i am dreading my meeting with my supervisor, when he will ask me what i have done! i have a meeting with him in a couple of weeks, and i know he's going to be so angry and berate me.. but i will just have to take it... he wants to know exactly what i have done.. so i will tell him i have zero drafts of X number of chapters... he wont read them, because i will tell them, they are shi*te.. and he refuses to look at drafts, only wants to see polished versions, but at least psychologically for myself, i wont feel like the chapters are blank..

then i thought to myself... today right now, i still have 3 months infront of me. i still have the chance to wrap this baby up! it's not like my thesis is due next week and i have written zilch. THAT would be the worst possible scenario.

so as long as i work on my thesis everyday no matter how much or how little, everyday is what counts. it's a marathon, not a sprint..

and i have this quote on a postit stuck to the bottom of my monitor

"you'll be amazed at how much work is possible to accomplish in a month , if its the LAST month" (joan bolker)

so i try to think that my thesis is due in a month, and i am planning on writing very crappy zero drafts. but then i will know i still have the following month to improve on them. i rather have crappy drafts of chapters, than blank chapters!

right now i am just focused on getting zero drafts done of my chapters, just so that i feel psychologically comforted that i have something down on paper.

i know what you mean, i too feel like that. i was telling all my friends, i am a failure, and i am the worst phd student in history, etc etc. and i felt so depressed. but they were all like, do your best, that's all that matters, and don't focus on whether you pass or fail. if you do fail, it wont be the end of the world. just write the thesis for yourself, so at the end of the 3 months you have written it, and did your best.

Hey BB nice to hear from you! and you're very welcome, it's my pleasure.

i was just thinking about you earlier, wondering how you were getting on.

that's great progress you have done! i know how long it can take doing data analysis and making figures, so that's one less thing you will have to do!

yah try the timer thing and noting down actual productive time, it really helps to figure out where all the hours in the day dissapear off to

the best advice that i liked especially was:

"If you can, have two, three or four projects and alternate till one grabs you. Robert Benchley, said: “I can get anything done as long as it’s not what I’m supposed to be working on.”

Sound familiar? It’s sometimes hard to prioritize among ...But you can be surprisingly productive by working for a short time on each one. Imagine your projects (chapters in our case!) as children, each of them clamoring for your attention. Spend time with each one.

wow thanks for the link! that was brilliant, really awesome advice!!

i will be frequently listening to this, whenever i get stuck.

thanks ANG!

ahhhhhhh i can't stop procrastinating now. i was on a roll, but then my best friend called me, i've been avoiding all my friends calls, and put my mobile in my bedroom. i told them all, that i need to just be in hibernation, but she was worried about me, was sweet of her. but she then called me on the house phone! .. so ended up talking for a couple of hours.

now ever since, i can't get back into it.

okay going to listen to the episode now! for some inspiration.

good luck!! that's great that you have written a draft, its always easy to improve on things that are already written. and you've accomplished that. don't worry about style writing, my own is awful and my supervisor always makes me feel like an idiot when he tells me so

but i read in a book that simple is fine, no need for fancy dancy writing.

sounds like you've already decided

if you think you can handle it, then go right ahead, you know what you're capable of. i personally would want to only concentrate on my msc thesis fully and churn it out to the best of my availability, without any distractions. but if you think you can handle both, then go for it!

you've just inspired me :)

wow 3000 words!! thats brilliant!! very impressive!

you're so right, it is really alot to do with confidence. :)

i agree with adlag, only do things that will benefit your phd. because a phd is hard enough as it is!

wow S good luck!! I am sure you will be great!! yah take the evening off and just relax. you already know everything, it's in your head, and will come spiralling out once you're in there. i have every confidence you will pass !

like for me, I like checking these messages on this board, but i will only let myself check the messages or write a message, once i have achieved a 30min of productive time, and i am having a 5minute break or whatever. (i've stopped facebooking and emailing, but i find comfort in this message board, because it's nice to know i am not alone in this)..

or I really like watching greys anatomy. but i will only let myself watch an episode, once i have accomplished X number of "productive time" but it has to be an accurate amount of time, you have done "working" and not just idly sitting at your desk staring at the computer.. and usually will only let myself watch it after a full days of work, say after midnight

or another eg that i read in Joan Bolker's book (sorry i keep quoting her!! the book is my constant companion).. is that list all the things you want to do rather than writing... like cleaning the bathroom floor or whatever, and then once you have written your target of words like 1000 for the day, then see how much you would wanna do it!

Joan Bolker talks about how to start a reward scheme, if you write X number of pages, then you can reward yourself, with something you really like doing.