Study Block during Master's Thesis work

[Raven887]

Hi,

I am currently in the situation where I'm trying to finish my master thesis. I have 65 to 70 pages written but I still have the editing to do. Simulations are nearing the end so I have most of what I need to finish. Unfortunately, I still need to read papers and get more background knowledge to have a good text.

My background: I am in my 9th semester from a 5 semester course (I was stuck on a higher math 3 exam which I couldn't pass, otherwise I would have had enough credits to start my thesis in my 4th semester. The past two years have been hell). What I am trying to say is that I have had to spend so much extra time on this because of one exam which wasn't even part of the regular curriculum, that I'm angry and frustrated most of the time. Furthermore, I was supposed to finish in my 8th semester and because simulations are slow, difficult and losing two months simulation time due to a hacker attack on the clusters I now find myself in a 9th semester.

I am at a point where spending more than 10 minutes rereading my thesis bores me to the point that I can't concentrate enough to understand what I'm reading. I used to leave my room and go to coffee shops, cafeteria, computer rooms at the uni to concentrate. Now with Corona that isn't a possibility. My brain seems to not be working anymore. I don't know how to trick myself into getting back to work. Not working a few days and then trying again. Learning something else that interests me and then switching back. Meditating, positive visualizations etc. It took me an entire day to get through 1 page with memory techniques but I don't go back to the technique the next day because 1 page per day is too slow. I have maybe a month until I need to be finished and a mountain of papers still to read. Trying to see that I have wasted my entire life on education only to fail in the final month is not going to happen only to realize...yes it is happening.

I know there probably isn't a solution other than giving up and removing myself from a situation that I absolutely hate. But it's so much time lost only to get a bad grade. So if you have any suggestions on how to overcome this massive block I'm putting this out there. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

 

[mcastillo356]

A suggestion that someone gave me at Physics Forums: "Don't give up".
You are doing fine!

 

[hutchphd]

I am not exactly clear on why failing one course is the genesis of your troubles but that really doesn't matter. What you need to do is create a plan that will let you sufficiently finish your thesis in a timely fashion.

First you should talk to somebody about your mental status: there is no down side to this action so do it today. Inability to concentrate is a hallmark of depression and there are lots of treatment avenues, some of them pharmaceutical, some not.

The other recommendation is that you should realize that the thesis itself is largely irrelevant. Approximately nobody will read it. So put together a sufficient document and be done with it. Producing no thesis is far worse for you than producing a merely adequate product. The purpose of the exercise is to educate you not to educate the world. Concentrate on that. Good luck.