Motivation Duders
 

Yes its that time of the year for undergraduates in the British University system. Essay time!

I feel I need a little bit of attention whoreing to help me out. Not only do I need encouragement I need advice.

Firstly my dissertation.

My dissertation is in effect completed. However its not. What do I mean by that? Well I have several drafts but nothing final. As far as the final piece of work goes I have 6000 words left. I envisage I will do another 1000 tonight, and then another 2000 tommorrow which will leave me 3000 words. The dissertation itself is due in on Thursday.

It hasnt quite hit me yet that I could potentially bugger this all up and get a shit grade. However the fact it hasnt hit me might indicate two things. Firstly im stupid. Or the second thought is that I have nothing to worry about. I pray for the second.

Next I have a 3000 word essay. Quite luckily this is basically the same as my dissertation but in a 25% version. So I am going to do some copy/pasting of my dissertation and in theory depending on the quality of my dissertation I should get a fairly good mark for minimum effort.

Finally I have a further 3000 words to write on British politics. This will be a last minute 24 hour job. Not quite how I wanted to write my final essay at university but rather fitting never the less.

So the deadlines I have for this week are.

Essay 1 (Like my dissertation) - 3000 words - Wednesday
Dissertation - 12000 words - Thursday
Essay 2 (British Politics) - 3000 words - Friday

Anyone else up shit creek?

Re: Motivation Duders
 

I've got a piece of Programming coursework due on Thursday that I've barely touched and barely understand. But being only a 1st year it's not quite as bad as you

Re: Motivation Duders
 

I am but nowhere near like you are thanfully. My coursework deadlines have been a bit more spread out though they are all still being finished on the morning generally. Next one is due Tuesday, about 1/3rd fone and I don't actually understand most of the topic or know anything above what I have written so far. Oh well. I just don't seem to care anymore.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

It's my second year so no dissertation but I had a similar situation this past week. Thankfully my term's over now, though I do have another two essays due first week back.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

why do I feel no pity for people too stupid to get their work done in advance of the deadlines (ie not the day before its due in)?

Re: Motivation Duders
 

I had like 4 pieces of coursework due for friday which were of very low standard when I started on thursday. Managed to get myself an extension for 2, handewd the other 2 in. Maths data handling due in tomorrow(today) and then I need to spend the whole day fixing my utterly shit geography coursework.
So, kinda.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

Oh come on, what do you expect me to say:
'boo hoo, I'm so sorry that your poor work ethic has come around to bite you in the arse, I'm so overcome with pity that I think I might just sit here and cry'
It's nobody's fault but yours that you're in this position, so stop bloody whining and do something about it.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

I have to do a 15 week research project in 3 weeks.

...I am researching "anti-forensic tools and techniques" in regards to computers, and computer data/information.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

to be fair I don't care that much about other people, but I'm bored at 3am and I've finished all the webcomics I was reading, thus arguing pointlessly with GD seemed to be a good idea.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

I didnt want sympathy and im more than aware that its stupid leaving to the last week. But in my defence (yahwe is standing next to me looking on in disgust) I have been pretty much writing essays solidly at the rate of 2 a week. This week with the dissertation it has pretty much caught up with me.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

ooh, that sounds like fun. Is that like stuff to stop "The Man" from getting at all the kiddy porn on you hard drive?

Re: Motivation Duders
 

My dissertation isnt due until August \o/

I've only just picked a topic.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

I've always been a last-minute person, too.

I'm not sure if it's just because I'm lazy so put if off until the last minute, or because I don't really panic or get worried about anything, or if I work best under pressure.

I do know that it's incredibly frustrating being on the OTHER side (ie: tutor/teacher) and having your pupils faff around during the time they COULD be doing work and getting decent feedback on it, then handing it in last minute and getting a grade lower than one they're capable of.

If I had to do an essay/coursework again though, I'd still do it last minute.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

are you two having some kind of secret relationship or something?

