i've quit my job.. :-( so hopefully that means more time to my thesis. hurray! and hopefully quicker turn arounds!

am sorry to hear that you are having a tough time.

when i was doing my phd.. my family said i had got very defensive on the matter. but thats coz they kept nagging about when i'd finish and putting me down. so naturally.... one would expect that i'd be defensive. another thing is they're naysers or don't see the need to do a phd. so obviously, they irritated me.

now during viva prep i have decided to quit my job. everything there irritates me. my bosses. the customers. i have developed a short fuse. i have been to the doctors and they have said that am run down and depressed and need to work on improving my mood. am not surprised. what could be more depressing than writing a whole phd thesis. LOL. :-)

anyhow. my aim next yr is to recover.... in fact the next three yrs. i will never be as serious about anything and i won't pour my life into anything like i did with this phd.

there is more to life. don't worry. you'll be fine in time.

and.... try not to expect others to be as clever and interested in your phd. why would any sane person be interested in reading such a long document? be objective about it. its that thing that makes you different and special that made you write it and read it a million times. not everyone is like that. but if you ask me.. i'd say they're sad. they just haven't discovered the joys of intellectual rigour. but that's me.

merry christmas!

got the next five days free. i intend on making the most.

today's plan - get done with ch.2 and 3.

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my work is so similar to my external examiner's its scary! and i have not cited him in my thesis! :$ :-( his papers look like my chapter titles :$

i pray the content is similar otherwise the viva will be like Lord Sugar's boardroom! :-(

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otherwise am enjoying viva prep. aside from concerns with my pace, am wondering if i'll remember all this stuff. :$

i intend on taking my notes to the viva. hope that's not too bad. not that i'll be reading them to answer all the questions, but just in case i have a blank moment.

i have made slides for each chapter and am finding that quite useful in knowing where things are.

has anyone made an annotation? how on earth do you do that?

i don't intend to mark my thesis with stickers of all colours, it's just not me! never used stickers before, i don't intend to start now. so it will simply be underlined and have notes. it won't be highlighted either. :-)

that aside, i intend on finding my examiners publications by the end of this week so i can read them over Christmas. 8-) no Christmas for me this yr.

Still working on chapter 2. :-(. my whole viva could be based on these two chapters because i justify my study and deal with methodology in chapter 1 and in chapter 2 i come up with my theoretical framework / literature review. after that it's case studies and discussion. i also do all my definitions in these first two chapters.

i have been advised to focus more on theoretical framework and discussion because most humanities vivas dwell on that and not on the nitty gritties of the case studies. has anyone experienced this?

where did your viva focus more - i'd appreciate hearing from anyone who did and who is doing a case study based phd.. as well as anyone else ofcourse.

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well done! :-) i very much emphathise with the impositor feeling but hey.. it's just a feeling. you're a Dr. now!

thanks for the tip Dunni! hope yours goes well. hang in there. good to know am not the only one working. will adopt that perspective now.. and that should increase my speed hopefully!

am struggling with emotional stress as well. i wish i could move out and live on an island far away from the chaos in my house. family can be so difficult and unsupportive even when they know that one needs peace to prepare for stuff that's important to them.

sigh.. needed to let off some steam. :-) back to it now.

i've been at work the past two days. had a good nights sleep and a slow start... i'll now work on my thesis this evening. at least 6 hours. my aim is to finish chapter 2. am also working tomorrow :- ( but monday i'll start on 3. need to up my pace!

goodluck everyone.

reporting late to work today. have a day off from work and i've been sitting on my bed since morning doing everything else but viva prep. i think its because its been a while since i just stayed home and did nothing.

so to start me off and get me in the mood i'll watch the viva video. hope i can find it.. :-) and then get on with same strategy as yesterday for ch.2. good things is its bound to be exciting once i get into it.

am i the only one who only discovered academia.edu yesterday? what other useful websites are there for networking with academics. i should probably google my examiner on there.

:-)

i did this in ch.1 and do not have a separate methodology chapter. i also explained it as i went along whenever it came up.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART.

Everyone will have a thing or two to say about what they think you should do. The truth is, only you know where you're happy and if you find happiness in doing another phd ' it don't matter!'. Few people actually do what they enjoy. Go for it. You have nothing to lose. If it does not work out, you already have a phd anyway......


all the best.(up)

finally finished ch.1. took longer than i expected but was quite insightful. onto ch.2. :-) will first test my chapter 1 questions against Lara's list and see what i've left out.

tired and drained... :-) thinking is actually hard work...

thanks Bilbo! you're a God-send!

am actually enjoying viva prep and can't wait to give my work the best chance it has at a pass! :-) this technique is wonderful! i recommend it to everyone. it not only works but it puts you at ease by giving you a healthy view of your work - there are obviously good and bad parts and it gets you to that point of accepting that and living with it and better still turning it into a positive.

it gets you thinking and puts you in the position of being the examiner so that when you get there you will rarely be asked a question that you have not anticipated and in the event that you are... because you have answered lots of questions, there is likely to be one that comes close.

the questions that am currently answering on paper are the ones i'll use for oral practice. :)

my lesson from this is: if you've completed a thesis, all the answers you need are in there. you just need to know them. like any other exam only this time you wrote the book!

all the best everyone. am still wading out of ch.1 and will let you know when i actually get to ch.2. am so glad not to be working today and tomorrow! can give quality time to my thesis and revision.

J.