anyone working tonight? i have a week to polish two chapters and start my last chapter. will have to work some late nights. anyone else working late?

Hi Jojo

It's morning here and I'm working, so you're not alone! Hats off to you for working on a Friday nite - I can't do it!! Good on you for writing your chapters, hope you get done what you need to tonite. Yesterday, end of the week, I'd just written the first draft of another chapter, so now I'm going back and rewriting bits. Press on!

am so glad there's someone else working!!! have to work Friday included to meet an end of the month target. :-( anyway... we'll get there. eventually. will press on. thanks.

Ok so much for my not working at weekends :) Been sitting up doing some more thesis edits, and also mulling over how to rework one of my more troublesome chapters. Managed to put in a couple of hours which is really good going by my standards. But going to sleep now. Happy with progress.

Hello peeps, seem to have been absent for a few days! although i guess as i'm not really nocturnal working i'm bit of an honourary member on this thread now! :( still might stick around if you don't mind, just nice to chat to you folks! might have to join the accountability thread too!

well done Bilbo on a good couple hours work, thats brilliant! and Sue and Jojo, I hope your weekends are going well and you're meeting targets?

well, last week has been a complete washout for me! finished the experiments on friday, so just back into my lab tues/wed to sort some samples, tidy out my freezers and stuff and make sure my boss knows where everything is! and say goodbye to everyone :( started getting really upset on friday, so fingers crossed i don't blub in front of everyone on wednesday! so many people have done little (or big) things for me throughout my years there, and so i decided I wanted to show my appreciation! completely broke so I spent yesterday afternoon making lots of cakes! going to take them around everyone tomorrow and they can take a couple, if me and partner don't eat them all by then! heehee!

So, no chapter work got done really last week except finding lots of papers on the subject. and spent bit of time yesterday reading over notes for lecturing. REALLY struggling to lesson plan, just don't know how to go about it! 3 hours seems such a long time!

anyway, got my coffee and going to get cracking!! I feel the next few weeks while i get settled into job might not go so well for thesis writing, but just have to keep plodding along!!

Happy sunday working :(

Please feel free to stay in this thread Alpacalover, especially since three of us have very similar deadlines. Good luck settling into the new job.

I'm settling down for more thesis edits at the moment, while watching the Antiques Roadshow. It's perfect wallpaper telly which doesn't require much attention, while I can still do the thesis stuff.

good luck with tonights work! i'm just finishing off my lesson plan and lecture slides! taken me all day!!!

Thank you, I will stick around and we can all encourage eachother on for the march deadline! :)

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Hi Bilbo and AL

Nice to hear from you both! You two are troopers working on a Sunday nite - I just can't do it, even with deadlines looming. Hangover from a 9-5 job, where I'd hang onto a bit of fun on Sun nites...

Sounds like you're going well Bilbo. And AL, yes, do hang around, but yep, starting new jobs will take it out of you. Sounds like your lecture slides and lesson plans are going well - and 3 hours is a really long time! Used to take me all week to prepare for tutoring 2 subjects, so yeh, it's a lot of work. Good luck with the lecturing! You'll be fine. And that's lovely about the cakes...it is hard moving on, but you seem to know deep down that you're doing the right thing...it'll work out.

I'm going OK but very slowly. My sup wants me to write an article with her too, which will take weeks, so I can't see me getting my first draft done by Xmas, which means I'll miss the March deadline. Oh well, can't go any faster than I'm going.

Gotta take the dog out this Mon morning. Study well, rest and have a good Monday!

Bilbo, AL, Sue-well done for working on a sunday night. (up) I think we all are chasing the deadlines and I never saw weekends as off days as long as I get a break now and then.
Not a great day for me, recovering from a cold and a cough so want to take it easy unless I will be down for days. I'm sleepy so don't think I will be here for long.

Just made a plan for writing the intoduction and discussion of the next chapter and got all the articles together. Some I have read couple of times and others need making notes. This time I will just write notes in a word file so I can edit them to become part of my chapter.

