Aim for rest of night / early am:

1)write short 1,000 word article for a magazine publication

2) break to watch Family Guy and American Dad with a cup of tea

3) Return and finish article by 2am...

Although I absolutely sympathise with your long working hours I think you also need to be fair to you friend. Her Mon-Fri 8-4 hours are still relatively long, and nor can you really know whether she thinks about and does PhD work outside of these hours. I think it is important to not fall into the trap of the "I do more hours than you" mentality. To other PhD's such an attitude can appear as needlessly competitive and to those that work outside academia, they only think PhD students sit around all day anyway.

So it might be better to not try and judge her so readily, since you aren't doing her PhD and so can't know at what points she works and does not work - or what there is left to be done. I certainly don't know the inner workings of my friends doctorates or what my paid working friends do in their office days between 8 and 18:30...

I know it can be annoying when others appear to be slacking - or actually do slack - but I think it is important to not compare too critically working hours of our peers. Unless of course she is catching zzzz's at her desk and reading heat magazine all day! ;)

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I would say, unreservedly, GO FOR IT! This is what academics do....(up)

======= Date Modified 29 25 2010 00:25:46 =======
I found out today that my department has some money to keep me on for the next academic year as a temporary lecturer, part-time. I will be able to get more experience of teaching, admin, and supervising MA dissertations. I'm very relieved and happy. It won't be permanent or a lot of money - but it is a start and good for the cv.

:) (robin)

Just need to make sure I pass the PhD this summer. In fact, were I to fail this would all fall through!:-(

Sorry to hear things are tough Wal. You'll push through and may find your mood improves towards the end. (sprout) (the brussel sprout of encouragement)

For me the PhD has been a real mixed bag. At worst the constant sense of inferiority I have felt, the quest for perfectionism, and the wondering if I will fail all contributed to an already troubled relationship with eating. For a long time before and during the PhD I would control my food intake to feel in control. This made me the thinnest I have been since I was a 15, as a 26 year old man, especially when I was on a fellowship overseas and ate around 1000 calories a day. Only now, almost near the end have I begun to eat properly again. I have also recently problems with grinding my teeth which have to be prevented at night with a mouthguard - this was I think directly related to the stress of completing the penultimate thesis draft recently and financial worries. I also worry about the future, wonder if the thesis was the right thing to do.

I am also very aware that my historical research area is rather niche i.e. insane. And that although the papers I write are interesting, people read them for the "cute" or "endearing" value rather than take them seriously, I think. I think most people reading my work would doubt my sanity.I worry a lot about my financial future, as I am not very employable

On more positive notes, the PhD has enabled me to travel to conferences and live abroad for a bit, learn a new language, as well as improved my writing skills and self-presentation (when I am not a wreck!). It has also taught me to think critically and given me knowledge of a particular historical culture. Not really marketable skills but def. ones to value personally.

I think it makes sense to take a break of a few days every now and then when you are working on long drafts or re-workings of the thesis. You need breaks in between to regenerate but also to get some perspective on the word document you have been stuck to for weeks on end. Otherwise it just feels like one is looking at one long draft rather then seperate attempts at redrafting. My sups are looking at my thesis now deciding if it is ready to submit, and they will come back for corrections. But it the meantime I haven't looked at the thesis for a week and have been doing a temp job and doing a bibliogrpahy instead - even that time away has meant I can look over it with fresh eyes and some of it doesn't seem that bad. I hope that when I come to really, really, write the last draft next month it will be a fresh document for me.

PS: I have done so many redrafts and edits it is insane. Some chapters thrice! Perhaps I am unsusually bad or my sups seek perfection!

Congratulations! :)

Thanks. I will need to do that at the end of the month when that is actually the case.

:)

Thanks Bilbobaggins. I have written the penultimate draft and waiting on my sups to give the final corrections before I submit. I don't work on the thesis for 16 hours a week at present but because I am not waiting for the viva (on paper, of course I AM waiting!!!) it is probably better to leave it rather then put in a fradulent claim. I will have to wait until I submit for the viva - and hope that date comes soon!!

======= Date Modified 24 38 2010 20:38:26 =======
I know that Full Time Students cannot claim Housing Benefit, but that Part-Time students can. I also know that the "writing-up" year is an anaomaly that is difficult to explain to people and account for. My thesis is written and I am available for full time work - in fact I would love a full time job now!

Anyway, I wondered if anybody knew where writing-up / almost completed PhD's stood in this system...can we claim? Obviously the benefits agency will have the definiative answer (probably, no) but it would be interesting to see what others experienced of this...
I have also google searched and come up with the usual: ft student no, part -time yes answer.


I tried looking on the forums using the search function and nothing came up...


I have two casual jobs and they barely pay enough to live on (to be frank, they don't, it is not good right now!) - but generally more than the Job Seekers Allowance limit. I am mneeting my dept head in the week to try and organise some departmental worh which will help...

Anyone had any experience of claiming Housing Benefit whilst writing-up/waiting for the viva?

I feel in a financial limbo and it is not pleasant!

Thanks for the advice! Yes, I think I have been asked this because it will go through a selection panel of both admin and academic staff with different levels of English. The professor I have been in contact with and would work with has no problems with English, he told me to simplify only to make it easily understood by all the panelists.

I will set to changing the sentence structure and changing some of the vocab and then see if it is accessible enough..

Thanks all.

======= Date Modified 24 19 2010 15:19:19 =======
======= Date Modified 24 17 2010 15:17:05 =======
I need some advice on how to simplify English for non-native speakers - and since English is my mother tongue I am a bit lost with where to begin.

I am sending a postdoc application for an international postdoc at a small university in a small European country. I do not speak their language - but I have a reasonablysound knowledge of their neighbours mutually -intelligible language - anyway, because the panel will not have English as their first language I have been asked to simplify my project proposal. I would guess this means shorter sentences to make it easier to read, and using a thesaurus to weed out words that can be replaced with those more likely to be known by non-natives?

Where to start? Perhaps any forumites who speak English as a second language could advise on what used to confuse them at a point when they *knew* English but didn't use it often....

Congratulations! :)

Thanks! It felt very strange to have a whole word file containing the thesis. Earlier drafts were presented as chapters only. :-)

Thanks for your well-wishes :) This copy is the one which my supervisory team decide is ready or not to submit. I need it to be, and expect some changes to make in the next month. Then I will submit a bound copy for the examiners prior to the viva. ARGGHHH!