This is based on a personal experience and might not relate to a lot of people; on the other hand, it might as well relate to as many people.
Everyone is different and especially when it comes to making yourself ready for important things in life. For me as I am coming to the end of my master studies at FH Joanneum in the content strategy program, I started preparing for writing my master thesis. But this process began with me long before I truly came up with a clear and defined topic which I will be writing about. I think getting in the spirit of writing your thesis is very important, when you get to that point that you know you are nearly finished but at the same time one of the most important parts is still left! The big scary “Thesis”
Between getting the idea, organizing it, clearing your mind and other several steps, a lot can go in your mind and can sometime get you lost. For me my experience and how I handle it (till now at least!) is the following:
Step 1: Get in the mood!
This might not be the most common step for a thesis but for me it was important, so between the excitement of being “nearly” finished and the fear of even beginning to think about the master thesis, the topic, hand-in dates, and presentations there is a lot to be done and organized. For me I think staying a bit flexible about the hand-in date is quite relieving because it doesn’t put me under the constant stress of being late.
So, get in the mood of all the ups and downs, the I can get it done in 1 week but maybe I need 1 year! It will get done by exactly the right amount needed.
Step 2: Choose a topic. Obviously!
For choosing a topic, I got lost between what I want to accomplish, the goals of the company I work with, the outcome, the supervisors, and the methods. Total chaos.
Starting point after so many tries: business goal. Your one and only savior.
Step 3: Choose your thesis question:
What questions you want to answer at the end of the thesis, those questions are your get to go point for choosing your methods. Methods are not a starting point as it can get confusing and get you lost easily.
Step 4: Start reading!
Whenever you are on the process, there is a lot of waiting time! Waiting for the idea to become clear, waiting or the client answer, the supervisor feedback and so on…. On the other hand, there is a lot to read, so start by that, it is an ongoing activity for the whole period of the thesis, reading previous thesis, books, and related articles for example.
Step 5: keep going:
In the middle of doing your thesis, it doesn’t make a difference at which step you have to keep looking at the prize at the end of the tunnel!
At the end
This is what I learned and what I am doing till now, how the experience will go from here I have no idea, but I am pretty sure it will be a full (fun?) ride till the final hand-in.