(up) Awesome job!

Aww, I didn't get one :-( no love for me. Oh well, at least my PhD won't get jealous this way. hahaha

Congrads AQ! However, you have made me take a mental note about proofing the submission piece and library books.
Enjoy some time away and good luck with the viva.

Hi Jen,

besides the useful advice of practice before hand (and I cannot agree enough with this), there are a few other tips that I use. I learned these from a guy when I was with the local toastmasters group back in the USA.
1) Use note cards are reminders, and slip in a few extras that say things like 'Breath!' 'Smile!' or just draw a smiley face. It will remind you to do things that let you get your composure back and can easily forget when nerves are tights.
2) Keep a bottle/glass of water at the podium or where ever you are stationed for the majority of the speech. Take a small sip from time to time if you feel you are going too fast or have a dry mouth. Only a small one though or you will end up giving a presentation on how to quaff a drink in very little time. Again, it mostly breaks your nervous habits that nobody else is noticing.
3) Walk around while talking. Don't hide behind stationary objects or stand still. When you stand still, you do odd things with your hands and posture, and it sticks in the back of your mind. Walk around and the posture will be a non-factor. Added benefit: the audience thinks that as you walk around to in front of them, you are engaging with them in specific. If you have any friends that are into acting, ask them how to cheat a stance too, that will help you not turn your back on people while addressing only a small section of the audience. (It involves standing open shoulders to the group, but your voice - your face/mouth - is directed towards a particular point).

Odd 'fact': more people are afraid of public speaking than death... this means that people would rather be in the coffin than giving the Eulogy.
I don't know if it is true, but that was one extra tid-bit I got from my friend.

Good luck, relax and have fun. I still hate public speaking, but I have gotten used to it.

About your quantity of interviews: I recently talked to one of my supers who finished being an external for a viva. He said that the person only conducted 6 or 7 interviews, but he recommended a pass. It is about the quality of the data and not the quantity if you are using qual. based methods. Don't give up hope just because you don't have the numbers, see if you can get it to work for you anyway.

Write down 'too much' information. It really isn't too much when you go back over it all, just more or less useful. That was probably the best info I got when I had to do some ethnography work.

Isolated, that is probably the best way to describe the PhD process. I bit the bullet and joined a sport society on campus for two reasons. First, get some exercise, something non-mental going on in my life. Second, Easy way to meet folks. Sure, most of them will be non-PhD's and won't understand where you are coming from, but you will have some social life, even if only for 2 hours a week. It helps, a lot! Also, go out to the pubs/clubs/cafes/(your fancy) to find non-university friends. It may seem odd, but you will want to scream and hide from your thesis, and they won't want to hear much about it beyond the 'what are you doing' initial bits. You will find the academics as time goes on, people from your department or people at the guest lectures, etc. etc. etc. Go to the guest lectures, start a reading group (or join one), talk to the staff as you are likely to be considered sorta-staff to find out what is going on in your department or school.

One of the first things I did was go to the library and check out a few theses that had passed. This can be useful to help if you are the type that likes to have an example that you can build a model or process from. That and you can see what a passable thesis looks like. Some that I got a hold of, I would have not liked to pass, but it lets you know where the bar is.

Good luck and enjoy the next 3-4 years.

I like Bilbo's advice about the recorder, that has worked for me in the past. I am running into similar problems right now, and I have found a (maybe temp) solution for me. I outlined the chapter by section and approximately what will be in those. This was very high level, superficial, no references, only ideas type of outlining. Then I went though each section and though: Oh! I know section 5, I'll work on that. Wrote up section 5 and then back to the list to see what else I knew or could work around. It will be written all out of order, but then I just have to connect the lose ends of the sections together, which should be easier. Sometimes, writing '1,000 words today' won't let you break away from what is fouling you up if it is just how the information is arranged in your head vs. how you want it to be arranged on paper.

Best of luck with a solution for you.

Congrads!

I did the rounds to know the admin staff (they are your gatekeepers, and my life is soooooo much easier compared to other PhDs who did not take the time to introduce themselves) and read up on the requirements. When I wasn't busy trying to find ways to procrastinate, I tried to collect potentially relevant papers and trying different search terms. Reading these papers was a trick, as I was too busy trying to not do work and 'become a student again'. That and meetings with the supervisor every 2-3 weeks kept me hopping.

Congrads!

WOOHOO! Congrads BevCha

Congrads! Glad to hear this news for you and for my sanity (it can be done!). Enjoy the celebrating.

Best of luck AC! And if you do fall asleep on the papers and get the ink on your face, when you get stumped, you can look in the mirror for an answer. Did your teachers in primary school ever look at you and say something like 'Don't look at me, it's not like the answer is written on my forehead'?

Bad twisted humour, I'll go back to my dungeon now.

I tend to follow a fairly strict schedule. Wake up at 7, in the office by 8. Lunch for 30 min between 12 and 1 (depending on when I finish reading/writing), Work until 5 with a 15 coffee break at about 2-ish, go for a run and relax for the evening. I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things after just returning from field work portion and mucking about with all the 'fun' admin stuff. But I should be back on target by the end of this week.

Of course, my housemate thinks I am a bit nutty as she likes to do her as the feeling takes her, and usually works better in the evenings. She seems to be moving along just fine, but sometimes ends up doing 7 days a week if she feels she has fallen behind.

So if you are comfortable with the 9-5, that might be a good way for you to go... but find your productivity streaks and don't try to force it too soon, there will be time to get to know (and hate - yes I both love and hate this thing) your PhD soon enough. :$