Hi Hulley

You probably need to experiment to see what works for you - try working in short bursts over consecutive days, or in a burst for a few days then rest. We're all different and have different working styles, in terms of hours, and where we work. Keep in mind tho, that a couple of hours a day is unlikely to get you there if you're a full-time student who plans to finish within, or close to, 3 years.

I pound it out, day after day, every day and have set times that I have off during the week. I find that I need to work on my thesis every day to maintain some kind of pace. Lots of people also treat their thesis like a job, and work 9-5, which I think is helpful, as it gets you into a routine.

Hi Maria

I'm an older PhD student - not as old as your older classmates, but not young either. I find that the good thing about doing a PhD as a mature age student is that I have a wide range of skills that I bring to studying. I had a career before I went into my PhD full-time, and those networks still help me as a student, and I have other skills too which younger students may not have eg a really well developed work ethic, a sense of professionalism, highly organised, an ability to plan, and judgement when dealing with senior academics. Of course younger students can have these too, but I think that a long work history has refined these, and my supervisor comments favourably on my skills in these areas compared to some other students.

The downside is that is can be harder to relate to people, as most students are younger. The most difficult thing tho, is that I'm doing a PhD later in life because I want a career change, and so this means starting again at the bottom. This is hard, as  I have financial responsibilities, and while I was happy in my 20s to live on a low income, having to do this again - and take a pay cut to get a foot into academia entails really big sacrifices, which younger students may not have to make.

So, swings and roundabouts really. I do wish I had started this earlier, but I was off doing other degrees and working, and took quite a circuitous path to get here.

Interesting thread, and hope things are improving for you Lost.

I'm a bit surprised at people's responses - apart from Eska and Stressed, most people seem to want to do a PhD for personal reasons, which, of course, is fine. Like Eska and Stressed, one of the main reasons I'm doing the PhD is to contribute to my field - but more than this, I like to think that my work will make a difference, albeit v. small, to making my corner of the world a better place. That probably sounds really wanky and pretentious, but it does motivate me. When I decided to start the PhD, there were major debates about employment rights here, and academics were at the forefront of arguing against the introduction of draconian workplace relations legislation. This inspired me and made me also want to contribute to the debates.

So, I have a bunch of personal reasons, but trying to contribute to more equitable workplaces is also a main motivator. How altruistic and possibly naive of me!

Hey Wutown, not a problem, didn't think you were rude at all! Thanks for your reply!

And Hulley, sounds like you're not in a good place at the moment - I've been there and it's not fun. This is isolating, but there are ways to overcome it - as we've mentioned, make sure you go out, even if to the gym, just to get some interaction with the world, meet with friends etc. Do lists, cross things off lists, it makes you feel like you're getting somewhere. I also count down days to self-imposed deadlines, to get a sense of urgency into my work and a sense of achievement when I reach them, or I just put them back if I don't reach them.

This forum is also a life-saver for making sure we're not isolated, and we get to talk to other PhD students. I've also joined a chat room for PhD students which is helping me enormously - pm me if you want the address. Good luck!

Don't worry about wasting 3 months, shouldn't make a difference. I did tutoring for 3 months, and basically didn't do any work on my thesis in that time, and it's put me behind, but not too much.

Hi everyone

Thanks for your replies. I think you're right Teek, they are a close bunch, and not being able to talk shop with them does make me rather an outsider. And WuTown, yes, I do get out, not much, but I do go to the gym and go out with my partner and other friends occasionally.

I'm not depressed, am making progress and life is OK, I think it's just another side effect of the isolation. I think social skills, like our other skills, also need to be used a lot, and at the moment, am not using them with people I don't see very often, and don't need to network often either etc etc. I expect this will pass, once I've finished, and for the moment just need to accept that I'm in my head and not able to relate to others on the same level that I used to.

Another side effect of writing up - people should really tell us about this beforehand!

Hi Maria

Personally, I don't think it's possible to do both full-time - once you build in travel time, time for socialising, exercising (which is good for students to do) and domestics, there's just not enough hours. I started off working full-time and doing my PhD part-time, and even that was tough going, and I'm used to working long hours, at least 60 a week. And it's not just the hours, it's the mental effort required for a thesis - I was finding that I'd start studying, before work and after dinner, and by the time I got my head around it, and started to think clearly and creatively, I'd either have to go to work or to bed.

I strongly advise against doing both full-time. Working 4 days a week and doing my PhD part-time worked well for me for ages, until I was fortunate enough to snag a scholarship. I'd suggest thinking about working 3 or 4 days a week, doing your PhD part-time, and then if you find you can put full-time hours into your PhD great, even better, you'll finish a bit earlier. Even working part-time and doing a PhD full-time is hard - the PhD just takes so much mental energy! Your uni might let your submit early as a part-time PhD student, with special permission. And then at least you're not putting the pressure on yourself of having to do your PhD full-time while you work. It's a hard road, doing both, don't try and take on too much, it just leads to stress and burn out.

Hello

I've been writing up for 5 months, and it is a hard slog. You need to get yourself into a routine - sit at your computer like it's a normal working day, have a list of things to do, and write. Just write and keep writing, and don't worry if it's bad. I also think that the shock of having to sit there, writing for hours and hours for days and days, over a long period of time, after the interesting work of doing field work is also hard, but it has to be done. Just think, writing up means you're getting closer to finishing!!

Lately I've taken to working in 25 minute blocks, using a timer:http://mytomatoes.com/ and seeing how many I can do in a day. If I know that I only have to work for 25 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 15 etc, and then I can take a break, I tend to focus harder and work better.

