Maintaining work-life balance

Many experiences their master thesis work as a very stressful time and several students end up not completing their thesis at all. A thesis can be extremely stressful if you leave important tasks to the very end, or even if you are uncertain whether you have time for different tasks. A research plan can greatly reduce stress by giving you the overview you need and ability to schedule your work tasks. You also need to plan the rest of your work-life balance and ensure that you maintain a life outside of thesis work.

Focusing exclusively on your thesis for one or two semesters may be exhausting and leave you unmotivated and uninspired. It is therefore key to find a balance between working on your thesis and maintaining an outside life. Yes, a master thesis is a big task, but many have gone through it before you. Researchers and PhD students work on even more complex and extensive research projects for years, but even they go home in the afternoon and take holidays. As mentioned previously in this module you should treat working on your master thesis as a job, which also means working within normal hours and taking holidays.

Plan your day

Schedule when you will work and when you will do other things. Working on your thesis within normal working hours makes it easier to get assistance from your supervisor, and also to schedule in social events after working hours. Try to discipline yourself to get up at a reasonable time in the morning, even though you have no classes to attend and do not keep working through the night. You might feel like you are on a roll late in the evening, and it would require little effort to just keep going through the night, but it does affect your day-rhythm and your efficiency the following day. Working efficiently requires breaks, both to regain energy and to get necessary distance to your own work to be critical.

When writing your master thesis you should try to uphold most normal aspects of your life. If you are doing sports or go to a gym, continue to go regularly, even during busy periods of your thesis. Continue to do social stuff with friends and family, and make yourself proper meals every day. Take time off in the evenings, weekends and holidays to re-energize and get some distance to your work. Even though you are a student does not mean you are not entitled to a holiday, but you have to schedule in time for it yourself.

Writing a thesis is not a reason to go into emergency mode and shut down all other parts of your life. This might only lead to feeling uninspired and unmotivated and therefore be counterproductive. Working a few hours a day when you have energy and feel inspired will probably be much more effective than an entire day working non-stop, while constantly keeping updated on social media and YouTube. Aim for quality when working and not only quantity of working hours.

Health

If you feel that you are struggling either physically or mentally during your thesis or any other time during your studies at NMBU, remember that the Ås Health Centre is open and free for NMBU students. Here you can drop-by or book an appointment to speak to a health nurse or psychologist. They also arrange courses in handling stress and managing good sleep patterns.

Related resources

Health station in Ås

Health offers at NMBU

The student life center at SiÅs