Hehe Eska, santy made me giggle!! I guess you're right though - what lady wouldn't appreciate a good-humored, generous and extremely efficient gentleman (I mean getting all of his work done in one night must leave plenty of quality time spent with Mrs Claus) :-x

rhubarb - the pig-attracting kind

Ooh Sneaks - my comiserations - I had only a couple of hours with the in-laws last night and that was enough!

So a disasterous weekend work-wise - I got absolutely nothing done and am already a couple of months behind I'd say so am feeling pretty rubbish and anxious once again.

On the upside, things are looking very slightly more promising on the relationship front.

Right, today is going to have to be a short day due to training later.
So goal 1:write list of requests for lab
goal 2:get to the office by 11.30.
goal 3: go see relevant people
goal 4: make plan
goal 5: research topic one for paper

As entertaining as it is, the more attention we give this Dispatcher bloke, the more likely he is to keep annoying everyone. I vote we simply ignore him until he goes away (up)

Glad you got it sorted Satchi - good luck with finishing the poster (up)

Right I really want to get back on track with work so I intend to work 4 hours this afternoon and hopefully tomorrow too (also need to spend alot of time trying to fix relationship which is going down the drain). So goal 1 - read new method an make list of apparatus needed.

Goals 1,2 & 3 not done. (down)

I haven't done any work at all :-s What's wrong with me? I'm supposed to be smart but I seem to be sabotaging any chance I have at all at doing this PhD. I feel truly rubbish.

Hi SarahLouise

I'm about 9 months into my PhD fulltime also. My project still isn't properly defined, I can't get myself into a routine at all and am really struggling with things in general. I go through stages of trying to force myself to try to work for 12 hours a day and stages where I just watch daytime tv for weeks on end with my laptop open in front of me (I'm in one of those stages now). My supervisors have been happy with any written stuff I've shown them so far but I haven't been able to get any experiments off the ground which they haven't commented on really. I have no idea if I am on track for where I need to be but I feel desperately behind and spend alot of time worrying rather than doing anything. I have no idea what the outcome of my PhD will be - i.e the focus of it and some other students have commented that if they were in my position they would be worried. Anyhow, compared to me you seem to be doing great so well done and keep it up (up)

Right this week has been another complete disaster - cannot put my finger on 1 inch of progress made or work done.

Goal 1 - make it to the office (harder than it sounds - I haven't left the house for 3 days)

Goal 2 - equipment list

Goal 3 - starting point for paper

Hi Wally,

I think I can empathise. I'm only 9 months into my PhD (straight after my undergrad) and both myself and my partner have noticed major changes in me. The other day he said to me "you never want to do anything anymore". And he's right. I find it difficult to leave the house, to the extent that I very rarely make it into uni where I really need to be at the moment to try get some experiments up and running. So far, my sups don't seem to have noticed but I doubt that'll last much longer - I'm just waiting for the e-mail asking where I am. I try to work when I am at home and usually end up reading some papers or writing a little most days but I feel like I must be drastically behind.

In other news, I've put on a stone, take anti-histamines/alcohol at night to try to induce sleep, avoid friends & family and generally seem be turning into a fat hermit. Oh and I think my eating disorder is coming back.

Thanks Star-shaped! It's had its ups and downs. I've written 250 words and am aiming for another 750 by close of business. Good luck with your target (up)

Goal 1 done.

Boy that abstract promises alot! I have made a list of 14 areas as a starting point for the paper.

Goal 2: look for info on area number 1

I intend to write as I go along so goal 2 includes producing at least one paragraph on area 1.

Hi All

Today is my first day back trying to get some work done after what I can only class as a mini-breakdown. So I'm going to try to forget about how rubbish I'm feeling and get some work done in an effort to feel better/ less panicky.

Goal 1; read abstract for paper to be submitted at the end of July and try to pick a starting point. I am going to allow myself an hour for this.

Hi Natassia,

That all sounds very positive to me. I was in a sort of similar position to you this time last year - I went straight from graduating with my UG degree from my department to starting my PhD there in the space of 3 weeks. I never had to submit a formal proposal (this could be different in your case), I simply expressed an interest in pursuing postgrad studies (I was considering a research-based masters at the time) in a specific area to one of the lecturers in the department. He directed me to a different staff member who had a couple of projects lined up which were fully funded. I had a chat with him and then with the guy who would become my co-supervisor. Then they went away, had a chat to each other and then to the head of the department about me, submitted some sort of official thing (I have no idea about the procedures involved) to the graduate studies board for approval. A couple of weeks later they offered the PhD. I have two friends who also graduated from the same department who have also gone on to do a PhD and the procedure they went through was slightly different but equally as informal. So I wouldn't worry too much about not being asked for a written proposal yet.

Best of Luck(up)

Well, I've had a rubbish day, a rubbish week and a rubbish month really. I can't focus and am overwhelmed by what I need to do and so haven't done anything remotely productive for ages.

I left the office early, having accomplished nothing but sick of staring at the pc. On my way out the gates I bumped into another student, 3 years ahead of me with the same supervisor who asked me how my work was going (he's a really nice, helpful guy but our office is like a library and chatting is heavily frowned up so I don't get to talk with him much). I was pretty honest about the position I'm in workwise and he basically told me (in the nicest possible way) to get on with things as he would be concerned if he were in my position after this length of time. Now I'm pretty panicked. I have definitely been feeling like I've been threading water for a while and I know that everyone works at a different pace but what he said has made me doubt my abilities and suitability for this PhD. I have been contemplating for a while if I made the right decision in accepting the offer and this conversation has reinforced those doubts. At the moment I am sitting at home waiting for bf to return to distract me (relationship also failing so we never discuss important stuff anymore) an my mood is swinging between determination to work harder and make progress and just throwing in the towel before it becomes obvious to everyone that I am making an absolute mess of the opportunity I've been give.

Sorry for hijacking this thread - rant now officially over.

Well done to everyone who has achieved their goals, however small (up)