There is some truth in all these posts. Obviously every PhD is different, and people have different ways to manage their workload. However, personally it would have been very difficult to achieve anything had I used the 9 to 5 approach. I agree with Olivia here. I had to travel to get most of the resources I needed, and in those occasions it was 8-6 weekdays, 8-2 Sat-Sun (opening times of archives, libraries etc). If you are not flexible and adapt yourself to the circumstances it can take forever to complete.

If you have family and you don't have an office to go to, or anyone who can look after the children, you can only work around them. Equally if you work p/t or f/t.
So working 9 to 5 does not necessarily mean that these people are better at managing their project.

I have been thinking about you jojo and also about other people that used to be regularly on the forum but have suddenly disappeared - like PinkNeuron.

Are you still around? I would love to hear from you. I read back my post in your thread and I cannot believe how many things have changed in these past 6-7 months. When I last posted here I still was in the middle of writing up and felt very miserable. I found your posts very helpful and kept me motivated till submission.

:-)

I've got minor corrections, and I was handed the list soon after my viva. I got a confirmation letter from my uni saying that I should liaise with my internal examiner and submit the corrected copy directly to him. He asked me to work using the "track changes" function in word and then e-mail the parts that I have to amend. In this way it should be quicker, as I can just print out only the final copy for submission to Registry after corrections have been approved.

I think that you should contact your internal examiner and he/she should be able to tell you what to do. I am lucky because our department is small and I know my internal examiner, so I don't mind getting in touch to check things along the way.

I think that your plan looks good. Bewildered is right, also at my uni you can extend your studies to a maximum of 60 months for a full time PhD, and you are disqualified if you don't complete by that date. However, I can tell you that there are quite a few students here who managed to get a suspension of studies without medical grounds. So, it is worth checking, but basically it also depends on how supportive your supervisors and department are. It they have a high rate of students who don't manage to complete they will probably press you to finish sooner rather than later. If you have a medical certificate and you show a plan on how and when you are going to complete, I think it is reasonable to think that they will accept it.

I can understand the vicious circle of being unwell and not recovering properly because of the constant pressure to complete. I have been there. Once I passed my viva (with minor corrections), they were all very quick to jump on the chariot of the winner, but it wasn't so rosy before I submitted. What I can tell you is that it is going to pass. You are going to get there if you really want it.

 

I agree with Delta. You have been through a very tough time. I would definitely take a suspension of studies and try to work a little bit during this time.
Obviously your health and that of your child are priorities, but I understand that you would probably regret leaving your PhD after having put so much effort. I had health problems after I had my baby too, so I know what you mean. I didn't take the suspension of studies, because I was very close to submission, but now I think I would have got to the end with much less stress if I did.
I would also look into asking for a second supervisor, or a new supervisor if you feel that you need more support than you are getting at the moment.

Hurray! Well done Dr Keenbean! Fantastic news!

(gift)(mince)(gift)(mince)(gift)(mince)(gift)(mince)(gift)


P.S

(sprout) (This is the consolation prize for your supervisor)

Keenbean,

I am late (daughter at home from nursery with another bug), but I just wanted to wish you all the best for tomorrow.

Don't be upset about your supervisor. Mine sent me a text the night before to say "good luck" (perhaps in the hope that I would fail?!), and this after he took a year to read only 3 (three) chapters of my thesis. As you can see you come across people like this. Luckily I didn't check my e-mails until the evening after the viva...

Anyway, you will be brilliant as usual, just go there and knock them all out! (up)

======= Date Modified 08 Aug 2011 20:29:28 =======
You have all my sympathy. I know only too well how hard it is to work with very little supervision.

However, I would be very cautious about involving an external person without your department knowing. If for any reason things with this person shouldn't work, or if he/she would plagiarized parts of your research, you would be in a much tougher position and with no protection. I know some high profile academics who played these kind of games, it's not matter of status.

You are at the beginning of your project, and for this very reason you deserve to have all the support in place. If I were you I would call a meeting with your current supervisor and HoD, and agree on what your reciprocal expectations are, discuss deadlines, how you think you are going to achieve your targets, etc.

The external academic may be of help and support, but for the reasons that I just explained I think that he should just be that: an external support.

======= Date Modified 08 Aug 2011 19:56:32 =======
You got brilliant tips already. Perhaps having a  very detailed list of things that need to be done on the day would help.
I cut and paste below a bit from a check list that I made for a conference I co-organised:

9.00 Arrival, check delivery of coffee and teas, set tables according to scheme (that’s in the conference room)
(Please remember that afterwards, dirty cups and empty flasks will need to be put back into crates and put outside the room to be collected by Catering Services)
Set registration desk
9.30 speakers arrive and register
9.30-9.45 Corinne (I wonder if CJ and/ or LW would be available to help with this so that I can talk a bit to participants at registration?) goes to Room 12 and download presentations

If you are responsible for a small team of people working with you you should do lists for them too.

You will be great!

(up)

Ady -I am sure that your draft is excellent. I will keep my fingers crossed, but you won't need it.

My supervisor took over 6 weeks to read mine, so there may be a little bit more to wait. But the important thing is that you have your final draft, all the rest is just polishing and little adjustments.

Best of Luck ;-)

*P.S.

I will have to start a "What would I do without the Forum?" thread!!!

Ady you are a genius!!!!!!!

It works!!!! I wouldn't have got there in a million years..

Thank you  (gift)

Sneaks - I am not ashamed to say that I even pasted a text box on the top of it and then clicked on white background to cover it, but didn't work -it reappeared in the print out!: :$

Thanks Bilbo,

I looked at it, but perhaps because I have vista, I don't have the same functions. I looked at word help and it says exactly the same things that you list, but I cannot see the "Endnote continuation notice" function anywhere. It's frustrating to say the list.

I am going to play with it a bit more and see if I get any wiser...thank you in the meantime!

This time is not about the thesis at least!

I am formatting a document with endnotes, and I must remove the continuation separator (the line above the notes in every page). How do I do that? I tried anything I could think off, but the result is the same: I either delete the whole text, or the separator remains in its position.

Any advice from anyone?
(I know it's an odd question especially in the middle of the night :p ) Many thanks in advance!

I think that it would be a real pity to leave at this late stage, but I understand your position. It is a very difficult choice. For personal experience I can tell you that there are only a few lucky people out there who can afford to complete their PhDs without financial struggle. Like you I was funded for 3 years, but I had to travel extensively for research purposes, and I could only afford to eat at lunchtime during my research trips!

If you have courses to attend probably you will not be in the position to look for jobs, but even a few hours a week could perhaps be of help. Is there anyone in your department you can speak to about doing some teaching?

Hi Bannierocks, after 3 years you usually register for writing up only which - at my uni at least - means a flat fee of £ 100 only. A big difference from the usual full fees. Can you check with your PGs finance department?