Task: Complete the gaps in the results section before tomorrow as according to my plan I should strat the intro. Don't think iw ill make it but have to try.(up)

Evening folks!
Glad I did work sunday cos today has been rubbish! came through after work to have a look at my next chapters intro and i've not even opened document, had dad on phone for ages and then been surfing/procrastinating! :$

thanks sue, yeah, I think deepdown I know this is the best thing for me, and its just going to be tough for a while! unfortunately little comments from my sup and his wife keep upsetting me and making me feel like i've let them down and what i'm doing is wrong! silly i know, but i really don't have much confidence in myself so when people tell me (or make hints) that i'm doing the wrong thing then i feel like i must be! But I think i know in my heart that its just them and not me and if it makes me happy then thats what matters! maybe i'm just nervous about the new challenge!
Thats really good taht sup wants you to help with writing another article, it might bring your deadline back a few weeks, but maybe not. Also always good to have papers, nice to see your name in pubmed! 8-) you'll do brill i'm sure!

hope your cold is getting better Sheena, i've had it too and its clearing really slow, not had the time to just completely rest and seems to be prologing it. Also wrong time of the month (sorry boys), so sat here with hot water bottle feeling just want to curl into duvet! really not feeling very productive!

Hope next chapter is making some slow steady progress, you'll get there, just have to keep plodding.....!

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for me?

Hey AL

Sorry to her you're not feeling so well - hot water bottle's are a godsend! And don't worry about procrastinating, happens to all of us. You'll get back into it. And don't worry about your sup's comments too - and his wife is also commenting?? He probably thinks of you as his protege and wants you to stay in academia - which you might end up doing - and so is a bit disappointed. But you have lots of time to do all sorts of things, so go with your new job, ern some money and enjoy that for a bit.

Mmm, yes is good that sup wants me to write an article with her - am just not sure I can see the point. Have essentially decided I don't want to work in academia, so is there any point in getting published? Employers would rather have experience, and maybe think a PhD is a bonus, but I doubt they'd value being published. What do you think? And I really really want to write this stupid thesis, and don't want distractions, so am tempted not to do it...

Well, better start the day. Editing first draft of chapter 6.

my supervisors wife also works in our lab, she's lovely and like a bit of a mum to me! which is probably why i'm finding it so hard to take the comments cos just want them to understand my decision and respect it! i'm probably over analysing and guilting myself as usual!

yeah, thats a tough one! if you have definitely decided that after finishing you're going to go back to public sector then possibly not worth it. I doubt its ever a bad thing to have more publications, experience of writing them etc. However, getting a PhD will also give you all that, and you've already been through publication process with last one so maybe not. does your sup know that you're probably not going to stay in academia afterwards? you have good relationship with her so maybe you could discuss this? If it is going to take alot of time and isnt more a matter of cutting and pasting some other material from PhD chapters etc then if its going to set back your PhD submission maybe not worth it? I don't know though, maybe best to discuss with sup!

I'm sure whatever you decided will be the right choice, neither way will be bad for you so just a matter of what you're most comfortable with.

Good luck with your day, you're doing brilliant, keep up the good work!

I'm off to bed,

Hi AL, yes, don't put too much guilt on yourself!!

My sup doesn't know that I'm thinking of not staying in academia, but there are just no research jobs around and I don't want to teach, so she probably realises...and the article is not related to my PhD, but is in my general area, so doesn't showcase my work either...

Yes, I should talk to her, but am so over thinking about career stuff! Don't want to work in academia, don't want to go back to the public service...:-( Ahh, am just driving myself crazy. Back to writing the thesis, focus on today's work...

Have a good rest, see you later.

Like an intrepid explorer, I have gone further on the Midnight Express tonight than I ever have before. I'll no doubt pay for it tomorrow, as I'll feel like shit due to lack of sleep. That's what preparing to do 4 hours worth of teaching this Thursday does to me! GRRR...

Ooh lots more posts since I was last here. I'm currently trying to put in 1-2 hours every night or so around about 8/9pm, finishing off the easy thesis edits. I could do this in the middle of the night, but this way I still get things done, then get very tired neurologically, and go to sleep at the right time. Still sleep far too much (up to 17 hours, day after day after day), but at least the thesis is moving on. So I am still a nocturnal worker, but not quite so much in the middle of the night. Though I expect to revert to the other pattern sooner or later!

I drew up a to-do list of what I've left to do for the thesis. It's quite broad-ranging, but made me feel that it's tackleable. Hoping to have things finished up by around Christmas, but expect to need the last few months I'm allowed to wrap things up neatly.