Thanks for the quick replies ... I do feel that the notion of actually having a list of small goals rather than getting bogged down in 20 different things might be useful. The house itself is very small (4 rooms in total) but I will have a desk in the bedroom and try to assign different tasks to different times. Will have all the distractions (guitar, TV, stereo) in another room and might actually try to get stuff done without the laptop on all the time (it has to be the BIGGEST distraction).

It'll be two weeks before moving in and plan to take a week off to sort it (the renovation work has really helped me get perspective).
The PhD has been a real struggle and I think moving might just be the impeutus to get things rolling again. Money is gonna be a problem but will sort it.
Bilbo - great to hear of a success story and good to hear another of us is near the finishing line.

On a personal note, the fact that it was the uncles gaff and my family and friends are helping also underlines that family and friends are there to help, much the same way as this forum, so thanks to everyone. We will all get there in the end!

Lads and ladies,
After almost a decade of living in the city where I work, moving back home to a small cottage (inherited from my Uncle - nothing spectacular but mine). To be honest, just sick of dealing with other tenants, being the head man of the gaff!
Anyways, before this turns into a bit€hing session, anyone got any tips for working from home? I do plan to commute (about an hours journey) once-twice in the week. I do have broadband, but really looking for tips as to how to get stuff done. I would appreciate any advice. On the flip-side to this good news, is the fact that my funding is finishing and work is scarce, but will sort something.
If anyone is coping, any advice would be appreciated. Just a bit apprehensive at the moment.

Florence - First things first ... get some medical advice! Conciously take some time off and see a doc. You need to get back to full strenght i.e. sleeping right and eating. Then worry about the PhD. Say it to your supervisor that you are unwell and just need a bit of time off, which is true. The mind gets tired and injured so needs time to recuperate and if you are not sleeping/eating, you cannot be thinking properly.
You are not the first person that this has happened to, but unfortunately, when you are going thro' it, you think that no-one else can possibly know what it is like. The feeling of guilt is compounded the longer this goes on. Admitting that you think that you have a problem is the first step and don't worry, it will come together.
As for the work, so what if you had a few quiet months. Why don't ya just sit down with a blank paper and a pencil and do a mind-map of what you have done and what areas of your research actually interest you. It is surprising how much you actually have done and know.
A PhD is about perserverance - not originality! And if you can't sleep, get up and make a cuppa tea (Barry's is yer only man) and don't in any way feel guilty about catching up on sleep during the day. But please, go and talk to your doc - I was in a similar situation and my doc really showed why he is ace in turning the ship around.
Last thing - you probably read several similar stories on the forum. We are all here to help so if you need to rant/let off steam, by all means do!

Joyce is right - it'll be in the second year (or sometimes even third) that the novelty aspect will come in. You are rushing into a decision and I suppose the real question is not whether you have novelty but whether you yourself want to do the PhD. At this stage, you shouldn't be concentrating on your own work, but rather where do you think there is a gap in literature and then getting your experimentation to work. Remember, you aren't reinventing the wheel, so as a practical exercise, maybe it might be good to even dedicate a day or two to look again at the associated literature (getting new papers where applicable). Sometimes we lose track of the fact that our projects must be comparable to whats out already and then finding some niche (ok, not from a lab based PhD so perhaps its easier for me to say).

Take it easy on yourself and as a sort of break, do a literature search and find a few good papers on your topic. As for the lack of data, you can catch up! Also, is there any chance that you could speak to the other people within your research group or college? It seems as if you are a bit isolated (ask a post-doc - its their job).

One last thing - if funding is not an issue for continuation, take a break! You sound as if you need it! Don't worry - it will come together ... it does seem like headbutting a brick wall at the mo, but as SuperChicken once said "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it!"

Sneaks - I am nearly certain that EndNote takes care of this. I know for certain that it does it if both are in the same document ... below is a quick test (one is marked a and the other b). I would recommend that wherever you are referring to a reference, put in the citation to tell one from the other and then go back and type in a or b when you want to get rid of the citation. I don't know if this is complicated by having seperate chapters as different Word docs. Any help? I know it still means that you have to delete citations, but at least you know which one relates to which document. Sorry if a bit confusing and if really stuck, go onto the Endnote forum on the Thompson website.

Any text with an * is just a case of "Insert Selected Citation(s)" and % is where I typed it
He said this (Schuman, 2006a*) and then (Schuman, 2006b*). But then this could be false (Zhang et al., 2005a*). The findings of Zhang (2005a%) are supported by another paper, in which he then states x+y (Zhang et al., 2005b*)

SCHUMAN, E. (2006a) Tesco's UHF RFID Troubles.
SCHUMAN, E. (2006b) Wal-Mart, Metro Give Blanket Support for RFID Gen 2.
ZHANG, L., LEE, M. K. O., ZHANG, Z. & BANERJEE, P. (2005a) Critical success factors of enterprise resource planning systems implementation success in China. System Sciences, 2003. Proceedings of the 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on, 10.
ZHANG, Z., LEE, M. K. O., HUANG, P., ZHANG, L. & HUANG, X. (2005b) A framework of ERP systems implementation success in China: An empirical study. International Journal of Production Economics, 98, 56-80.

Endph_Sien - get real man! There is absolutely no compulsion for you to pay back the funding and don't even think of offering it back! The fact is that people leave their jobs (and well paid ones too!) every day to go to higher paid positions and don't give a second thought of the costs to their previous bosses! Question: Did ya use the money for a huge trip to Vegas snorting coke? If not, don't be concerned with it.
I am not in any way questioning the nobility of your actions, but from the reading of the post you are moving partially for your families sake - well then put them first! You cannot be putting noble intentions in the way of their security. There are plenty of people locally here who had been promised funding by state agencies and is now cut or gone entirely - where is their recourse? Only deal with the money if it becomes a legal issue, which I can't see happening. Second Question: Would you see your supervisor dipping into his pocket to finance you if the funding wasn't there? NO! So why should you or your family suffer? People leave their "job" or if ya want to take it a notch higher, their vocation, every day and there is damage - its called moving on. And for the prospect of you denying someone else previous funding - tough luck on them! Dog eat dog!

