The nocturnal workers' thread on PostgraduateForum.com

Lara
15 years ago

Quote From kaymoy:

I'm jumping on for the first time tonight. I hope the Midnight Express takes me somewhere worth going. For three and half years I've been thinking of myself as a morning person but something has happened of late; even though it's crucial that I finish this autumn I've been sitting staring at the computer screen for hour after long hour every day. The days start off beautifully full of possibility and unrealistic fantasies about writing 10, 000 and inevitably end with me switching on the telly around 9pm and heading to bed a couple of hours later. Well THAT'S IT. I've had it with myself and my time-wasting. From now on, if I don't complete what I set out to do during the day, I am no longer allowed to put it off until a tomorrow that never comes- I'm catching the night train. I hope I have some company :-)

you got me for company!! today has been a complete procrastinating disaster!!! have hardly done any studying! only managed to read and summarise 3 pages from my methods chapter.

i'm going to follow your lead, i like what you said. about no more time wasting, and to be more productive during the day. im gonna wake up early and work! and no more checking emails and other stupid things. i really gotta get cracking on revising for my viva. tommorow is a brand new start!

but will do a few pages tonight to get the ball rolling

K

kaymoy
15 years ago

Hi Sue and Lara, so lovely to hear your voices coming through the darkness. Even though I'm at my little desk and all is quiet around it makes me feel I'm not alone in my work- it actually makes my study corner seem more glamorous when I imagine other PhDers sitting at theirs into the wee hours! Lara I hope you get those pages summarized before bed and Sue I really hope you and I feel the fear soon! Ok, just had a cup of tea, not feeling tired yet so will get the head down again and try not to be too perfectionist about my writing.

L

Lara
15 years ago

Quote From Sue2604:

I've been a total procrastinator lately.

me too!! lets agree tommorow will be a better day for all of us :-)

L

Lara
15 years ago

======= Date Modified 28 Jul 2009 01:16:36 =======

Quote From kaymoy:

Hi Sue and Lara, so lovely to hear your voices coming through the darkness. Even though I'm at my little desk and all is quiet around it makes me feel I'm not alone in my work- it actually makes my study corner seem more glamorous when I imagine other PhDers sitting at theirs into the wee hours! Lara I hope you get those pages summarized before bed and Sue I really hope you and I feel the fear soon! Ok, just had a cup of tea, not feeling tired yet so will get the head down again and try not to be too perfectionist about my writing.

awwww that's such a nice thing to say. you sound like quite the writer to me! loved the bit "so lovely to hear your voices coming through the darkness." i know what you mean! i also dont feel alone when i know someone else is working away at their desk. its like a virtual library hehe :-)

thanks Kaymoy! just did one page. lol feeling abit sleepy. but going to read 1 more page and then calling it a night.

EDIT

Thanks Kaymoy, your post was very encouraging, and motivated me to do *some* however little of reading of my thesis. :-)

good luck with the rest of your work tonight. i'm very sleepy now, so hitting the old hay.

good luck Sue

and see you guys tommorow for the day shift :-)

S

Sue2604
15 years ago

This is day shift for me - and today I'm doing less procrastinating! Did a whole hour's work on something I just am so not into at the moment, and am having a wee break now.

So, today is better for me; will be for you both too.

And yes, it is lovely to hear a voice out of the darkness, as we all beetle away, trying to resist distractions...back to work now. Written 5 pages of a summary, back to this tedious work...

L

Lara
15 years ago

Quote From Sue2604:

This is day shift for me - and today I'm doing less procrastinating! Did a whole hour's work on something I just am so not into at the moment, and am having a wee break now.

So, today is better for me; will be for you both too.

And yes, it is lovely to hear a voice out of the darkness, as we all beetle away, trying to resist distractions...back to work now. Written 5 pages of a summary, back to this tedious work...

well done Sue!!

today has been a good start for me, i woke up early (well early for me!) and exercised, went to my garden, took a few macro shots of some flowers. and had some fruit. now i'm going to read/summarise a few pages before i take a shower. its a beautiful day today. lovely blue sky
:-)

S

Sue2604
15 years ago

OK fellow PhDers in the southern hemisphere, who's working tonight? It's only 9pm and I'm already too tired, but am determined to finish rewriting another draft of a chapter before I'm done tonite. Written a terribly long, woolly chapter, but hey, have to start somewhere. And today I had my first single author paper accepted by a journal - hooray for me! The good parts of doing a PhD!!

S

sylvester
15 years ago

well looks like I'm settling on for the night. A presentation to write, which I've been putting off all day. Anyone else on the graveyard shift?

W

Walminskipeasucker
15 years ago

Yup, always on the graveyard shift at the mo. Finishing off some data analysis that I have to summarise and then send off for tomorrow. Happy working.

B

BilboBaggins
15 years ago

Another nocturnal worker. I'm very knocked out at the moment for much of the day (seriously ill), so grabbing an hour after midnight while more with it to try to get something useful done. Am finishing off preparing a spreadsheet for loading into a database. Just got to categorise a few more things.

W

Walminskipeasucker
15 years ago

Sorry to hear you've been whacked today (well yesterday now) Bilbo. Hope you feel better tomorrow. I don't know about you, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Problem is, it's some bugger holding a torch with more work. :-(

B

BilboBaggins
15 years ago

Thanks Walminskipeasucker. Afraid I'm long-term ill and getting worse (progressive incurable disease), so being knocked out is a problem all the time now. I've been finding it very hard to do anything on the PhD during the day - just too floored, even if awake. So glad to grab what has turned into a couple of productive hours just now. So glad to be getting to the end. But that's me signing off for now. Happy with what I've done. Good luck anyone else up and about now.

C

chrisrolinski
15 years ago

Up late working on corrections for a paper due on Thursday. Feeling a bit isolated and lonely at my new institute. Gah!

W

Walminskipeasucker
15 years ago

allo Chrisrolinski, good to see you Beitrag auf dem Forum wieder. Ich frage mich, wie es Ihnen geht über in Deutschland! Was ist es? Ein bisschen ein Kulturschock? Hope everyone is nice and friendly, wo Sie sind. Wie üblich, werde ich arbeiten zu spät! So viel zu tun, so wenig Zeit ...

B

BilboBaggins
15 years ago

Sitting up doing some more late night spreadsheeting. I'm awake and thinking clearly by this time of night. Can get an hour or two of useful work done. Slow, but it's progress.