Hello again, forgot to say thanks for the birthday wishes, so thank you both, it is much appreciated! :-)
Am just wallowing in PhD induced misery today, it seems such a bizarrely masochistic way to live sometimes. No doubt it will be all worth it in the end. :-s
Apologies again for moaning.

Hi everyone, been following this thread silently but tonight (its 11:10pm in Brisbane) I am going to join in this thread and try to do some revision on my chapters. Target for tonight is to revise my chapter 5 cause I know there are some sections that need more 'unpacking' to do. I've actually submitted the first draft of my thesis and on Monday, I'll be meeting my supervisors for the feedback. I feel very nervous. Haven't been able to sleep well thinking about the thesis.

:-(

Hi Butterfly!!

Sounds a good idea to work on a chapter you already think has gaps, it should stand you in good stead for the meeting on Monday. I was really nervous about getting feedback about my first draft too, but it was fine in the end as all the criticism was constructive (as it should be), a mixture of good comments on what worked well and things to do differently. It's a big milestone to reach in this process. Good to get to that point! (up)

hi everyone! i'm clocked back in for the night shift, i am not going to sleep until i get all my chapters done. tonight is the night to get it all done! yikesamondo!!

Ruby, totally understand how you feel, i too think, am i wasting and missing out on my life , huddled in my study room cut off from the outside life, sacrificing everything in my life to write a thesis. is it even worth it? i feel like my life is passing by and one day im going to wake up and find myself very old and feel that i missed out on so much. but i think thats just a form of depression that is probably common to writers and phd'ers.

but i do want you to have fun with your friends for your birthday, take the evening off. because your phd will still be there. its not like you have to submit it to the examiners, if its not perfect for the tuesday deadline, its OK. just do your best, but make sure you have fun! because its your birthday and you deserve to have a day off, even JB says so explictly in her book! so there you go, you have her permission!!

i'm glued in and i have NCIS on in the background as a way of motivating me. all that sciency stuff hehe.

well update, i finally finished rewriting my discussion for chapter 4. alot of stuff is lifted from my 2nd paper that my sup rewrote, but i did try to write as much as i could in my own words, but eventually its hard to reinvent the english language. but its okay, the paper isnt published , just been submitted. so the examiners wont see it. i put a couple of my own ideas and extra discussion, so its not an exact word for word copy of the discussion from the paper. and right now, im just desperate to get it finished.

i now have to work on chapter 5, and completely rewrite it, cause ive focussed on something that i cant really say. so alot of deleting and rewriting.

will report back when im done, its going to be a toughie:-s

Armendaf? how are you doing there buddy!!

Butterly, welcome! :-) the more the merrier good luck. and I concur with Ruby, its good that you will have something to give to them, as it will help in improving it. good luck!!

i have finished chapter 5 corrections and restructing/rewriting discussion section. it actually took less time than i predicted. thought it was going to take me all night, but only took 1 and half hours. i deleted alot of stuff! and rewrote some sentences here and there. i actually like deleting stuff, less for me to read for typos!

i will say one thing, supervisors feedback and constructive critisism, really does help. it isnt pleasant to hear it, but when you extract out the logical and rational comments away from the emotional side, it is true what they say, they do know what they are talking about and makes sense.

now that i am looking at the chapters armed with their comments and critical mindset i noticed that i repeated myself ALOT!!! but hidden by using different words and i never noticed it when i first wrote the first draft and rewrote it and proof read it. i was too close to it. but after some time, am now quite happy to delete stuff.

i think it all boils down to the fact you spend so much time writing those paragraphs that its difficult to delete them, unless sufficient time has elapsed. and you feel that you just have to write it again, incase the examiner forgets lol. my sup said, say it ONCE and leave it alone!

i'm going to take a little break now, and then edit and correct chapter 6 discussion.

i've dumped alot of stuff into chapter 7 conclusion which is a right mess!! thats going to take me all night:-s i'll worry about that later.

how is everyone else doing?

Hi,

I'm in for the night shift too. But I don't want to go to bed too late. Last night I went to sleep at 3.30 because I didn't want to stop, but this morning, actually afternoon, I got up at 1pm and ended up getting back to work quite late. I don't think it's worth it. If I get to bed before 2am I should be able to get up before 10am and start at decent time and make the most of the day as well. So, that's my new resolution: going to sleep not too late, and getting up not too late either... could I be any more ambiguous? :p

I've made some progress today, but I'm still feeling that I won't have enough time to even finish an acceptable document, let alone a good thesis. I'm going to be so lucky if they give me major corrections... :-(

I'll drop by to say good night later... back to work now :-s

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good idea Armendaf, get a good rest. i agree - I think when you're rested you're more alert, and you actually speed through things faster.

don't worry Armendaf, you will get it done in time. i have faith in you! and dont worry about how good it is, just do your best and as long as you mention the important bits even if its not that much detail thats OK. your priority is to just present *something* and to just tie up the loose ends.

