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Thought I would revive this thread rather than start a new one on the strange effects of writing up...I have productive days and less than productive days, and momentary feelings of panic about getting things done.....its not fun! I also seem to have befriended a persisent migraine headache, day three and running....:-s but not so bad that I can't function. I just pretend its not there to the best of my ability.....Not sleeping that great, but still managing to get enough, appetite like a horse, looking forward to the weekend and hopefully a long snooze to catch up on sleep!

How is everyone else doing

======= Date Modified 05 Dec 2008 14:30:49 =======
bolo

( as in a type of tie.....modern cowboys wear them.....)

Tress ( as in the singular of tresses, for hair?)

I tried managing on my PhD part time and distance learning whilst working full time in a job that had less than predictable hours and always more than a 40 hour week. The good news--it can be done! It meant being completely fierce about sticking to a time table of study when I was not at work. It also meant being fierce about allowing down time...because its not possible to work/study/work/study without a break--you need exercise, some human contact, etc. oh and sleep every so often! :-):-)

Weekends were prime study time as that was two entire days of being able to focus on the PhD and not be distracted from the study by work and other life. I know some people fence off their weekends and don't do their study on them.....I had no choice. Some things in my life suffered, to be sure, some friends were less than understanding about my time priorities, and showed themselves, imo, to be less than real friends, other people on the other hand showed themselves to be very supportive and understanding.

Yes, it can be done! I remember reading that a part time PhD takes about 15-20 hours a week of study. That is not so hard to find in the week and the weekends, if you plan well and try hard.

I am now writing up ( but gave up the distance learning and am doing the study fulltime now in order to complete) so it can be done! Eventually the balance of work and study got to be too much, with my job in particular, and I made the decision to finish up doing the PhD full time.

I think if you have a job with predictable hours, then you are ahead of the game, you are much more in charge of your schedule, and the balancing is not that hard. A few evenings of 3 hours a week of study and say four hours a week on a Saturday and a Sunday ( which still leaves you the bulk of the weekend for other things), then there is 21 hours a week of study! Easy peasy!

crust

silt

I am with the "old school" crowd of quiet, dark libraries with desks. To the extent I ever have used a sofa in a library ( during my JD), it was specifically because I wanted a nap!!!!!! So I would snooze out for about 20 minutes if I could.....but when I needed to study, I would lock myself up in a study room--no windows, no noise, silent.....hideous, actually, but it made you get your work done so you could get out again! Do British libraries offer a study room you can reserve and study in by yourself?

While I don't mind a bit of noise around me when I study, I am not very tolerant of people on the phone, talking, etc., that clearly has nothing to do with studying.

Libraries are not "social zones." Learning is not a social thing--in that case, why not hold class and study down the pub?

I don't think its asking too much that learning areas in a university be set up so that people can learn--in quiet, at desks.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Friends in the US went to see it and said it was great, not the usual sort of vampire movie you would expect--apparently its a book as well, part of a series of four, so there are more movies in the offing as well! (up)

I have seen trailers for it......so want to see it!

Does anyone know if this movie ( sorry, film!) is out yet in the UK??! Or if not, when it will be??!!

Cheers

a nice poem, PamW.

I sometimes feel like this poem by Yeats...

The Fascination of What's Difficult
William Butler Yeats
http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/The_Fascination.htm

The fascination of what's difficult
Has dried the sap out of my veins, and rent
Spontaneous joy and natural content
Out of my heart. There's something ails our colt
That must, as if it had not holy blood
Nor on Olympus leaped from cloud to cloud,
Shiver under the lash, strain, sweat and jolt
As though it dragged road-metal. My curse on plays
That have to be set up in fifty ways,
On the day's war with every knave and dolt,
Theatre business, management of men.
I swear before the dawn comes round again
I'll find the stable and pull out the bolt.

Apologies for double posting......

Colorquiz.com tells me that my stress source is "Wants to overcome a feeling of emptiness and of separation from others. Believes that life still has far more to offer and that she may miss her share of experiences if she fails to make the best use of every opportunity. She therefore pursues her objectives with a fierce intensity and commits herself deeply and readily." Sounds like writing up!

"The situation is preventing her from establishing herself, but she feels she must make the best of things as they are.
Circumstances force her to compromise and to forgo some pleasures for the time being. " Still sounds like writing up!

"The fear that she might be prevented from achieving the things she wants leads her to play her part with an urgent and hectic intensity" STILL sounds like writing up!

Hi all. I am also writing up. The stress does take its toil... I am noticing problems sleeping some nights, where other nights I am so exhausted from the lack of sleep that I get all caught up, its a horrible vicisious cycle ( and I cannot spell that word!) but that seems to be the worst of it. I seem to be plugged into the keyboard at my computer all of the time now, but so be it. I do take breaks during the day to get a walk and fresh air, and my office is stocked up with healthy snacks like fruit, carrots, and almond butter! I swear the almond butter is Nirvana, the extra protein in my diet has made SUCH a difference in my stamina and ability to keep working.

Knock on wood, I remain healthy.

On the days my brain feels like it has no battery, I try to not push myself, and just try to get SOMETHING done, and eventually perhaps just give it up for the day and come back rested. Are the people feeling stressed and etc, remembering to take breaks, either a whole day or more, or during the day? Although it feels like you cannot do that, its sooooooo important!

After a hard 20 or 30 minute slog of writing or thinking sometimes I just need to decompress and let my brain sort of take it in and recover, there are various sort of brainless things you can find on line, like horoscopes, or whatever, here is my current favourite, www.colorquiz.com ( the answers I get vary each time but stay generally consistent, it takes about no time to do, and is no more difficult than clicking on coloured squares) which I go to if I need to just let my brain rest.



And while I agree its not a happy cheery time, I try to stay fairly delusional about this, and keep my mood as good as I can, which at least for me helps my own work and productivitity. Most of the time I feel pretty chipper, but the problems sleeping let me know how stressed I am in fact.

I long for someone I could just unburden myself to, just to vent, and get some supportive well..support! but that seems to be an impossibility, people either too stressed with their own stuff, or just do not understand what I am going through. I am pulling extremely long hours, 7 days a week at the moment...its not fun.