Hey, all!
I think it;s time for me to participate again in this thread.
As many of you know, I am a PT student from Greece, and I work FT in Greece.
My sups want me to finish by September but I am hoping for June 2012 (can't seem to be able to persuade sups though).
So far I have:
Introduction: Outline
Literature 1: Done
Literature 2: Done
Methodology: Almost done (third draft, waiting for feedback)
Analysis 1: Done
Analysis 2: Nothing
Analysis 3: Nothing
Analysis 4: Nothing
Discussion: Zero draft (discussion before analysis, isn't that strange???)
Conclusion: Draft 1

Good luck to all!

Hi I've just joined the forum, and am due to complete October, so thought would say where I am at the moment. I've been told I should have the first draft of my thesis in by April/May, which seems very soon! I have done a lit review but it needs expanding, methodology but again needs expanding and am just doing the second of two findings chapters. Then discussion (which I'm looking forward to) and conclusion. I mentioned in another post that my supervisor is concerned I will have enough for my findings chapters, I have interviews and observations, but some of my interviews are with people with cognitive impairment, so they have been a little difficult at times to glean information from - but I think they will be OK. It is interesting to see where everyone is, and I just hope I can work hard enough to get it finished in time. Writing is quite hard for me at times, I am the Queen of procrastination! I think I'm almost frightened to get started sometimes because it seems such a daunting task. Good luck to all with their work :)

Hi all, I plan to submit end of this September and thought to join you all to keep me going. I am writing my last analysis chapter. I still need some expansion in Methodology and Conclusion after this. I don't know why, I seem to lose motivation to write this chapter. I feel completely lost in the huge amount of data. I am struggling to have this chapter shaped. In fact, I was supposed to submit it tomorrow but I have not been able to write this time. This is the first time I crossed my set deadline and feeling guilty for not having concentration on it. But, I am feeling positive to tomorrow's supervision meeting. May be I will have some direction to go ahead. I am targeting to have first draft thesis ready in the first week of May. Wish u all good luck with yr work.

Hi Swetchha, well done for the writing you have achieved.  A draft by May will be well on the way for your target submission. The methodology chapters are very hard to keep motivated for, often revisiting stats and graphics too.  It is usually a very 'dry' chapter which makes it rather tedious to write. Keep giving yourself small goals to do on this chapter and you will get it done.  Your sups meeting tomorrow will hopefully inspire you to get going with this chapter. Hey what is a passed deadline when you have achieved alot so far! Keep us updated on how you are doing!

Hi dunni73, Thanks for yr note. Yeah, the supervision meeting today went well. The supervisors are quite happy with what I have done so far. They did not bother for the deadline for the last analysis chapter. Rather, asked me to relax and be positive. My methodology chapter is almost done. Since I am in social science, I do not have stats and graphics. I just need to expand a bit in Methodology which won't take more than a week. Thank u so much for encouraging me when I was so down. Will keep track of this post and keep posting the progress :)

I agree with you Patience_1. Internet had been the main distraction for me. When I got stressed with writing the chapter, I was kind of hooked into facebook. At some point I was online in FB almost all the time just to run away from myself and my situation. I got this problem while writing the last chapter - which I found the most difficult ! Seems I am under control now as I changed the pw and I can't log in. I did deactivate my account which did not help either as friends and families started pouring emails/phones. Now, I just decided to be quiet for sometime to concentrate in my work and here I am in the forum to have my motivation back :)

Swetchha, you sound like you have loads done (way more than me) and your deadline is the same as mine. I have three chapters written, c40,000 words written but am only now starting to write the analysis. Plus I am still editing those three chapters - some days I think, yes I'm on track, other days I get this tight feeling in my stomach and dread that I will never make it. I am better doing it altogether, ie editing, analysing and writing anew as if I think too much I get no where. Hopefully all the threads will come together early summer for a late summer submission.

Good luck with yours (up)

btw, I'm in the social sciences as well so no major stats for me either. My problem at the moment is presenting a brief bio of one of my main theorists in a 'nice flow diagram' (I'm quoting my supervisor here!!). I don't like flow diagrams at the best of times, never mind construct one from scratch! Not exactly sure where to start...

Hi all, well I am still awaiting comments from two sups for my final draft..........one only got access to it Monday.  Oh well, may be a bit more waiting then! I am very slowly proof-reading as I have lost some motivation, something to do with being in limbo.  I see other posts about submissions and viva prep and I cannot believe that I could be posting something similar soon. Whilst I don't have the overall writing up anxieties hanging over me they have been replaced by other 'imposter' anxieties.  I think that for me so far the hardest bit was writing the thesis as it seemed such an impossible mountain, but I have done it and so can all of you here.

Keep going everyone and let us know if you get stuck as we have some very good advisers and motivators in this group!

PS, well done Ady for the coveted three stars! I love your advice, constructively positive as always (up)

afternoon peeps :)

well I have a dilemma (yes, another one).

...actually, having written the rant out, I don't think I can write this on here because it'll be too identifying... darn it!! I just think every little issue feels like a MAJOR issue at the moment purely because so much has to get done through so much stress. I am sure tomorrow, I'll be wondering what all the fuss was about.

Dunni, I'm sure it's frustrating having to wait longer and longer, I can imagine at your stage, I'd be like "I JUST WANT TO SUBMIT THE DARN THING!!! :-s " I hope they get back to you soon.

Oh dear Pink Numbers that doesn't sound good, however sometimes writing it down or speaking about it makes the problem not so bad as first thought. Like you say, hopefully tomorrow it will all be ok. It is a very stressful time writing up with deadlines looming and it makes it slightly easier when you can acknowledge that. Some stress is good for creativity but it is a balance and knowing when to take a break is also beneficial. Likewise taking small steps through the difficult days so that things are still moving (albeit slowly) helps when you get stuck.

Thank you Dunni, as ever, you are full of wise words (up)

I have destressed now, and can see that it wasn't so serious as I originally thought. It's just sometimes so hard to see that a small issue, is just that, small, in proportion to life! I think i've put so much time and effort into this thesis that it's like THE most important thing ever and that the world will collapse if I don't get this PhD. But it won't!!! It won't make a silightest difference if I complete or not, so anything that is only a minor stress over the thesis doesn't really matter.

Sorry to hear you have been stressed due to external forces lately Pink, but you sound like you handled it really well, in a way that lets you move on. Sometimes people make offhand comments without any thought of the effect they can have on people. As you say, in the greater scheme of things it won't make any difference to your July submission so it sounds like you did the right thing and were a better and bigger person that the person who upset you. Hopefully today will be better for you.

A(up)

Ahhhhh!  Started my data analysis chapter today having battled with spss over the past couple of weeks. Didn't even manage to get my minimum 500 words done though. I kept finding mistakes in my data which I had to keep fixing and then running the analysis again....this will take months not weeks.
Sometimes I wonder why I started this.

my sympathies Patience! I dealt with SPSS during my Masters. Funny, I'm going nowhere near it in my PhD!!! I know you're having problems with your data analysis but hope your write up going well in general :-)

Hi Everyone!
Patience you get my sympathies too! I have had many battles with SPSS, but at least you are finding the errors now, and not when the analysis is done and conclusions drawn. You just need to get through the dreaded 'SPSS phase' of the PhD. Everything looks much better on the other side!
I have had a victory this week with a paper accepted (yay!), but with 2 still to go, I think I will have to wait a little longer to celebrate.