Sneaks - excuse the ignorance, but a bit unsure about what exactly you are trying to do? Is it a case that you want to see all the authors in the reference, no matter when they are reference? If you could put a specific example on the board it might be helpful i.e. a short bit of text. Is it so that you can differentiate between two possible Smith et al (2009)'s?

In the meantime, you could go to "Edit" , "Output Styles", select the style, click on "Edit" and then change the settings so all authors appear then. If it is just a case that the docs are for internal use, you could use Numbering output style for the moment.

JW297 - HazyJane hit a good point - Every author of the paper needs to stand over the work, so if the names are just being stuck on at the end, well then, there is no hope of this. I would suggest that your bf raises this issue and at least then suggest meeting up with all the other "authors" and get their input. If that was that one of the co-authors was to take editing responsibility, it would be constructive. Also, if your bf is to be stuck on papers he didn't work on, it could come back and bite him on the a$$ if he didn't make any contribution to that work, so the idea of the favour being returned is stoooooopid!
Having a fierce problem with my supervisor - I asked for help on a paper three months ago and even had a second author lined up, but he said no. Now he is using the fact that I don't have publications as a possible stick to throw me out.
Your boyfriend should be somebit compromising but not to the extent where he is being blatantly exploited.

Someone probably stated this but if presenting to a journal, check the journal and see how they do it.
Be aware though, that if using EndNote, make sure that it is also changed there (I think it is under options menu)

Be a bit mixed ... it does devalue it a bit but it is only a title and it is thro' the work that you get the proper respect and recognition (in fairness, there are professors who only get the title from floggin' papers out thro' their students and don't know Jack about their content). System is flawed. Besides, how many of us conform to the classical image of the scholarly student at 3.30 on a Friday night?

It does bring up one important question though - did they do a Viva?

Aberdeen is on the ball!
Go to her, say you have a whole load of work already done and don't want to contradict what was said by the first reviewers. So just ask what would be the suggestions that are IMPERIATIVE rather than wanted. I hate this whole thing of when you know you are right but still have to do the "Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir!"

If still baulking after that, tell her that in the interest of your work, you will submit without her name on the paper.

Fay,
Even if getting a stipend, you more than likely would have to get some part-time funding (fair dues to the parents by the way). It is the norm for most Masters/PhD to do some part-time, especially if you've a car or don't want to live like a hermit. Dedicate a day or two to part time work, with the notion that some of your weekend time will be taken. You need a few hours "turn-around" time i.e. you can't just walk straight from study to the part-time work and vice versa. Also, it might be a good notion to get in as much part-time as you possibly can in the early months and then decrease this as you go on.


As for looking, if you have taught in any capacity, or even have done well in paractical subjects like computing, accounting, etc., try the local private colleges - they always look for someone that will only stay a year or two on a non-full time basis. Also, look thro' the syllabus of your own college - there might be some subjects that you can do grinds in. If so, you dictate when and where these are done and if good, word of mouth spreads. There are plenty of opportunities - just be prepared for the search.

Good luck with the studies

PhD_girl - just be ready for maybe an initial bollocking but I think you have summed it up great there. Its a great opportunity and that both of ye will benefit from it (and can anyone really stand in the way of romance 8-). You will return and will be a better researcher for it. It might be a bit stressful keeping in touch, but thats what email, skype (and Yugma) are for. Decide though with her what exactly she wants from you on your return i.e. a paper or two.

As for meself, I'm afraid I suffer from acute Buckett!titus when it comes to the fairer species (I'd explain but would probably get thrown off the forum ha ha). No, finishing off the PhD as finally got some interest in the idea, which coincidentally, might extend to your actual situation ... looking at multi-site collaboration between SME's, which could be used in academia as well. Too much stuff here to be heading now, although am gonna head off as soon as finished (myself and a few friends are getting a T-34 and tanking across Asia).

Without getting too Dawson's Creek on it, it is better to regret what you have done than to regret what you haven't - kapish? So goto www.usahereI.come and book that ticket!

Starshine - do not move into that flat. I don't know the local conditions but 6 months rent is unheard of (do they know that there is a f**king recession on?). At that price, yourself and himself could get a proper house (hate apartments)! That is mortgage repayment terms and that crowd sound like a right bunch of cowboys! Again, I don't know the local conditions so sorry. Ask about your group.

As for your Supervisor being too busy, thats nonsense. He can surely sign a drafted letter and surely has done this before for other students. It's not his job to ensure your comfort but surely he can spare 5 seconds

No one can stop you going but they can make it difficult for you. I would honestly discuss the prospect of it with her. State that you were interested and needed to act fast, thus lack of contact. Sounds as if you have a very proactive and receptive supervisor and despite the initial disappointment, she will be happy for you. If really worried, play the "personal reasons" card.

You are forgetting one thing - it is also an opportunity for her. If you remain in contact in relation to work, is it not an opportunity for her to forge new links? Are you intending to finishing your PhD outside of her supervision? Are you leaving her entirely?

This is a great opportunity and one I would reckon you would be mad to pass up on! You will develop professionally and lets face it, if himself is over there, you'll be happier on a personal level. You have to discuss it and run the risk of pi$$ing her off, but I wouldn't think so. Try to keep her onside as she sounds like a good supervisor

But you have pi$$ed me off ... going thro' forty shades of green with envy :p

Congrats and enjoy!