personally I wouldn't bother as you've never done it before. Just say happy birthday on the day/week and thanks for the help so far, and that should do. Unless you want to keep a box of nice biscuits or chocolates he likes handy so you can offer him one :-)

ok goal 1, check primers, then get rid of this stupid pcr stuff for a while...

whoo!! go sneaks!! you're doing a grand job today! (up) and everyone else, we are all still here so as far as I'm concerned we are doing great!
Just realised that the stuff i have to order could take weeks to come, so that's going to REALLY set me back a bit...ah hoo, nothing I can do except get it all ordered sharpish and plod on with other stuff! I have until the end of June to get all my lab work totally completely done so I'm staying positive that all will be fine or I'll cry! So that's Goal 2 done, next goal 3 is to check papers for primers.....shouldn't take too long!

lol, i have already received an email from one of my sups with a list of things to change! He still hasn't even given feedback for the 1st chapter which he received at the start of Feb!! :-) Apparently it's all about the timing of sending mails then....

Hi nalie
I think it's entirely possible to have personal relationships and do things during a phd and if you don;t you are just going to cause yourself damage in the long run. Everyones situation is different, and if you are working and self funding your phd then obviously you'll have less time for outside activities, but it is still important to make some down-time. Most people I know work off the basis of 9-5 hours minimum, which seems to steadily increase from first year. There will be times approaching deadlines or due to studies/experiments where you have to pull in long hours and there isn't really much time for anything else but that shouldn't be the way for the duration of the project. Personally, since starting final year, I make it a priority to have about an hour every evening for non-work stuff, like reading a novel, watching tv or chatting to friends etc. I try to have one day off a week where I'm off doing something that's taking me away from work and makes me think in a different way. I think it's important to do this as it keeps your mind fresh and stops you getting bogged down in work. I have to have at least 8 hours sleep a night, and even though I could do the partying etc as an undergrad, I have no hope of that now! instead I save my nights out for when I'm off the next day.
When I was in first and second year however I had much more time spare, which I filled with volunteering and outside activities which have all helped my CV and I have made some fantastic friendships which I would be lost without now. While working on your phd is important, it's equally important to take care of yourself or you'll never finish.

yea where is everyone else?! Hope we haven't scared them off!
Sounds like you're working like a demon alright Sue! Just don't be trying to do too much and make sure you are taking some decent breaks, to keep the quality of your work up to par. Although writing quickly, clearly and consisely is a bit of a challenge! like your first draft is the only one! lol! But as you say the only way out is through, and you are getting very close to the end!

I got my 2nd chapter finished today, and my 3rd one is about half/two thirds of the way there so I'm getting close to my timetable again. Still have to get the experimental work sorted, it's dragging on a bit and really getting stressy. But it will all get done, best keep a hold of sanity another while longer!

yea baby! chapter 2 is finished and sent to supervisors, I have surpassed goal 1! I also have absolutely no idea if it's written properly but whatever! I'm sure I'll find out soon enough if I have to fix it! Goal 2 for the day, find a website to check primers and see what i need to order for my lab work!

good morning folks!
thanks so much for the advice Sue and AL, you've really cheered me up! had a bit of a miserable evening, just feeling sorry for myself really and freaking out about work and jobs....when i ended up crying and throwing stuff at the TV when Gordon Brown started going on and on about the need to train more people in specialised skills, I decided maybe that's enough for the evening! So I had a long chat with my boyfriend on the phone and went to bed! I'm telling myelf that this obviously wasn't for me, I've missed other things in the past only to end up with something much better, so obviously this is one of them, although I'm going to see where my application fell down and reapply for it next time. And it's back to work as normal today.
I'm glad your chapter meeting went ok with your supervisor AL, as frustrating as it is when they make a big deal out of changing words and stuff, at least you don't have to rewrite the whole thing!! and you have a nice clean flat now to live in! Good work on the notation issue too, I hope your external sees your supervisor for what he is and takes pity on you for what you've had to endure for years! :-)

