How to beat frustration during the last year of university

If you have already reached the last year of university, you’re probably going through a phase when everything is infuriating and you want to quit or abandon your studies right when the finishing line is so close.

Relax, because many students around the world experience the same thing. These tips may be generic and even obvious, but often during difficult periods in life we forget about such simple things, which often turn out to be the most effective.

1. Get enough sleep (the most important advice)

Yes, sleep is a priority. Without a normal sleep, you would struggle to function, which is especially important during the last year, when dissertation, exams, and work require your attention. If you can safely skip the morning couple of lectures for the sake of sleep? Skip them. If you can skip the party for the sake of sleep? Skip it. Otherwise, you will not survive at the morning lectures after the party and will, honestly, feel like a zombie.

2. Don’t spend hours getting ready to do something. Just do it.

In the last year, both indifference and fatigue are often incouded in the package. Therefore a lot is simply left not done. Try not to think too much at least before you do something. Everything is simple. Just like, for example, going to eat. I wanted to — I ate. It is necessary to do something - I did it. Do not hesitate for a couple of hours before starting any task, and life will become a little easier. And working will definitely be more efficient.

3. Start writing your dissertation as early as possible

Remember, you will write it anyway. If you start writing in the fall, you will sleep peacefully in the spring without worrying about the dissertation. In the fall, your supervisor will be impressed, and you can count on their additional help (especiallywhen they’ll see that you’vestarted working on it already). But if you seek advice for the first time in the spring, you, most likely, won’t write anything good. Therefore, read and write a little bit even now. And if it still doesn’t work out, then remember: you can write the dissertation even in a week. A bad one, but you can still do it. You won’t understand anything you’re writing about. But you will finish writing it eventually, no matter how impossible it may seem. And, most likely, you will graduate from university anyway. So do not be discouraged!

4. Cut off excess tasks

Skip some lectures, do the most necessary ones, and then prioritise. Do what you think is important, useful and necessary. If the unfulfilled task aren’t gonna change anything but you will spend this time usefully for yourself — you will only benefit from skipping them. In the last year, no one really cares about how you spend your time, as long as you submit the mandatory courseworks and final dissertation. Enjoy it, finally, and do what you think is right and necessary for you and your well-being.

P. S. It doesn’t mean to stop doing everything in the world. If you really want to finish your studies, do what you need to do for this (but you can always skip doing something, and if you can, then why waste your time on it).

5. Don’t lose your presence of mind

Yes, you will graduate soon. And you don’t know what you’re going to do afterwards. Someone will definitely have to study further. But if you don’t finish studies, where do you work? Why did you pick this faculty at all and spend all these years wasting your time? If you are a little afraid of the future that’s not even foggy, but hidden behind a solid fence, remember that you can not give in to this fear. About everyone goes through this, and it is called simply “growing up”. And in order not to be so anxious, do not waste time in vain and work at least in the last year. It will definitely help you feel more confident about your future too!

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