Part 1 of Chapter 4 is done. M taking a 5 min break before starting Part 2 and I have less than 4 hour before 9 am :-s

Part 2 done! One more to go and then time to focus on a better abstract and 'punchier' conclusion! Less than 3 hours to 9 am :-s

I've done the corrections, tables, figures etc. I feel nervous and I can't help feeling a bit scared. But I guess that's it for now. I'll take a final look at the thesis before printing it off and then that's it. Off to the Faculty!

Rubyw, thanks for your good advice! I feel much better - yeah, final draft is STILL only a work in progress! And as long I prepare myself for the fact that I might get a lot of 'constructive criticism', I can write with less pressure. I hope your feedback is not too overwhelming when it comes, and that you have a good break now that you have the second draft in.
I think last week was just a really bad, PMTish week for me. Good news is, that I have finally finished the nightmare Chapter 7. It has taken too long, but on the other hand, it was very difficult. Still not perfect, but I think I need feedback before I do any more to it.
Now I'm going to tackle the short concluding and introduction chapters. Exercises in concision (am running out of words)!
Does anyone have advice for which to go for first? I imagine the conclusion right?
Now I'm going to assimilate Chapters 2-7 into one mammoth file and print it out to reread in order to refresh my mind for planning the conclusion. (And hopefully not discover how disjointed/contradictory the whole thing is. Nor that I am already over the word limit).

Butterfly, well done!! You're probably printing the thesis out as we speak!! Did you only have to show your supervisor a first draft, and not a second before you handed it in? That's great! I'm working on my second draft, which is very different from the first. Not ideal!
Hope the handing in goes smoothly, and that you have a great vacation!

Hey tokyorabbit, thanks for your support!! Also, I can see you are making fantastic progress in these final stages, so I'm sure you will succeed now, just keep healthy as your stress levels are sure to go waaayyy up in these final moments!!! Im looking forward to seeing you posting, that you have done it and gone out to celebrate!!

How did it go butterfly?? how does it feel and what will you do for the rest of the day??!!!

======= Date Modified 05 Dec 2008 13:17:32 =======
Butterfly, that's great to get to that stage, hope you get good feedback for it. I was really nervous when I did my first draft and dreaded the meeting for the feedback, but was pleasantly surprised by their comments. Hopefully it'll be the same for you.

Tokyorabbit, I understand the PMTish effect on your work, it's crap when it coincides with a big deadline, I swear it affects my productivity and that's not another procrastination excuse either! I wonder if you can arrange your viva to fit in with these things??? Probably not...
Good to have finished the nightmare chapter though, so nice to get these little monsters out of the way. I felt like that about some of my problem chapters, that I couldn't get any further without feedback as I was too close to it and needed fresh perspectives. Not sure if I misunderstood you, but won't the intro be at the start and the conclusion at the end?

Anyway, I'm off to carry on doing nothing!! Well, not literally nothing, but pottering about. It's SO nice because I don't feel guilty AT ALL!!!!!!!! hehe :-) Oh yes, and I'll just blow my own trumpet as mum calls it... my supervisor said congratulations after skimming through my draft, and was impressed at how much work I've put into it, as it looks good and I made all the right decisions re getting it bound, doing the pics etc!!!! 8-) I hope the feedback isn't too tortuous when I get it, but it is SO nice to feel I'm getting near the end of this PhD business! Whoopeee!

Hi Everyone,

It's great to be back and to read all your posts. Congratulations Butterfly! It feels great to submit, doesn't it? besides so many other mixed feelings, that is. ;-)

It is also great to hear back from Lara (our beloved leader), I'm looking forward to conversations on Viva preparation... Battle face :-s

Well done Ruby on submitting your draft! That's going to help you a lot because now you only need to wait for them to tell you what else you need to do and that's it. You won't have the uncertainty of not knowing how well you did. Congrats! (up)

Yesterday I went to the university to find out if there were any news about my Viva. I'm going away this Sunday for some weeks and wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything (yet) to worry about wile I'm not here. It turns out that nothing is going to happen, possibly until February, so apparently I have enough time to prepare. I do not want to leave it to the last moment, but I do want to have a proper Christmas break for a change. So I might do some reading and reviewing over the holidays, just so I do not disconnect completely, but I won't come back to it full swing until January.

Nevertheless, I'll be around to see how people are doing and perhaps join in for work on the odd day.

Talk soon 8-)

Hi guys! awww thank you all so much for the warm welcome !!! love you guys :-)

Ruby, thanks so much for your message, it made me smile, i really appreciate it! really made me feel better and less guilty! sorry to hear you're feeling poorly. i hope you get better soon.

T-rabbit, thanks !! :-)
and don't feel bad, we all work to our own pace and timetable, you will get there!

Thanks Mira! nice to see you back :-)

Aww Thanks so much Butterfly, you are so sweet! really appreciate it.
and well done you!! for getting your thesis, you superstar! :)


seeing everyones progress and determination to carry on is very amazing and so motivating, you all are brilliant and i admire each and every one of you :)
it's been very motivating to read everyones progress, so well done everyone!

and Ruby, i am so happy you dont feel guilty! so you go girl! do nothing and potter about hehe
btw you watching the xfactor semi final lol

everytime i watch it now, i remember the time, when i was writing up and it was in the background, seems like a different life now!

and WELL done on getting great feedback from your sup, that's brilliant, you clever girl, you toot your horn!!

