Dissertation Advice - Tips & Tricks

My previous post, How to Write a Dissertation helps to get the ball rolling and gives an insight into the kind of things you should expect when writing a dissertation. Here we will discuss tips to help with the physicality of writing your dissertation and things that I found helped me when I was going through this process.

The Dissertation Fear & How To Conquer It 
I experienced something that I refer to as 'The Dissertation Fear'. Fear of putting pen to paper and actually writing the first draft. It took me months to overcome this fear, and I put it off by doing endless amounts of research - as well as everything else under the sun that meant I couldn't possibly start writing. I overcame this fear by realising that it was only a draft. It wasn't the be-all and end-all. If it's crap, I can redraft and redraft and redraft until it's near enough 'perfect'. In order for this process to work however you need to leave yourself plenty of time to correct and re-edit. 

How To Write A Dissertation

Choosing a dissertation topic is daunting. Being a Literature student the opportunities were endless but somehow I managed to pinpoint a subject after lots of unnecessary stressing and worrying.  
Before I decided on an idea I reached out to a friend and asked if she had any tips to help give me some kind of guidance on how to approach it, and she gave me the following pieces of advice: 

1) Make sure it is on a topic that you feel really passionate about because it will be all you think about for the next nine months. 

2) Do loads of reading and notes before you start anything if you have an idea before the summer then that will be best because then you can get a head start on background reading etc. 

3) Your title/question may change throughout the process - this is normal so don't worry if you start panicking that your question may need changing. Just ask for advice from your supervisor and they will point you in the right direction. 

4) Get as many people as you can to read it (parents, siblings, friends) - even people who have no clue what it is about or don't understand it, it's just so good to get outside people to read through it because each of them will notice something that you didn't (spelling mistakes, unfinished sentences etc)

Lani Face Mask Review

A cruelty-free, vegan brand that is handmade in Nottingham, England. This brand sells face, hair and body care products that are simply wonderful. The ethics of the company are more than you could ask for, throughout 2019 donating 5% of their profits to 11 different charities! This face mask has been a favourite of mine for a long while now, so here is what I have to say about it...

 The Lani Tropical Cacao Detox Mask!

'Transform your complexion in just 20 minutes with our phenomenally

purifying chocolate mousse mask.

Anti-oxidant rich raw cacao, creamy coconut milk and hydrating

coconut water work to nourish and revitalise tired skin.

Cleansing Australian clays deep clean pores, absorb excess

oil and draw out toxins, while powerful anti-inflammatory properties

 of aloe vera, healing turmeric and vitamin C tone and brighten the skin.

The unique powder transforms into a fluffy mousse upon contact with

water – releasing its magic and heavenly cacao smell the moment you use it.'

A Budget Two Day Trip To Bruges

A 'Budget holiday' does not sound the most luxurious way to travel. But by budgeting and being smart when it comes to money, it saves you from throwing hard earned dollar down the drain.

Living in Kent, Dover Port is easily accessible and cheap to get to. Making our journey to Bruges within an easy budget. When travelling by ferry the charge is per vehicle not per person, so the more people you travel with, the less it will cost individually.
Travelling at off-peak times will also help save on money. Hotels are often much cheaper out of season, often for a reason, for instance, Bruges is very cold in January. However, we did get to see the city in snow and snowball fights were obviously inevitable. It was also very beautiful, the other downside in travelling in the winter months is potential rain, so packing umbrellas in advance is a good idea.

I'm "Weird" About the Planet

Over the past few years, I have become far more conscious about the effect that I'm having on the planet. Where this has stemmed from I'm not entirely sure but perhaps my value of nature has come from having grown up in the English countryside.

Earth-consciousness is something that I want to incorporate into my everyday life so that it becomes a lifestyle. The most obvious place to start was recycling, after that, I began to consciously reduce my amount of waste, which is not as easy as it seems due to the number of packaging supermarkets uses for food and other products.

Living at university my first house was shared with six others and out of pretty much nowhere my obsessive nagging came out to irritate my housemates when it came to recycling.

One of my closest friends recently said "she's weird about the planet" when I pointed out the fact that she had decorated her entire kitchen and conservatory in Christmas wrapping paper for her Christmas party - I admit it was very impressive and had a wonderfully festive vibe - and asked if she'd be recycling it any time soon. At the time we all laughed about it, because yes, I am "weird" about the planet - but when I actually thought about it, it baffled me that people thought I was weird about the planet when in actual fact it's a huge issue.

Winter Care Boxes For the Homeless

Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year. However, I realise that this may not be the case for everyone. In the UK Christmas brings cold weather conditions, a lot of rain, sleet, freezing temperatures and occasional snow.

These colder temperatures call for wrapping up warm, lighting the fire and sipping mulled wine or hot chocolate. 

For the homeless, however, there is little to no escape from the harsh winter conditions. While we're all out during December trying to get organised for Christmas and enjoying the festivities - there are people who will be spending Christmas Day alone on the streets. 

The charity Shelter released statistics stating that there are at least 320,000 homeless people in Britain. In London alone there are 170,000 homeless - excluding the 'invisible homeless' that sofa-surf, sleep in cars etc. 

Being a 23-year-old Literature student I may not be able to solve homelessness overnight. But bringing a small piece of comfort to somebody sleeping rough is an easy enough thing to achieve. 

I've put together four shoe-box sized boxes, two for men, two for women, packed with essentials and a handful of novelties that might bring just a little bit of Christmas joy this year. 

Happiness, Weight Gain & A New Relationship

This time last year I was one big emotional wreck.

This summer I'm the happiest I think I've ever been.

This time last year I was in a very unhappy relationship. My anxiety levels were extremly high. I felt worthless and disregarded and found it difficult to concentrate on anything. Bearing in mind I was in my first year of university and my entire time was occupied by the negativity of my relationship at that point. I spent the majority of my time asleep as it was an easy way to cope with the stress and the only way I could shut out anxiety. Despite this I was eating healthy, working out daily and physically feeling fit. But my physical happiness was always contradicted by my mental state. Part of my physical challenge was in fact spurred by the difficult relationship. For some stupid ass reason I thought if I lost weight and got into shape it would sort out my relationship issues. Obviously I couldn't have been more wrong. But being physically healthy helped me through the process.
Fitness being a good outlet for stress and the healthy eating side gave me something I could focus on, new recipes, editing and changing them to suit my student budget.

The past 9 months have been crazy. It has probably been one of the best years of my life. After ending my relationship, I hit the bottle hard. Not because I was struggling but because I was finally going out and being selfish for a change. In hindsight it was a stupid thing to do. I should have focused on university but instead my social life came first. And as bad as it may have been, I loved every minute of it (maybe not the hangovers...).

I started to pull my socks up. Stop drinking (as much). And began to get on with my uni work. I was happy just doing my own thing, living my single life.