should revise your outline again. If you have too many sub-points, then reduce your structure to one concise sub-point. It is better to examine a “small” topic in detail and go into depth than to just scratch the surface in 20 pages because you have taken on too much. If you don't have enough material, then think about which points could still be relevant to your topic and which sub-point could be examined in more depth for a closer understanding.
Review your literature
Which primary and secondary literature do you need for which sub-point? Do you have enough material for each sub-point or do you still need to research individual topics? Make a list of what you already have and what you still need. Now make sure you collect all the literature you need.
Create a schedule
You have your structure, you know how much space each sub-point can take up, you know which literature you have and which you are missing. It's high time you created a schedule. It's best to count back from the day on which you have to hand it in. Plan what you need and how many days for it. Plan generously and occasionally plan an extra day in case a point takes longer than you expected. This means you won't be set back in your schedule and if you don't need the extra day, you can simply give it a day earlier. Be realistic about what you can accomplish in a day and give yourself some time to regenerate. Your brain is much more efficient if you give it some rest every now and then. Also consider the time it will take you to submit your work. Can you set it up as a PDF via email, or do you need to have it printed and perhaps even bound? Do you have to submit your work in person or is a postmark from the corresponding day sufficient?
If you have enough time, plan a few days at the end for proofreading, and also have someone else proofread your work. No matter how confident you are in written German, pretty much everyone develops a certain level of operational blindness when it comes to their own texts. Four eyes simply see more than two.
Stick to your schedule
Now it starts: you start. Ideally, you should plan something easy for the first day. If you start your homework with a small sense of achievement, it will motivate you immensely. Since you've divided your homework into small chunks, the whole chunk shouldn't look quite as daunting. You know you can do it. You have your schedule that tells you how you can do it. So all that's left is to move from day to day, from subchapter to subchapter, from task to task and you're done.
To learn from mistakes
If everything goes according to plan, then you will have finished your work on time, had it proofread and can then enjoy your free time with a clear conscience. If your schedule doesn't work out and you notice that you won't finish on time, don't panic . Firstly, it is part of studying to fail sometimes. You learn a lot from experiences like this. Try to figure out why your schedule didn't work out and think about how you could have done it differently. Have you taken on too many tasks at the same time? Have you lost yourself in trivialities for too long? Next time you do it differently.
Second, you're not the first student to miss a deadline. The crucial question is how you deal with it. Of course you should try to meet deadlines, but if it doesn't work for good reasons, then communicate that. Let your lecturer know in good time. Be honest and don't make excuses like my hamster ate my notes. Maybe you will be granted an extension or you can find another solution together with your lecturer. And if not, not bad either. As a rule, you are allowed to repeat exams and homework at the university.