======= Date Modified 07 Dec 2008 00:51:36 =======

Hi Armendaf!!! my comrad!! thanks so much for your message, it was so nice to hear from you!!! and I am SO SO HAPPY to hear you're taking a break for a few weeks! fantastic!! you so should!! and that makes me feel better aswell for taking it easy lol

i also panicked, and contacted my 2nd supervisor and asked about examiners, viva etc and possible examiners... she told me that my sup has been so busy and shes been really busy and they are both really busy with xmas deadlines, so nothing has happened! i was soooooo relieved!! she basically gave me the impression that in the new year they will arrange it.

i wrote back and said its totally fine and i understand, and that its actually good cause it buys me more time to prepare for my viva!
so yah i told her, its fine, and we can sort it out in the new year :-)


so yah im in the same boat as you, nothing is going to happen till feb. so i'm gonna take it abit easy over xmas aswell. to be perfectly honest. im finding it difficult to get started! i still havent sorted out my study room of papers!! so i will do that tommorow, and then start reading and slowly getting into it. but i'm with you Armendaf, come the new year, that's when i will get into the full swing of things! so i'm so happy to hear you and me are thinking the same and are in the same boat.

so im going to say , take it easy, and enjoy your holiday! and yah do the odd reading here and there. but come new year, we will do battle!!! :-)

your message has really made my day and brightened me up! i was feeling so guilty!! but monday im going to start slowly studying.

have a great holiday!

Hello everyone!! just logging in, to see how everyone is doing :)

omg its been 2 weeks since i last logged in. was is it with winter months that time just seems to be zooming past!!!

i finally finished tidying up and sorting out my study room!! hurrah !! i packed most of the stuff away to put in the attic that i dont need for viva prep, but may need for thesis corrections.

so its nice to have a decluttered room. i still have drawers full of papers, that i will slowly start to organise according to "subject" but i can do that alongside viva prep. but i'm happy the study room is finally done!! took me AGES!!!


so i am ready to start studying for my viva - from monday! no more waking up late either!

so my holiday and break is over now, and now i have to seriously start studying for my viva . eeeeeeek.
i cant believe its been 7 weeks since that day i submitted my thesis. my goodness time really flies by!!

now that i realised how much time has gone by, i feel really guilty!! that i haven't studied anything for my viva and realised its been 7 weeks!

:-( but like JB says, everyday is a fresh start, and not to look back, but to look forwards.
so from monday onwards, am going to start a proper study routine. and make a 6 week plan. my deadline is 1st of feb. and will make a 1 week plan aswell, as you need mini deadlines.

i feel like there's a mountain of stuff i need to understand and learn and memorise. i feel i have forgotten everything! and i dont understand anything about my research, my mind is a blank slate. literally. i cant remember anything. nor understand anything. okay must not panic. luckily i still have time to study before my viva, as my sup wont organise examiners until the new year, as he's been super busy and i told my 2nd sup, not to worry and we can sort it out in the new year :-)

so first step, i will spend the weekend reading the book "how to surviva your viva" and "how to read a book". that should slowly get me back into "study mode".

how are you all doing?

Ooh hello there Lara!! Well done on getting decluttered - it takes AGES doesn't it, especially with paper. Umm... you're starting viva prep by reading a book on how to read a book, lol??! That should ease you back into it gently! :p Sounds like you've got loads of time though.

I just got my second supervisor's feedback today on my big draft, and a very helpful phonecall from him too as I was reading his email. He's sort of set my mind at rest as he said it'll be a 'very interesting and original' thesis, but omg there is so much work to be done - the corrections are the equivalent of having teacher's red pens all over your essay at school. All good valid comments and lots of grammar typos/ clumsy writing corrections etc, so ok, but so much work to do ....*sigh*.... My other sup is back on Monday so I'll speak to her then and maybe print out the whole lot on the colour printer at college, so it's easier to see what they're up to with my text! I don't like the way the track changes thing prints out in newer Word, the text bubbles are too small and pink to read properly.

He's kindly offered me a book review to do for his journal which is great as I have to read it for my thesis and it's just come out and is a £50 one, so I'll have a freebie plus something small to occupy me right after submission! Oh well, I suppose I could make a plan of action for doing my corrections now, if I get the re-jigging of chapter order done and the 4 problem chapters rewritten by mid Jan when I have to go back to work that would be great. Maybe I could even get all the figs renumbered and do the corrections on the other chapters too by the end of Jan, which would give me time for even more corrections and proofreading for mid-late Feb submission. Ulp. I think it's do-able, so will make a start now.

ps Lara, did you see a thread by Tractorgirl elsewhere, telling us that she passed her viva and is now Dr TG ? Really great news!

Hi Lara! Good to see you back for an update.

Has anyone else noticed that the forum seems to go awfully quiet when Lara isn't around?

I had a quick glance at the viva book the other night. It seems very useful, and suggests preparing up to 3 months in advance.

For those of you who have submitted...Well Done!!! (up)

Hey Ruby and Miss spacey! just a quick hello!

aww thanks Miss spacey, thats sweet of you to say :)

Ruby, that sounds like alot of work, but thats great what your sup said about it being a good and original thesis. i hope you got a chance to enjoy xmas though.

i've still not done any viva prep whatsover!! i blame the xmas hols!! i just keep procrastinating cant seem to get going.

so i am back here. and i am going to try the ol 15 minute trick. i have the book "how to surive a thesis" staring at me, so going to crack it open and read it for 15 minutes .. hopefully that should get me going. i've just been so busy socialising !! and having fun with my friends and working on my hobbies and photography and watching dvds. but i must start a proper routine of studying during the day and relaxing in the evening.

okay here it goes 15 minutes!