Hi Bilbo

Glad to hear you're making progress - you're almost there!:-)

I've finished 5 chapters, have 7 more to go (groan - oh the pain!!!). It's taken me 3 months to write 5 chapters, which is really slow, considering I put in at least 8 hours every day. I've also rewritten a journal article, written a conference paper and presented at 2 conferences in this time. Still, would like to go faster. Just want it to be done!! Not that I know what I'll do next...

How's everyone else going?

Right, time to stop waffling and start chapter 6 - after this I'll be halfway through the first draft!

Yes, it sounds like things aren't progressing for you at the moment. Can you take a few days off, so you don't think about the thesis and don't feel guilty, then come back to it refreshed? Feeling guilty just makes you feel bad and doesn't help! Hard not to though, I know. Good luck!

I'm always joing you nocturnal workers, altho it's lovely and sunny where I am! You're reliving my past 9 hours, although I hope you have a more productive time than I've had. Yesterday I had one of those days where I tootled around on the internet, stared into space, slept and generally avoided work. Looked at the thesis and am so bored with it!!!! Realised I'm missing chunks of data, which I won't be able to get, so there's a challenge....

Anyway, am feeling more productive today, so off I go into the world of work. Walminski, set the moth free! Free up the brain! And then it will start to work.

Hi Fricklesnarp

Hard life decisions! I think there's a lot to be said for going where your heart is. Yes, you might end up without a job, and it's risky, but it is satisfying doing a PhD (despite all the grief we go through!). The 3 years doing a PhD is a long time, and lots of things happen, opportunities present themselves, so you never know where it could lead. I don't know about science PhDs, but in humanities and social sciences, I think there's a lot of us who are doing this not solely for career reasons, but because we love our areas and love learning. If you really want to do a PhD, do it. That said, you also need to consider where you're at in your life - if you're young, then it's easier to take the high risk road. If you're older, going for a steady job is obviously more appealing.

Could you talk to your lecturers and find out where a creative writing PhD could lead? They'd know how else it could be used, apart from academia. Good luck!

Hi Magictime

That does sound pretty grim. But try not to think about the procedure, think about having better vision afterwards. Good luck with it.

Hi Buzby

Could you be suffering from depression, do you think? Not sleeping, feeling teary all the time are symptoms of depression, and you might want to think about getting some professional help. Friends and relatives mean well, but platitudes about regretting quitting etc etc won't do anything to make you feel better or encourage you to work, these sorts of comments just make the guilt pile up. But there are things you can think about doing - go and see a counsellor at uni, talk about what you're going through, and work out some strategies for coping and moving forward.

Then go and enjoy that holiday! And when you come back, stick with the strategies and plan you've worked out, draft an email about what you want to cover off with your supervisor, and do tasks, one at a time, little by little.

Finally, PhDDepression is a poster on this site, and has had lots of helpful things to say - look for older threads, and have a look at this blog too: http://www.phddepression.com/

It will get better! You just need to take action to move through this. Good luck!

Hi Eska

I've been to an awful lot of conferences throughout my working life, and have also presented at quite a few, and have never come across this behaviour. I've heard stories about this happening, but have yet to witness it. It sounds like you did really well, and I think you can take comfort from knowing that if you coped well with that, then other papers are bound to be easier! It sounds like baptism by fire all right! I don't think this academic' s behaviour is standard, professional behaviour at all, and yep, he certainly does sound like a right tosser.

======= Date Modified 08 Sep 2009 22:25:36 =======
Gosh, where to start?? Are you lecturing or tutoring? I haven't done lecturing, but have tutored. There is a lot to learn - about how to engage students, how to teach in various ways as students have different ways of learning, communicating effectively with international students, how to assess and give structured feedback - a whole new world to learn. My uni had a tutor development program, which consisted of 7 classes and homework in between, and this helped me enormously. It was especially useful in giving me ideas on how to conduct a different range of small group exercises, to keep the tutorials moving and interactive. You should see if your uni has a similar program - they're bound to - they're not going to send you in unprepared.



The three most important things I learnt was that in tutes, students are there to do most of the talking. Also that it is possible to get every student engaged and learning, even if they don't say anything in class. And finally, breathe and relax! I used to get so nervous - I felt like each tutorial was like a job interview, and I'd be pumped up on adrenaline for the whole class. A day of teaching used to wipe me out. But then I learnt how to structure classes, how to conduct group work effectively and get them to do the work, and it was fine. I even enjoyed it by the end of the semester.



Also, be careful how much work you put into teaching - it can really take you away from writing your thesis. Good luck!

Hi Star-Shaped

Sounds like you're being very sensible to me, by knowing when to say no! Move on. It's great that you've got a couple of conference papers and a journal article out of your Masters, that's impressive. But your gut instincts are right - time to move on and concentrate on the PhD. Before you know it, you'll be doing conference papers and publishing from your PhD, so you'll have other chances. I think PhD students need to be really careful with the amount of other work that's taken on - it's nice getting out there, but it all slows down the PhD process. Explain it to your supervisor - they shouldn't mind. They're bound to have more than enough to do anyway.

I'd go with B then. Doing a PhD takes a long time, and you don't want a supervisor who isn't interested - makes for years of frustration. But could A be a co-supervisor? Then you'd get the best of both of them - a committed supervisor and a co-sup who has the experience, reputation etc. And since they've already said yes, it sounds like they could be amenable to being a co-sup. Don't know if it works like that in the U.S though...