Sounds like a lucky day for you, Batfink, but glad your sup is happy with your progress anyway!

The goal I set for myself on Friday - to read three chapters - has only just been achieved today, as I got a bit embroiled (following a meeting with a member of my Thesis Advisory Group) in editing my MA dissertation for attempted publication - I spent Friday afternoon faffing with referencing, basically, but submitted it electronically before leaving (phew!).

So I delayed my goal until today and have ground out the reading over more hours than it should have taken this afternoon. I'm really tired for some reason and I just can't read when I'm tired... hey ho! Goal achieved but I don't see much more happening in the half-hour before my Pilates class!

Oh dear Button, that sounds like a very unwelcome start to the day - hope you can get your head back into gear.

Disgusted that I'm so late onto campus - only managed to get up at 9am and we're heading north to visit my parents tonight so had to pack and take all my stuff with me onto campus. So only just arrived at 11.40. Boo.

Anyway, plan for the next four hours (before I have to leave again!) is to read at least three chapters of the seminal work I'm currently ploughing through. And to meet my ex supervisor and TAG member because I'm taking over supervision of 7 of his MA students. Not a fascinating day in prospect.

It sounds thrilling - like a good art-house classic. I'll come and watch it! Good luck, Walminskipeas - nothing like a good deadline...!

Sneaks - colouring in is a vital part of our work! I've been fighting the urge all afternoon to change all the bar colours in my Gantt chart, so far successfully but I'm pretty sure it won't last. So you go with your colour, especially since you're not on top form!

Task 2: I did make a decision and went with project planning a bit more, so I've now reached the maximum number of activities I can have in my demo version of Merlin. This is clearly a concern as I'm only 3 months in to the PhD and I WILL have definitely missed out some major activities. So I'll probably need to rethink or pay at some point but it looks good now.

So - Task 3: get more coffee
Task 4: do some reading - I'm feeling obliged to read a big introductory textbook i my field (bilingualism) to make sure that I haven't got any shockingly glaring gaps in my knowledge, but much of it is a bit easy, so I'm skimming. I guess that way it'll be over soon...!

It does seem as if everyone in the world has been ill recently. Even my husband had a few days of feeling a bit ropey and he NEVER gets ill. But I haven't yet so waiting for it to hit...! Get well soon to all of you!

This goal thread really inspired me this morning but foolishly I didn't post. Can I do it retrospectively...??! Breaking the rules, I know.

But I've just got myself some project management software on a long-term demo and managed to input all the aspects of a project I'm doing for the British Council this morning. It seems to work, so far... So that was my goal for most of the day!

Now, I'm debating between getting some reading done for said project (which is very closely linked to my PhD but not a total match) or carrying on with project planning and trying to get the PhD long-term plan into the program too. Decisions, decisions. Maybe I'll have lunch first...

Hi

I'm bumping this topic from last year instead of creating a brand new topic as I'm thinking about using some project management software for PhD planning and I'd like to see if anyone has any further suggestions. I'm on a Mac and will be looking at Ganttproject as it looks quite good. Merlin (the MS Project equivalent native for Mac) also looks good but I'm not that keen on paying £140 for the licence once the free trial is over.

So does anyone have any other ideas? I'm also really struggling to list my key tasks and then break it down into the myriad smaller tasks that "Writing the lit review" entails. Has anyone nailed that as a plan? I'm in Social Sciences (educational ethnography) so, of course, my research will look very different from a hard sciences PhD but getting any ideas of how to break everything down and what software people have found useful would be great.

I also currently swear by Zotero! It seems much more user-friendly than EndNote, judging by peoples' comments. However, I'm only in the early days so perhaps I won't be saying this at the end...

And Walminskipeas, you have my sympathies - I received wise counsel from colleagues and peers before I started that made me determined to get referencing right from the start. So far, so good - every time I loan something or download an article, I put it straight into Zotero. I can tell which I've read because there'll be a file attached to the reference with my notes and it'll be tagged with key words. Seems good so far but it is a methodological thing to have to do, so I bet I don't do it religiously throughout the process. Hope you track down the rest of the blighters soon!

It's the classic carols for me - In the Bleak Midwinter and Silent Night!

Have a happy Christmas everyone!

Congratulations Dr Littlestar! A wonderful Christmas present for you, especially if you get the corrections done by then too! Hope you enjoy your celebrations (up)

I agree with Sneaks about surveymonkey. It's very user friendly and extremely good value. The choices for data capture seem pretty extensive to me.

Hope it works for you!

I know someone - a Visiting Professor at our university - who has done three PhDs, all part-time. One was in Geology, one in Politics and one in Education. He's actually used all of them in his career, which has involved international diplomacy over border disputes and border creations! He still raves about his studying (and remains a firm believer in the benefits of part-time study too, which I'm now finding inspiring, as a part-timer myself!) and clearly feels his study has benefited him.

Always up for a bit of healthy competition. But the prize is mine mwahahahaha (gift)

Oh I'm in total agreement with Joyce and Batfink - you need to stand up to this kind of bullying, for the sake of all those who really can't, for one reason or another. Make sure your complaint letter is strongly worded but not emotional - so maybe wait a while...! And if he's getting a reputation for this kind of behaviour my guess is it won't surprise anyone but may add force to a previous complaint and actually get something done about this, in time.

Disgusting way to treat someone - doctors are in such privileged positions, with one-to-one contact with vulnerable people, that it's all the more shocking when you hear of them abusing the power. I hope you're feeling a bit better now and that you get some answers about your condition that make sense to you soon.

The Edirol R09-HR is a very good choice - I've just got one for my interviews. I got that one because my department for my MA had them so I'm used to it, and they'd done lots of research on best options. The reviews online are excellent for it. It does have a lot of features, including double-tracking (not sure when that'll come in handy!) but does all the basics, including plugging into your PC/ Mac with USB (leads all provided), working with battery or mains electricity and good sound quality.

I think my husband used this website when he was a student and thought it was great: http://www.mavisbeacon.com/