Re: Motivation Duders
 

My dissertation was due in last September. I've not started it yet. I got a year extension (by simply not handing it in) but I've still not started it yet. I just can't think of a subject that grips me enough to write twelve thousand words.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

as-level kid here :( i've stolen a screenplay off the internet, editted it SUBTLY and will edit some more & add some fancy terms to finish off that piece of work.
and now i've still got to do that ****ing mise-en-scene analysis.

it was due in on the 20th, got extended till today, but now i've been let off till wednesday.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

as-level kid here :( i've stolen a screenplay off the internet, editted it SUBTLY and will edit some more & add some fancy terms to finish off that piece of work.
and now i've still got to do that ****ing mise-en-scene analysis.

it was due in on the 20th, got extended till today, but now i've been let off till wednesday.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

what topics does it have to be around? we've near enough discussed everything on this forum, brainstorm some ideas that we can talk about that way we're talking and you're thinking and all you have to do the night before the dead line is type 12,000 words

Re: Motivation Duders
 

I could say that you could have organised your time better so as not to get into this mess yadda yadda yadda, but you know that already, and me saying so won't change your situation, so instead here's my attempt to provide you with some useful encouragement.

When I've got a vast wasteland of 'work' ahead of me, I like to use pseudo-zen sayings to motivate me through it. Some of them are:

Life is like a grindstone - whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you're made of.

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not obtained in sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.

Bonus puesdozen-ness for those of you revising:
Revision is not a matter of days and hours, it is a matter of concentration.

And for those who are tempted to criticise the poor sods who have got themselves into a pickle:

There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it hardly becomes any of us to talk about the rest of us.

Try to stay positive, even if you feel buried under a mountain. Focus on the end goal of finishing it and handing it in on time, and remind yourself periodically that it will soon all be over and done with, you'll be down the pub enjoying the nice spring weather and a cold beer, and then the memory of slaving away at this crazy load of work couldn't seem more distant.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

jenni you're the anti-emo princess this forum needs to keep us balanced.

pig i live by the rule you only do something when you really want to or when you're shitting yourself. If the former the experience will end far too soon, if the latter it'll be upon you far too soon. In either case you are the bitch of time, if you're talented enough you'll succeed despite the deadline and learn to live on your feet, if you fail you can join the rest of us.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

jenni you're the anti-emo princess this forum needs to keep us balanced.

pig i live by the rule you only do something when you really want to or when you're shitting yourself. If the former the experience will end far too soon, if the latter it'll be upon you far too soon. In either case you are the bitch of time, if you're talented enough you'll succeed despite the deadline and learn to live on your feet, if you fail you can join the rest of us.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

The subject has to be housing. I have had various ideas but none that I feel passionate about.

My first idea was to look at how market reforms in the welfare benefits system would affect vulnerable people. My next idea was to look at rent arrears and different methods of reducing overall arrears (tough stance vs support). Then I was going to look at government attempts to raise standards by central edict.

But to be honest, I just didn't care enough to continue any of those lines of enquiry. I can write 12k words about any old toss but I need to have some sort of angle. If I could somehow summon enough outrage to get going I'd probably be alright but all of the easy rants (i.e. insufficient supply, terrible standards in social housing, etc) have been done to death.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

Hmm it does fundamentally come down to lack of new stuff being built though doesn't it? :(

is there any communist vs capitalist approach to resources you can look at? ie just deal with housing as another resource and apply philosophical arguments to see how they pan out.

To keep the momentum going can you decribe what you want done with housing assuming you became in charge? obviously without resorting to cliches like 'it should be better'

perhaps take a completely different approach

housing is society driven, it has to be a reflection of needs present at that moment in time. An analysis of changing demographics within britain and how the 'house' as a functional item is either coping with that or isn't - is a semi even relevant in britain today?

or whether central government edicts can encompass demographics that encapsulate minority families in the north that perhaps want to live together and druggie hedonistic southerners? ie leave it all to local government.

instead of looking at 'build more' assume more will be built and instead look at how its decided whats built where.

