Good news eh? What a teaser. Hope it is good.

Today, I have to try to get my journal article finished - it should be done and I should be working on other urgent things by now, but this illness has slowed me down. I have to take a break to go to the doctors again, but otherwise, it's a full day to get this thing finished if I can. Still feel lousy but hopefully I can work through it.

Thanks Skig. It was tests at the doctor's today, and I have to go again tomorrow for more tests, and then back next week for the results - I just hope I don't feel like this the whole time! (I have my second year viva this Friday, that'll be fun in this state...) Oh well, I am making some progress on the work, at least, even if it's painfully slow.

And Squaredot - welcome to the thread, and I echo what other people have said. I'm not at final write-up stage yet but from all the accounts I've read on here it sounds like your experience is pretty normal. Doesn't make it easier to go through really, but I hope there's some comfort in knowing it's all part of the process! Good luck with it all.

Oh, and stars - people who start threads can vote people who post on their thread as a helpful poster. I think you get your first star the first time someone votes for you, but after that they take progressively more votes for each star. I've been stuck on three for ages now!

Thanks Skig. Still not well, and I have to go to the doctor again later this morning, but I'll get through it. I don't feel quite as rubbish as yesterday, at least!

Good luck with your work!

Goals for today:
1.) Try to get most of the work done on the journal article I'm co-authoring
2.) When I lose concentration on the journal article, start planning the work for conference presentation

Hello skig, and whoever else is around!

I've been ill all weekend :-( and had to run around this morning to get some tests done at the doctors, so I'm only now sitting down to start work but already don't feel up to it. Not good. I can't really take the day off though - this illness doesn't look like it'll go away any time soon, and I have far too much to do (presenting at a huge international conference at the end of the month and haven't even started analysing the data for the results I'm supposed to be presenting!)

Oh well. The main job today is to work on the journal article I've agreed to co-author with my supervisor and another academic. They think it needs very little work but they don't really know the journal they're aiming for, and I can see all sorts of things the article needs to make it suitable for that journal.

Yay, star-shaped, that's great news! Hope the binding etc went smoothly.

I've been feeling ill again and haven't achieved much over the last few days. Having more tests at the doctors, and some tablets that are not doing my stomach any good, are really interrupting the work. Gah. But hopefully it'll be sorted out soon, and in the meantime I just need to battle on as well as I can.

I'm way behind schedule today, so will have to cut down my goals down:
1.) Finish reading through journal article and thinking about how to restructure it
2.) Email co-authors with thoughts about restructure and questions I need to ask them
3.) If there's any time left over, start reading some recent lit that may need including in the journal article

Thanks both of you - both those papers look really useful.

Good luck Sneaks! I quite often up the minutes on the mytomatoes technique - I find about 35-40 minutes is good for getting into the flow of the work (but any longer than that and my mind just wanders and I achieve less...)

My supervisor's asked me to be third author on a paper he and another academic have written - the paper's two years old, and they want me to go through it and update the literature and be fresh eyes to see what's wrong with it. Supervisor says it's three days work, but I know what his idea of a day's work is, he always underestimates! If I can get it done by the end of the week I'll be very happy, but if it drags into the weekend I won't be at all suprised.

First goals for today:
1.) Sort out list of references another PhD student asked me for
2.) Read through journal article
3.) Plan out the revisions needed

Oh, the end is so close, star-shaped! Good luck.

Morning!

I've spent an hour so far this morning sorting through references, and plan to carry on with that today. If I can get it all organised and identify the most important stuff to read next then I'll be very happy, and will enjoy my weekend off.

Back from hospital - ouch, sore arm, they had to dig around to find my vein :-( Oh well, it's done now.

And my second year report is done and sent off too. So glad that's out of the way. I'm going to spend an hour or so sorting out my RefWorks folders and then knock off early.

Only just got back from a doctor's appointment, and I have to go to the hospital for a blood test this afternoon (not sinister, the doctor's surgery just has no slots left with the nurse) so I don't have much time to work today. Oh well, can't be helped. I have an hour or so before I have to leave for the hospital, and my supervisors suggested some minor changes to finish off my second year report, so I'm going to make those changes and hopefully send it off before I go.

Hope everyone has a more productive day!

Ooh, congrats on the driivng theory test!

I'm getting lots done today - all crappy admin and nonsense jobs rather than proper research, but it'll all be useful I'm sure.

Sorry about the grant, Star-shaped - hopefully some good job opportunities will appear now anyway.

And good luck today everyone!

My goals for today:
1.) Write up notes from recent reading
2.) Carry on sorting out RefWorks references
3.) Identify priority reading for next few days/weeks
4.) Prepare for supervision session this afternoon

Heh, you can uncover your eyes now, Ady, I'm dressed :-)

Yay, that's brilliant, congratulations! And a nice reminder that this does all come to an end, given how stressed and overworked a lot of people on the forum are feeling right now. Light at the end of the tunnel...

I hope you're going to do something outrageously fun, spontaneous and possibly irresponsible now, just because you can!