Final thesis - the one time a scanner has to focus -but how?

[questionesse]

Hey folks,
Refuse to choose gave me confidence to value my multiple interests some years back, accepting that there does not need to be this one thing to devote live to.
But as a student I am now faced with my final thesis, prospected for 6 months with about 100 pages up which definitely demands for full attention.
I am already stuck with picking a topic. I always wanted to avoid searching for a topic too late, so I always collected quick ideas to choose from.
But by now where it's getting serious, I realize, they are all not really thought through and not working for various reasons and I have to brainstorm on a topic again.

I just can't think of a topic that can work.
Either I want to change the world or I am too focused on tiny details, making it too narrow or too broad.
Also time wise my ideas are usually not suiting the given time frame.
From the motivation side, if I start thinking about what it could be, there are many fields that are of moderate interest, but nothing sticks out!

But for a person like me that has always 1000s of ideas but barely follows through and easily looses motivation it is of special importance to find a topic that naturally gains my attention to keep up motivation and focus - especially for that long time frame.

Anybody with a similar profile dealt with that before? What did you do? How to find that one thing that you never had but this time really have to find?

Thx!

[SquarePeg]

Perhaps your thesis advisor can help you narrow one of your top three ideas or broaden one of your top three detailed ideas.

If this were me, I'd go with a detailed topic. Research means something different to me than to most people. To me, it means devising and performing actual experiments to support the theory and then writing about the results. Engineering students will identify with this. To others (apparently), it means merely reading about the results others have written about.

The advantage of the first definition is that you can flesh out the paper with a lot of detail about the experiment(s) and even include data. One's imagination is the only real limit on the content that could be included, whereas with the other definition you're limited to what others have already written on the topic.

HTH

[M B]

Research means something different to me than to most people. To me, it means devising and performing actual experiments to support the theory and then writing about the results. Engineering students will identify with this. To others (apparently), it means merely reading about the results others have written about.

It also depends on the level: a master's thesis will not involve as much new content as a PhD, even in science or engineering.

[questionesse]

Thx folks.
It's a diploma, so master equivalent. I'm gonna write an empirical thesis, that's the only thing I know as everything else won't keep me sane, that's for sure.
But even then I don't see me keeping up focus and motivation...

[yonuh]

I'm not sure I can help, but I researched, organized, and wrote, my Master's thesis over Spring break. I started Friday after class was over, worked on it that weekend and all the next week, and turned it in the Monday after spring break week, so 10 very intense days. This doesn't work for everyone, but it worked for me. During grad school, and undergrad, too, I would let ideas percolate then research and write my papers over a weekend. If I had done my thesis conventionally, I would have lost interest months before it was finished. Doing it this way, I had to stay focused, and the short time frame meant I didn't lose interest and go off on tangents while researching, which I still do. I will find an interesting tidbit, and before I know it, I'm way off course from following that little tidbit. So for me, doing my thesis the way I did was the only way I could do it. I chose a topic that interested me (the effects of American Indian policy on the rates of diabetes in 2 Arizona tribes), and then almost panicked because I couldn't find sources at first, but I kept going and managed to do it all. That was back in '95, so I'm not sure I could do it that way now; there is no way I could put in 12-14 hour days, sometimes more if I was on a roll. And as I said, this method doesn't work for everyone.

[Annalena]

Hey there,

I feel you. I had to write my Diplomarbeit last year and it was hell.
Couple of tips:
1- pick a topic that you,to some degree, care about. I know every topic will annoy you at some point, but if it interests you in the least better, maybe it'll annoy you later. If that doesnt do it for you, pick a topic that is very detailed, that has defined "start" and "end point", and that there is enough material on out there.
2- Realize that life will get better after you're done with it (at least it did for me). You're gonna be free, and DONE.
3- Pomodoro technique worked wonders for me. Google it, but it's basically 25 min work- 5 min break-25 min work-and so on. VERY effective.
4- Download freedom or antisocial or both (blocking software).
5- It might help you to go to the library or some "work" place, that you need to get properly dressed for, etc.
6- Do not, I repeat, DO NOT apply for a deadline extension. You probbaly work best under pressure. (I did apply and shouldnt have).

Good luck!

[Annalena]

Oh yeah, AND

get registered your Diplomarbeit (anmelden) AS SOON AS YOU HAVE THE TOPIC. You will not do ANYTHING unless you have registered it. Get those 6 months started, we both know 3 would do as well, so get the clock ticking!

[SquarePeg]

Good advice!

When I saw the new posts here, I was hoping the OP had written to say that the thesis was complete. I hope that day will come soon.