Writing up is really hard, and you need a routine, and discipline. It just has to be done. Don't look at your work as a mountain, see it as a series of small steps, to be taken one at a time, and very slowly this will grow into a mountain that you've written. If you haven't read Joan Bolker's book, 'Writing Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day, get this too, it's really useful. And come back here and let us know how you're getting on. Good luck!

Hi Sherlock

The offer of a fully funded place which starts ASAP is very tempting...however, leaving the money aside, where would you rather work? Do you have a project that you could do at either uni? Or are you equally keen on the work at both of these? I think you should go where you found the work most interesting, and if that was with the uni that didn't pay for living expenses, then you could pick up some part time work to cover these. It takes lots of effort to do a PhD, so loving your subject helps.

I've had a few things published, and yes, only essential corrections were allowed. These changes are made by the printer, not the editor, and I think they don't like to do this too much. They also get concerned if the changes affect the length, and change the formatting of the paper, as it means they need to reshuffle the lot. So, in my experience, only minor, typo-type changes are allowed.

Hi Maria

I'm not sure it's possible to tell if your sup is misogynistic from one instance - has he done/said other things to make you believe this? Also, another way to tell if he is, is, would he mimic a male student? If not, he could be a misogynist, if you think he would, then this is probablt just his way of communicating. I also don't think it's the best way to give feedback - making fun of students hardly sounds constructive!

The others are right - don't adopt 'masculine' traits - whatever they are. But project yourself, speak loudly, look at the audience, and don't rush. Keep your arms at your sides, or lean on a podium. Make sure you wear something business-like, so you feel like a professional with some authority. Good luck!

Hi Coop

Do a search on here on 'procrastination' and you'll bring up lots of stuff - this is a common theme! Then again, looking at a thread on procrastination will help you procrastinate...

Start small. Make a list, just do a little bit, do one task for fifteen minutes, then cross it off your list. Then do another. Pretty soon you'll find that you're working and feeling better. Don't feel guilty - we all have bad days/weeks and feeling guilty doesn't help. Procrastination is a sign that you're overwhelmed - so break down your tasks, start afresh and just do little bits...

Have you discussed with your sup about not getting results and progressing? Can you work out a plan from this? Have you got Joan Bolker's book, 'Writing your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day"? It helps lots of us. I also use a timer to motivate me: http://mytomatoes.com/. These are all tactics I use to get me to work, but is sounds like you also need to address the underlying problem of how to make progress in the lab.

We all procrastinate, you're not alone. But it does pass...good luck!;-)

Hi Fairycakes

I agree with the others - travel is the best bit! I had to travel overseas for a couple of weeks to do interviews, and was really nervous. I had never been overseas by myself, and had only been overseas once before with my partner. So I was terrified! Like others have said, once you have the accommodation booked, at least you have a safe place and that will make you feel ok. You need to work out what it is that's making you anxious, then how to deal with it. For me this was being lost, alone, in a strange country. So beforehand, I made sure I had really good maps of the areas I'd be working/travelling in, downloaded from google maps; I made sure I had taxi numbers and that my phone would work overseas. I had a number of a contact in the country, in case anything did go wrong. So, work out what worries you the most, then take steps to deal with it.

I got to my place, halfway around the world, and was so wired and anxious! I'd organised a car service to pick me up from the airport, as the thought of even negotiating for a taxi was too much at that point. Then I got there, clung to my maps, did the interviews, and slowly started to relax. By the end of my time I was wandering around, being a tourist, travelling and having a great time!! This has been the best thing in my PhD by far. Not only was the field work good, but this gave me so much confidence and after doing that, I feel that I could do anything. It really changed my life and I learnt a lot about myself.

So, work out what worries you, be really prepared, do it, and start to enjoy!

Hi Jojo

Glad to hear you're feeling a bit better. I think the advice given is really good, and just wanted to add my 2 cents (pence? ;>). People don't understand what it's like doing a PhD, that it's not just being at uni, and that's it's not like any other job, but that it's one massive thing. This wears us down! And does make us sensitive. I have a t-shirt that says 'Don't ask me about the thesis!' which I plan to wear a lot more!

The writing up phase is really stressful, and now you're really at the pointy end it must be even more so. You're stressed, sensitive, probably tired, and you're poor - no wonder you're a bit down! But you're so close! Keep going, focus on finishing, getting a job (which will have to be easier than this!!) and then you can pay them back. Have you thought about taking your draft thesis and sitting with your mum and showing her what you're doing? Explaining that all those hundreds of pages are the result of research which took months/years, that each of those chapters has been rewritten countless times...as others have mentioned, it is, in fact, like writing a book.

Take care Jojo! You're almost there!

Hi all

I've been thinking about this for the past few months, ever since I've been closeted away writing up. I think my social skills are atrophying. Since I don't go out much any more, I think I'm losing the knack of relating to people and socialising. I've never been particularly extroverted, but when I was doing a 'real' job I managed to have fun and relate to people. Now I find it harder to talk to people, and sometimes just wonder what's going on in the world :$ Do others find this?

Tonight I was out with some old work colleagues who I haven't seen for months, since I've been writing up, and twice they said to me that I should cheer up/they should take me out more so I'm not depressed. And both times I said to them that I wasn't depressed - and I'm not (well, not at the moment anyway - PhD is being kind to me this week!). And while I had an OK time and some laughs with them, I did feel like an outsider....I know the writing up phase does weird things to people - is it inevitable that it kills off social skills too? Is this just another thing to get through? This also puts me off being a contract researcher, as I'd have to work at home a lot, and I really don't want to turn into an anti-social, dysfuntional hermit...