I’m a born and raised procrastinator. I coasted through high school on the philosophy of “the due date is the do date”, and made it through with a 4.2 GPA. For most of college, I was able to do the same, and I’m sure that if you’re reading this, you’re in the same boat. I’m sorry in advance – you’re not going to like what I’m about to say.
Thesis-writing is not a procrastinator’s safe space.
You can’t crank 30 pages out in one night, no matter how hard you try. If you can, I’m proud of you, but I’m willing to bet it’s not work you’re proud of. In V499, I was pushed to my limits. I was already on more of a time crunch than my peers, as my required environmental science coursework prevented me from taking V491 and having the same prep time as the rest of them. Instead, I developed my research question over the summer, and did all of my work on the thesis in one semester. (Side note – if you’re a BSES student and struggling with your thesis process, please reach out. I would be so happy to help you through what I went through, and you should never have to feel like you’re doing this all alone!) I knew could not afford to procrastinate, and somehow, from the get-go, I found myself trying anyway.
What saved me was scheduling. Not the writing schedule we made in class, but my own form of it. I highly recommend making up fake deadlines for yourself, and having someone to show your work by those dates. I ended up telling myself that I had to have certain things done by certain times, and showing either a friend or my advisor what I had done so far. You can procrastinate, but it ends up being on a much smaller scale, and doesn’t leave you scrambling to finish your manuscript in 48 hours.
Whatever you can do to force yourself to work ahead, do it. This class is not as stressful as it seems if you stay on top of it! I promise you, my fellow procrastinator, that you will make it through, and the product will be beautiful. You have to hold yourself accountable, though, and if you have a friend or two willing to be real with you and tell you to get it done, hold them tight and never let go. You’ll get there, one made-up deadline at a time. Take a deep breath, put your fingers to the keyboard, and get it done.
Now, go forth and get that outline written! I waited just as long as you have, too. Just don’t put the next ones until the last minute, and know that one day you’ll be where I am – thesis written, graduated, and hopefully a little bit better at time management.
Ella Jasnieski is a recent graduate of the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, receiving her degree in Environmental Science. Her Honors thesis was titled Phytoplankton Community Structure in Lake Monroe and Its Environmental Drivers. She also was involved with the band department at the Jacobs School of Music throughout college. In the future, she plans to work in the nonprofit sector and attend a masters program at Indiana University.
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