Congratulations! Enjoy that donut. Time and space to think about you rather than your thesis. Enjoy!

YAY!!! Hope you are in celebration mode!

That sums up my situation perfectly too! I feel the same way and sometimes really dread opening up my word documents! Trying to keep going by thinking how much more I will enjoy my spare time when I'm done. And breaking it into smaller hurdles with deadlines. And bribing myself, once I've written x number of words, I can...

I know exactly what you mean Mistake! Hvaing those struggles myself at the moment in my write-up. Well done for surviving it all! Hope you are wandering areound with a big silly grin on your face

well done. Hope the celebrations have now begun! Must feel very strange (in a good, happy and positive way ). A question for after the celebrations - "the hardest thing I've ever done' - do you mean the viva itself or the whole PhD process??

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Cool. EndNote can be a right pain to set up and get used to but it will save you time & energy in the long run. Good luck!

Why wouldn't you want everything in the one library? I can't see why it would make sense to have everything separate? I just have one library and one reference section in my stuff - the reference section is for all types of references sorted alphabetically. DO you need to do something differnet?

Couldn't agree more Ann. I can't imagine why any self-respecting academic (or even person) could consider this essay writing thing. Badhaircut - I seriously think there's a lot more pride in being a waiter than doing something dishonest such as this. I can't imagine that you could feel comfortable increasing the number of academics thereby also the amount competition for jobs by this means which is what you'd be doing in the long run. I know you're in a bad position now but wouldn't you feel worse if you knew the competition had got through by unfair means??

Good for you jojo! Happy to hear it hope you are having a well earnt night off and feeling more relaxed!

We've all done crap jobs to get by. See it like that - a short-term solution to your problem. You don't have to do it forever - you do have other options. Some people have no choice but to spend their lives being waiters. As a customer, good friendly service is important. Take the positive aspects out of being a waiter - you can sell the transferable skills, e.g. people skills etc - not to be scoffed at or looked down on even though I'm sure you would give anything to be elsewhere! Try to stay positive about what the future holds. CC is right - in the long-term you will be better off. This misery and depression WILL be short lived if you can stay positive and hang in there. Life is all ups and downs - you're on a downer at the moment but things will get better. Good luck and hang in there!!

Sounds like a very stressful situation Badhaircut. Definitely not what you've worked hard doing a PhD for. Have you considered some counselling? It may sound like a daft idea but it could help you to see your options more clearly and also help to re-gain a more positive attitude which will definitely help with job hunting. Positivity and confidence count for quite a lot in the job hunt and I think people can sense these things quite easily and can be put off by depression or negativity.

that made me laugh driven2insanity. I remember in my first year I had taught courses with 2 essays due and my supervisor (also my boss) was reading my essay on the way out for a meeting with my other supervisor. All good so far - the only problem - the essay had been submitted, marked and we were going to discuss the mark and feedback given by the external! So, you're right - no magic solutions. Good luck Jojo!

I usually ask 'when can I expect feedback' when I submit something or 'does x weeks give you long enough if I set up a meeting on a x day'. I then make the meeting plans (time, place and date) straight away and confirm all details by e-mail. Then like driven2insanity said I e-mail about a week before to say looking forward to discussion about my work and feedback. It's a bit irritating but it does put you in control of the process. If your sups aren't going to be helpful, try talking to as many people (other lecturers and students) as possible to get feedback on your work. Even if they aren't in your field they can provide great insights (well I've found that anyway).

If you can get a meeting with your sups I would put as the first item on the agenda to agree a working process - how submission of chapters and feedback will work. Thats what I did with my sups and it seems to have worked ok.

Sorry you're having such a hard time Jojo. I would hate it if I was trying to contact my sups and they didn't respond. Is there anyone else at your uni such as the PhD co-ordinator (or similar) that you can discuss this with? It would definitely be worth approaching someone as they aren't doing their jobs properly if they don't respond to your e-mails! Even though the feedback will input into the next chapters, try to think about things you can do before you get the feedback from this chapter, e.g. planning of chapters, draft notes, data analysis (not sure what stage you are at?) etc. There is likely to be something that you can work towards before you get feedback. But do definitely try to speak to someone about this.