Good luck for today's work folks, we are getting there!

morning folks!
I nearly got yesterdays goal down, as I only freaked out a little bit, but I think that was mainly due to diverting stress from work to other stuff, but feeling better today! Actually feeling really glad to be back in work today, it was making me feel really guilty being away so off to a good start! First goal today, to get the next section of my methods chapter done. It's a stinker too.
And EV, don'torry about feeling overwhelmed by the PhD process, I think there are a few people who feel like even right up until submission, it's just scary having all that ahead of you. Just try and work on breaking things down into what you need to do each year, then each term, then each month then each week, and once you've got that done, forget about everything else that needs done and concentrate only on what you need to do that week or that day. Otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy.

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one goal for today...not to freak out about everything I have to do.....god.....

Good luck Keep_Calm with the feedback, and EV try not to let arguments get to you too much, try to look at work as way to escape from thinking about it, and take one day at a time as Sneaks says, and one task at a time. Everyone has to start somewhere, and if you let yourself think about everything ahead of you, it's terrifying I know. Maybe I should take my own advice ......

Hi Joyce, I was always interested in a bit of everything in school although I really loved english and reading! Then suddenly I discovered I hated the A level English class and transferred into Biology where the rest of my friends were and loved it! I went on to uni and found myself standing on a beach hunting for dogwhelks in the lashing rain and cold on a field course, and thought 'I'm LOVING this!!' :-) So I thought if I can enjoy science like this, then that's for me!
I also loved when things like flowers were frozen in dry ice in chemistry demonstrations years ago and then smashed into pieces! :$

Gah!! I just got back from a lovely weekend, I took work with me so I did a bit on the Friday and Saturday so I managed to get myself to the point where I wasn't feeling guilty anymore for going away (I had to as it was a uni trip organised by my club) and I was really quite relaxed yesterday and today, until I got back and found out I didn't get the placement I had applied for :( I'm totally gutted, it would have been such amazing experience and would have helped me get the job that I want so much! Now I'm feeling all stressed again, I can feel a freaking out session on the horizon of my mental state.... :(

I hope your meeting went well yesterday Alpacalover and you are feeling better about how to write to suit your supervisor, it's impossible to please everyone!

Hear hear Teek! Sometimes even the thought of the office means an entire day of impending work and the doom sets in before I've even left the house! So good luck Ev!

My goal has shifted today as I remembered yet another thing that I'd forgotten to include so I had to do that first! I have started my SPE section but there's no hope of getting it done today as I have 5 minutes to pack before I leave for the weekend! How I love deadlines!
I'm signing off now, so good luck everyone and get get those goals! we can do it, and imbibe in chocolate, wine, tea, coffee and bad music (Wally, Ah-HA, I'll say no more...) as much as necessary to get this done! Happy Friday!

AL, first of all, I'm proud of how you dealt with his reply first of all! no alcohol involved even! :-) It's good that you get to meet him this weekend to go over it all, if I were you I'd take the rest of the day off and not even think about work. Then tomorrow have a read over your chapter and try to see it as he might, try to find other reasons for your results that you've not though of before. Then decide of these are as good as your own initial interpretation and how you feel about them.
Even if your supervisor doesn't tell you what you might be hoping to hear, at least he's taking the time to sit and go over it properly with you. Spend some time thinking about where you feel you might be going wrong with style and content and think through everything you want to discuss with him.. and write it down so you don't forget, I have to take little lists into meetings or I just forget stuff!
Ultimately it is your project, and if you really feel the way you have interpreted your data is the right way then it's up to you to find a way to show and prove that to your supervisor. Which is all excellent practice for the viva and academia!
If you've gotten this far then obviously you have the intelligence to do this, and you have a job so obviously you are good at what you do, this is just another little bump, but most of all, don't lose faith in yourself :-)

ok! todays goal, to finish the SPE method of my chapter, and hopefully that's most of it done! I have exactly 1 hour 20 to do this!!