I ended up doing a combination: jotting some notes and taking them to the gym to think about on the treadmill, then writing up everything properly on sunday. It's really weird to be scheduling leisure time now :-/

I've recently taken leave from my part-time jobs to concentrate on the last few months of writing up (it felt spectacular!). However, I've come across a new problem! I had today all planned out as a rest day, just picking some books up from the library and going to the gym. Last night in bed, though, I suddenly had a breakthrough in my ideas for a journal article I've been pondering. So, should I
a) Have rest day as planned, coming back to my work pumped up and excited tomorrow?
b) Surf the wave of my new inspiration today, relax tomorrow?
How do you all manage leisure time when your work keeps hauling you back in?

I agree with Shani: my bf only took my freaking out about job prospects as more than just self-doubt after he'd read about it himself on the internet. However, sometimes I do read his positivity and encouragement (You can get this finished, you've done so much work, you're so clever etc etc) as pressure (You should be finished etc etc). I don't know if that might be partly true for you?

It's hard for other people to understand because the situation is kind of stupid: why pay someone for three years for a job that might well take four? Why offer PhD places when the job market isn't there to sustain that many graduates? So it looks like we're panicking and exaggerating.

That's really good advice badhaircut: thanks! Woo for perspective :D

It's easier for women, I think, because I just wear a skirt if I'm unsure. To play it safe, if I was a man, I'd wear something like cords or chinos and a collared shirt. At the conferences I've been to (arts subjects...) you'd look way overdressed in a suit, and probably a bit overdressed in a tie, especially in summer weather.

I always mark on the essays themselves in pencil, so if I realise I've made a mistake I can rub it out. Also, I read through a few and give them a ballpark grade so I can refresh my memory of the level they're working at, then rank the next few compared to those grades.

To stave off boredom and despair I try to rearrange them so I know I won't be marking ten on the same topic in a row (also, they start to blur together after a while and it helps if I'm alternating questions so I don't mix them up).

The only way I could motivate myself to do my marking this Easter was to go to Costa and have a massive slice of cake while I did the first batch

I gave my paper today and the powerpoint went surprisingly smoothly! I didn't have hardly any text on the slides: it was mostly images which worked as diagrams to explain my points. Thanks so much for all the useful tips, guys.

Nadia, I'm self-funded and work part-time while doing my PhD full time. I'd definitely think long and hard about it: it's certainly possible (but only outside London I think) but you'll need either a bank loan or generous family to pay your fees. Are you able to talk to anyone in your department about job prospects after you graduate and weigh this against the costs of your PhD? What I've found is that I just don't have time to do the extra things required of me in my department that will look good on my cv, so I think this is likely to harm my chances of getting a job later.

I'm thinking I'll probably only have pictures to illustrate what I'm saying, so no text at all. I kind of hate powerpoint usually but I think it'll be fun for this.

The idea about trying them on a projector is a good one: I'll see if I can sort this in my dept this week. I'm currently trimming pictures from the Sistine Chapel to use as images!

Does anyone have any tips about powerpoint presentations? I've seen the basic stuff like don't read your slides, don't use ridiculous sound effects and comic sans etc etc but I was wondering if anyone had any further personal experiences, good or bad?

I'm in English Studies and it's not something people tend to use that often at conferences in my discipline, but I've got to get something together at short notice for a paper next week (not my fault!) and was thinking of doing something more like an animated poster than a traditional slides-as-summary thing. Any thoughts or hilarious powerpoint-related anecdotes?

@ bellaz: I'm so referring to my research proposals as "fierce" from now on - excellent adjective choice!

Aww my boyfriend did the Medical Stats MSc at Southampton! He stayed in Montefiore iirc. Does the black cat still live there in the gatehouse? I remember we woke up one morning and found the cat outside the bedroom door! He rocked.

hello fellow Englisher :D As far as timescale goes, you just want to have some idea of what sections will be finished and when. Generally, you'll not be doing research and then writing everything up as in a science PhD, but writing as you go. As an example, at the end of my first year I'd completed about one third of my first draft, and that centred around one of the three main areas of my thesis. They just need to be sure that you've got SOME kind of a coherent argument and plan (or can just pretend you have!) even if it's entirely provisional.

I just found my Mug of Unusual Size that I used during my finals and at the end of my MA dissertation. I don't have to go to the kitchen so often for a tea top up, but it does mean my tea consumption is now easily measurable in pints.