Approximately 16 pages stand between me and my MBA- need encouragement

Hi all,
I have 15-16 pages (approximately) left until I am done with my MBA! I am working on my final paper for my final course (oh who am I kidding, I'm not working on it yet; I'm procrastinating), and wanted to turn it in a week early. I have so many things to finish doing next week that I need it done by like this Sunday.

Problem is, I've hit the wall. Literally. I feel like I will gag and scream if I have to write or read one more word about business. I did really well not hitting the wall until this last tiny bit, but I am BURNT OUT.

I want to go back to reading for fun. I am hating school right now.

Someone kick my butt for me and get me motivated enough to just finish this. I am SO OVER this degree, seriously.

 

It sounds like you are discouraged and unmotivated because you need to see the big picture of what those 16 pages mean. You already have everything inside you to answer this for yourself.

 

Rented a movie lately?

Sometimes that's all I need to do to get back on track-- is just stop, "veg" in front of a movie for two hours to give my brain some escape time, and then get back to the grind.

 

I second this.

Also, you might want to kick back, enjoy a couple/few glasses of wine and a nice dinner during said movie, and you could start writing after the fact.

Some people might consider it crazy to drink before writing a paper, but there is a strong literary tradition, and I say don't mess with tradition!

 

eeeechhh. Just quit. (lol you know I'm kidding!!)

Just do it, don't worry about an A, just get er done!

 

Here's what I suggest...

When my students (or my kids) have white-page fear, I suggest the following:

Start writing. Seriously just start. For example if the paper is about business ethics, start with random sentences like "Most Fortune 500 companies think ethics are important but many of these same companies have been on the front page of the WSJ with ethics crises." and "Ethics will never be a big concern at companies because "good" ethics isn't seen as a contributor to the bottom line." (The only caveat is not to write "I suck" or "writing this paper sucks".)

Or make a list of the key concepts that you need to cover: NPV, IRR, DCF, WACC etc., for a finance paper about selection of financial projects.

After a while you'll have an outline or you'll get into a rhythm or you'll have a couple of paragraphs and the white page won't seem so daunting.

As cookderosa says: Just do it.

Good luck!

 

Yeah, same thing happend to me right before completing my MBA. So close, yet I could not bring myself to do that one last push. It took some serious butt kicking from members here for me to finally get it done. I did it though. So will you!

Drink some red bulls, or whatever you drink, and just go for it! You will be done before you know it!

Abner :smile:

 

OK, you can gag and scream if you need to but when you're done with your tantrum you just need to grit your teeth and git 'er done.
:damnit:

 

No. You should just give up. You will never be able to finish and you are just wasting your time trying.


(this is an attempt at reverse psychology) :smile:

 

Think about how much better you will feel when it is really over! You will never have to read or write anything ever again!

 

Here is Gunnery Sgt. Hartman to motivate you:

Full Metal Jacket - First 5 Minutes - YouTube

Get it done, and have a romantic getaway afterwards! You can do it - and good luck!

Shawn

 

Time to quit. Throw in the towel. Turn in your Trapper Keeper!

Haha JK. You got this. You're *this* close! Get 'er done!

 

Steve Foerster brought up a good suggestion that I used to use for longer papers. I would start out typing them as single spaced and did not count words or number of pages. When I would stop (or get stuck), I would temporarily change it over to double spaced in order to see where I was at and how much further I needed to go. It worked for me as the proverbial dangling carrot on a stick every time.
One other thing to remember is that this is it. No more papers to write in order to obtain your MBA. You are done, finished, complete.
A final thought is that I am sure you remember in previous classes that you had to crank out a 6 page paper here and there. I am sure that you agree that those were not too difficult to accomplish. Can you use that same mentality to create enough writing to make one of those tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday? If you can and are able to assemble them together, you are finished with your final paper for your final class. Did I mention that it is your final piece of the puzzle for your MBA? We are all behind you, Heather and know you can do it.

Rich

 

OK Private Owens … just cowboy-up!
Jack Webb "The D.I. " Sick call - YouTube

 

What is the deadline?

If you have time, take a few days off and spend some time with family and/or friends, doing something you enjoy. Go bowling, take in a movie, have a girl's night out, whatever it is that will take your mind off of school for a bit. Even a short break can recharge your brain.

I've done a 15-page paper in one night (more than once), so I know you can do this!!!

 

It's common for people reaching the end of a long process to have this behavior. The amount of time it takes usually indicates what the real issue (if there is one) happens to be. If it only takes a few days or a few weeks to get over the hump, it's probably nothing but a bit of premature unwinding.

Of course, if you start approaching months of stagnation, provided there aren't major uncontrollable outside circumstances contributing to it, it's possible that there could be something subconsciously sabotaging your drive (fear of success, anxiety about the uncertainty of what to do next after it's over); more than likely something that hasn't been confronted. The good thing is that you've verbalized your position already, which says that you're aware of where you are, and because of that alone you're in a far better situation than most who just let time pass in total denial.

 

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I very much need it. I did an outline for the paper, gathered my references, and started formatting/writing. I'm only 1.5 pages in- I think I can, I think I can...

 

What I might do is to go to wikipedia to get a sense of the subject. Many of the entries have first rate references. You might also get some inspiration from a research article on the subject, since they generally recommend subjects for further review.

 

8 pages down, 8 pages to go (I'm a really fast typer- it just takes me forever to organize my thoughts and get an outline going, but I'm usually good once I start). My hands hurt- I think I need to take a break and maybe come back to it tomorrow. I'm putting it all down, then I'll organize/proof/redo.