I recognise that feeling too! Hot water bottle and lots of chocolate and sometimes just taking time off to lie on the sofa and feel all sorry for myself, those are the only things that really help me. If I have to work, I try to find something that doesn't involve too much brain power, or that I can give myself very detailed instructions to follow. But I agree, it's just misery!

Happy new year, Lindalou, and good luck with the work!

I've finished my first section of writing - turned out to be a lot shorter than I was expecting - and am now working on my second. If I can finish this and make a start on a third section today I'll be very happy.

That sounds like it's probably fine to me - I've done similar myself, although I think you have to look out for the balance of things you're citing - sometimes it's better to pick good examples rather than fill up on lots of examples. I've only ever used three examples maximum, and only where it's either a particularly important point for my study or a point that's fairly original for the field I'm writing about, not where it's something very common or familiar already. I find it can be tricky deciding which references to use and which to leave out - mostly I try to find a review type reference, or an original reference if the point I'm making has come from one influential source that then influenced the others, or a very recent/particularly relevant reference. Failing that, I try to pick the most important/most cited paper or best known author.

Hope that helps!

Good luck with your work too, Skig, hope you get it all done!

And Happy New Year to you too!

Today, I need to make some really good progress on the paper I have to send to my supervisors next week. I've done a couple of tomatoes already this morning (then had to take a break to pop to the bank and supermarket). I'd like to finish the section I've started and complete at least one more section by the end of the day, and will use the tomatoes method to stick with it. So, back to it I go!

Good luck today everyone else!

Hi Button, good to see you again. Hope you get back into the work okay today, it was painful for me yesterday!

Today, I need to build up a head of steam and make some real progress. I started the day with an hour of reading and note-taking on the statistics book I need to read by Jan 15th - it's slow and painful, as it's an area I haven't studied before, but I think chunks of an hour at a time will get me through it. But the main tasks I need to work on are a draft chapter and writing up some initial data analysis that I need to send to my supervisors by next Tuesday. It's looking scarily soon all of a sudden!

Goals for today:
1.) Read and make notes on one chapter from statistics book - DONE
2.) Create a detailed plan for draft chapter
3.) Cut and paste previously written stuff into draft chapter and see where this leaves me
4.) Create a rough plan for writing up initial data analysis/analysis still needed
Hmm, maybe that's a bit ambitious for one day. But if I can achieve the first 3 I'll be happy!

Hope it's going well Eska, and Happy New Year to everyone!

I took a couple of weeks off as well - haven't looked at the PhD since 16 December. I visited my family for 3 days just before Christmas, and then had 5 days with my partner's family over Christmas - too long to be away really, but it was his parents' 50th wedding anniversary so we couldn't escape earlier. So then I needed a few days to myself/just with partner to recover from all that family stuff! Now I need to get back into the work, but it's hard to get motivated again. I spent this morning doing jobs around the flat but now I can't put the work off any longer!

Today, my goal is to get my head back into where I am with my data analysis. So I think I'll write up various notes from bits I've previously done and see if that gets me back into the right way of thinking. I also have a book I need to read before I go on a statstics training course on 15 Jan, so I'll probably read a bit of that too.

I agree with Skig about the feelings of not being good enough - I'd be surprised if there were any PhD students out there who hadn't felt that at some point. So, relax about that - the problem here is not that you're not capable of this.

It does sound like you're getting very stressed, which is understandable, but of course it does lead to a vicious circle where the stress constricts thinking and then results in more stress. I think it may be time to step away for a short break and clear your mind a little - and this is a good time of year for that. Take a two week Christmas break, and don't think about the work at all. The distance you can get from such a break really can be invaluable, both for working out what you personally want to do, and also for seeing your research with fresh eyes.

Are there any mini conferences or seminars in your area that you can sign up to in January or February? I've often found that listening to people's talking about their own research helps to fire up my enthusiasm for my own, and also helps me to see links and new angles on the topics that interest me that could lead to new research topics. Or there may be people you meet who spark off new ideas. I think having an open discussion with your supervisors might also be very useful - maybe a kind of brainstorming session with a big sheet of paper, to see if something emerges that way? There are lots of things like that which might be helpful.

Good luck with it - but the main thing is, try to relax. If you can relax, that will help you to make decisions about what you want to do, and also will help with thinking about the research when you come back with a fresh mind.

I've taken the occasional week off here and there - the difficulty is not feeling guilty while doing that! I've got two weeks this Christmas where I'm either visiting my family or my partner's family, so it's difficult to work while I'm at either, but I will be taking some reading just in case. I'm going to try not to do anything, but I know I'd feel really guilty if I found I did have some time (and the inclination) but hadn't taken any work with me!

Guilt is such a crippling thing. Does anyone have any methods for dealing with feeling guilty while not working?

Yup, as everyone else has said, not a problem! Actually, 27 would make you fairly young in my department (civil and building engineering), most people seem to be in their 30s, although some are younger (and some are a lot older!) I was 36 when I started my PhD.

Me either, sorry, hope you find it.

Ooh, a New Years Eve baby? That must at least mean you always have a party to go to on your birthday (yay) but also that it's never really all about you (boo). I hope you enjoy it, anyway!

Today, I'm on campus until mid-afternoon, last time on campus until the New Year so I have lots of admin type jobs and stuff to print so I can work on other bits over the holidays. And a meeting about writing a journal paper at lunchtime. Hopefully I'll also have time for some data analysis too.

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Oh, I totally feel the holiday mode thing too! I agree about the importance of taking a break - we need to recharge our brains at some point!

I've got lots of work I was planning to get done before I go to visit my family next Tuesday, but I'm not really making any progress on it - other things keep getting in the way. And today I haven't done anything at all yet - I slept in all morning (exhausted after a long day at a conference yesterday) and then did a bit of Christmas shopping, and am only now getting ready to start work. Looking forward to the Christmas break - just need to get enough done before then so I can actually relax and enjoy the time off!

Plan for the rest of today:
Go through the data analysis method I'm using for the current set of tests I'm running and check a) that it's the right method, b) that I have got the technique correct, and c) that I know what to look for in the results. And assuming that's all fine, start running afew of the tests!

Good luck Eska, hope you're getting into the work okay this morning!

I'm really happy with the progress I made yesterday and feeling buoyant as a result. Today's a short day for my own work though, as I have to go to a half-day seminar, so I'm going to spend the morning blitzing through a load of admin and other bits and pieces that all need doing before Christmas, so that I'll have clear decks for getting back to the analysis on Monday.

Goals for today:
1.) Sort budget code and order form for accommodation for training course - DONE
2.) Identify and print out journal articles to read if I feel like it during Christmas break
3.) Draft an application for the university conference fund
That lot will probably take all morning!

Good luck with the work everyone!

Good to see you again Emmaki!

And MissPiggy, how frustrating about the lost work! I think I'd be throwing things too.

I'm making good progress on my data analysis - made some decisions about transforming some variables and should be able to run my first set of proper tests before the end of the day. Cool. 8-)