whatever you have written so far, stick with that and polish it up, if you dont have time to write a paragraph about something, just write a few sentences and during the viva they can ask you about it and then you can expand on it. now is not the time to do any major new writing. and if you think something is going to take too long to write about, leave it out.

as long as you can present a thesis that is readable even if its short, and doesnt have to have everything in it. it doesnt matter, you can study like mad for the viva and explain the stuff you couldnt fit in the thesis during the viva. you and me will study for the viva, and just hope we get thrown a lifeline!

i feel the same way as you, that i think my thesis isnt really a thesis just a short report lol but we just have to submit something otherwise we will be terminated. so i'm just keeping things really simple and succint.

well i'm back at my desk now, about to start on chapter 6 corrections. then will move onto chapter 3 discussion editing, and then the dreaded and yucky chapter 7 conclusion. i will keep you company for the next 2 and half hours (up) knowing you are working till 2.00am, i have glued myself to my chair. i'm so glad you're in the same boat as me! miserly loves company he he he

my aims by 2am:
1. correct discussion chapter 6
2. edit discussion chapter 3
3. rewrite chapter 7

hey armendaf, how are you holding up? i'm really sleepy and tired now :-(. i dont think i can/want to stay up any longer. maybe i will take your advice and go to bed and then work tommorow, after being rested. but i am really worried that i will physically run out of time! still loads to do.

i have to re-write chapter 7 and correct the methods chapter.

but yah i will go to bed, i am really tired. and hopefully after being rested, will be able to work faster. instead of working at snail pace and torturing myself through the night.

but this means i wont have my pdf thesis ready for monday, so will have to ask my brother if he can print it on tuesday instead.

tommorow is defnately the LAST day of finishing and finalising all my chapters including abstract. then monday, TOC and final proof reading and checks and compiling the pdf file.

okay see you tommorow Armendaf. get some sleep

Oh no i overslept! ooops naughty me. i am just about to start now.

Hey Armendaf good luck with today!!
Good luck Ruby and Butterfly!! looks like we all have tuesday as a deadline! today is going to be a toughie

Ruby hope you had/have a good birthday evening with your friends , i cant remember which evening it was. me being so self absorbed and all!

my aims:
1. rewrite chapter 7. (i want to get this done within 2 hours hopefully! and before lunch)
2. correct chapter 2

Hi,

Sorry I couldn't come back to say good night last night. I worked until 2am and then just dropped... literally. God! I just found out that today is the end of summer time, which means that I'm already an hour later than I thought I was this morning :-s

Good luck with chapter 7 Lara, I hope you get it done soon. And thanks for your comments, I really am trying my best. Hopefully it'll all come around at the end.

Come on Ruby, you have to tell us all about the birthday party, it is all the (virtual) social life Lara and I can hope for these days... please???? :-x

So, aim for today: I do not know if it is possible, but I really need to wrap up this discussion chapter.

Talk soon

Yay! you're right, I was looking at the wrong clock.... yay!!!!!

Hello there Armendaf and Lara,

Hope your respective sections are coming along well... I don't like to probe too much in case it sends you into a panic, but I'm sure you're working as fast as humanly possible!

Lol Armendaf, I don't have a proper social life yet, you know - I do fantasise about it though! I decided against going to my friend's gig tonight - there will be others and I've started getting a bit twitchy about the PhD, it seemed best to have an evening stuck onto the next 2 days from a deadline point of view, so now it's just me, loads of dirty dishes and 2 unfinished chapters. hehe I really know how to live don't I!! The wild, wild world of academia... Though actually just having most of today off has made such a difference, I forgot about the PhD for a while.... :-)

Anyway, I'll get on with that annoying elusive chapter 5 (again) and try to get it done by bedtime or I'll dream about it :-s

See you later (up)

Hi everyone...didn't manage to complete the revision on chapter 5. I was not focused as I kept thinking about today. I'll be meeting my supervisors later at 3:30 pm and discuss about my thesis. I agree with Lara on the supervisory comments. Indeed, while doing my corrections on individual chapters before the thesis was put together as a whole for the first time, I could see major improvements in the final drafts. I still have a lot to do though...I remember a mentor saying that a thesis will never be 'perfect'. As much as I look forward to our meeting today, I can't help but feel nervous. It's a normal feeling I guess. The thing that pressurizes me most is the deadline of submission to the Faculty, which in my case is 11 days from today. Can I do all the changes in 11 days? I can and I will!!:-s

Hi girls,

Just wanted to check in to see how you are doing. I keep moving forward, and actually, if I wasn't this short of time, I would have called it a productive day. It's funny how everything is so relative. Anyway, I'll work for a bit longer since, for a change, I seem to have something to write about at the moment. Unfortunately I'm no where near being able to wrap up this chapter :-(

Ruby, how's chapter 5 coming along?

Lara, go on lass you are almost there. You've already pulled out the thesis, you just need to "iron" it a little bit so it looks better. Lara, Lara, ra, ra, ra!!!! Now it's me cheering you up (up)