or all the old people living in the good shit and refusing to die thereby increasing the cost of living and decreasing the standard of living and thereby the birth rate for those with working wombs - linking a falling birth rate and viewing change in age demographics (older populatoin) through the prism of housing need.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

she's my princess. not yours

Re: Motivation Duders
 

A lot of problems do, yeah. However, high house prices (caused by lack of supply) should in theory increase the amount being funnelled towards maintenance / rennovation. Which has happened to an extent, but not in the social sector (which is insulated from market forces to an extent) and not fast enough to raise standards of housing in the lowest tiers of private rented accomodation.
Well, housing is obviously dependant on land which is central to how property is handled in a given social system. So yes, but then it becomes entirely a discussion about land and not housing, which might be seen as off-topic.
The problem with largely libertarian type approaches is that you end up saying things like "If I was in charge I'd immediately surrender power and leave people to it..." which is all well and glib, but not really very productive. I don't want to be in charge, I'm not claiming to have some higher guiding knowledge, I'm saying in many instances current social arrangements are both unjust and inefficient for various reasons.

Under the current social system, it's pretty easy to solve a lot of the problems we currently have by simply applying a decent methodology. Building a million new homes (or whatever statistic they're quoting this week) is a sizable technical task but not particularly philosophically challenging. The issues are, as you say, where to put such dwellings (i.e. in the country where NIMBY faggots will moan incessantly or in the city where land is a quadrillion pounds an acre) - but again, I don't really find such talk interesting.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

that's over 250 words right there!
keep going Dante!

Re: Motivation Duders
 

I hear for his dissertation dante's sticking together his last 50 posts which mention the word "society" and hoping they fit.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

If you are stuck for words, use the Postmodern Generator to crank out a load of complete bollocks then change all the names/theories so it makes sense.

It can't be any worse than using GD posts.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

This has reminded me, in relation to horn that there actually is a kant essay generator. This may prove useful.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

Start a thread on it. Should get plenty of replies.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

Just for you horn - squashed versions of lots of philosophers work :)
http://www.btinternet.com/~glynhughes/squashed/
(The Russell part is being updated but the rest are there...)

Re: Motivation Duders
 

Good luck with the rest of your dissertation, Pig. I can't really give you any other advice, cause I'm in a similar mess:

I have 12,000 words on 'fate as (meta)narrative device in LOTR'; 3,000 words on 'ideology and viewpoint in lexis'; 6 Shakespeare plays and Paradise Lost/Samson Agonistes/Paradise Regained to read - in four weeks.

It's going to be a hell of a rush. :)

Re: Motivation Duders
 

Would this help you in future?:
http://www.btinternet.com/~glynhughe...ed/writers.htm

Re: Motivation Duders
 

Getting someone (such as a housemate bribable with beer) who does a different subject to you to proof read your dissertation before you go and get it bound is always a good idea. You've been staring at it for so long that theres no way you'll ever see the mistakes. If the proof-reader does a different subject then they'll be able to see if its actually readable and makes sense since they won't be able to say "oh, its ok, it might not say it, but he actually means xyz"

For the record I finished my dissertation the night before it was due in, and got it bound 4 hours before the deadline.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

I think it's fair to say, all Birmingham people in this thread, myself included, are utter lazy bastards.

Hope you get through the week okay pig. I'm currently wasting time weighing up just how silly I was picking a second year module from a different university department.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

you registered for PB but haven't posted yet :(
I remember your nick...

Re: Motivation Duders
 

how tall is he?

Re: Motivation Duders
 

this is almost becoming as frequent as threads by pig entitled "I had sex". Thats not a good thing yahwe ;/

Re: Motivation Duders
 

i don't know :(
not tall enough i imagine.

Re: Motivation Duders
 

they never are ....

:(

Re: Motivation Duders
 

and if they are they just don't have the right "attitude"

:(

Re: Motivation Duders
 

Minty asked me to on Saturday, I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, busy as hell with work and the like. :/

Re: Motivation Duders
 

Dissertation handed in, other essay handed in now on to the final one!