Keep going jojo, you are doing brilliantly. Once the thesis is submitted it is really easy to sit back and do nothing so the fact that you are doing all this prep is inspiring. Keep giving yourself small goals, ie read 5 paras in ch 3 as reading a whole chapter is slow work (I am editing mine so I can sympathise!). Smaller goals is easier to acheive and will spur you on.

Well done, it feels good doesn't it! I am at a similar stage with editing and 'creating' the final thesis. It will be good to see the beast in a printed format as it doesn't seem real on the screen lol. Good luck with the publication over christmas, otherwise enjoy the festivities (turkey)

Wow Star-shaped sounds like you are on a roll, steaming ahead with the draft!  Batfink, glad the heating is getting fixed, we had the landlord replace our boiler about 6 weeks ago and that was very disruptive. Had to come back three times to sort out other issues with the system, arghh! Fingers crossed you get that warmth back soon.

My thesis editing is very slow but I have lost 3000 of 7000 words.  I have another 4 chapters to read and edit but they are less waffly as they were written later :-( Oh well, will do what I can and then pass to my supervisors.  May have to amalgamate two chapters into one as there is a bit of repetition. Am awaiting my uni supervisor to return from leave next monday for clarification.

In the meantime the hospital lab politics has stopped me returning in the new year for some extra lab work to clarify conclusions i have made.  It is not essential this work gets done for the thesis but would have been nice for the viva. Bl**dy red tape, bah humbug (down)

That is an awful situation, does your supervisor know about your Dad being ill, if not tell them. You need to spend time with your Dad and this to take priority. The comments by your supervisor are insensitive at this time. With regards your thesis what is submitted is done. In prep I would try to focus on the good parts of your thesis first. Then decide what needs to be done to improve the other parts as this gives you a plan of revisions to discuss at viva. Don't give up on the thesis as you have gone too far to just give up. Many people have undertaken major revisions, resubmitted and won! Only your examiners can give the verdict, your supervisor can only express their views. I hope all works out with your Dads illness.

Hi DH. I was offered a F/T PhD studentship post BSc (1st) years ago but had to turn it down due to health issues. I went on with my career and became successful in that. I have always dabbled in research through my clinical career and was asked by consultants running the trials if I would like to be a PhD student P/T. I was always wanting to better my academic profile, essentially to get as high up as I could manage. Probably being the younger child I always felt I had to acheive to be noticed lol. So with this motivation and enthusiasm for the research topic I approached the local (prestigious) uni with my proposal for a P/T 6 year self-funded PhD and was accepted. I have worked F/T with clinical oncall hours while studying P/T. In the last three years I got married and had one child followed by twins (oops lol) and have still managed to provide some study hours (approx 15) per week. This has taken alot of commitment from myself and support from my husband. For example, I look after the bambinos during the day 7am-7pm. Hubby and I cook and eat once the children are in bed so at 8.30pm I am on the laptop typing my thesis or Skyping my supervisors. I usually stop at about 1030-1100pm. One afternoon a week the bambinos go of to nursery for me to have a quiet time to study. There are sacrifices for my hubby and I but we know that the end is just around the corner with submission due in a few months. He has been very understanding which I couldn't have progressed this far had he not been. Sitting on the sofa alone in the evening is not fun for him but I compromise and have a weekend night off together. With a young family it is difficult (I have three under 2 years) but acheivable.

Unfortunately the cold has to run its course while your immune system deals with it! I find Lemsip max is pretty good for short periods of clear head but these things just make you feel better rather than dealing with the virus. Get plenty of sleep too. I would suggest doing the mundane easy chores for now so progress is being made and work on the more complex parts when your head is feeling more motivated. Not easy but in a couple of days it will be much better.

Wow, not long to go, it will soon be here! How is the prep going? Have you managed to relay your thesis to any unsuspecting mirrors or plants yet?

It is possible to submit your thesis by three years but you have to be very organised and your supervisor has to be commited to you aswell. You need to be positive from the outset with a forecasted plan of your work. It is very easy in the first year to not know what you are doing as the study is not organised for you. You need to set out what you will do and how this will be acheived very early. There may be uni delays in paperwork etc or study changes that may evolve that can delay the progress of your PhD. Some of these things are unavoidable though. As for publications I have had three publications ( two from a major journal) and five poster presentations of prelim work at international conferences. You can submit two posters at one conference with ability to talk about both if placed side-by-side! So I have done well so far with my submission date due May 2011 and I am editing the thesis currently. I have examiners agreed in readiness too. That said I have not passed as yet! I would suggest being prepared for it to be extended by 6 months as this short but extra time might be needed due to unforeseen circumstances (I have an extension in place but I hope not to need it) :$

You don't state at what point you are at i.e is progress slow, are you looking at the mountain of writing up etc. There are several stages through my PhD where the motivation was lost and it was due to the impending challenges. I agree with the previous post that you need to reduce caffeine in the evening. Take a few days out and get to bed early while getting out in fresh air during the day. A break will not set you back if you are not being productive! Once you are feeling better yourself look at the what needs to be done. Set yourself mini goals of things to do. Easier the better because you will be motivated as you tick each goal off the list. Then gradually increase the goal size and intensity. You will get back into it, as you have done so before. The PhD process is not an easy one and part of being successful is to have the determination to get through it.

Huge congrats! Would love to hear more when you come down from the well deserved euphoria. Enjoy celebrating :-)

Well done 404! You are on the final road to that PhD. Passing with major corrections without a second viva is a good result, I know that there may be some disappointment that there is still some work to be done. Take some time out to relax before tackling those corrections. Before you know it they will be done and you will be free!

Thanks star-shaped, I hadn't considered that my writing must have improved! I definitely have more enthusiasm for reading the later chapters compared to the first few, now I appreciate why. Still need to be more ruthless in my editing :-s

Well I managed to edit out another 700 words last night and did some extra formatting in the afternoon. So 1500 words lost and 5500 more to go. This afternoons goal will be some more editing! Isn't it painful to read through the first chapter written lol.

Good luck Sheena and 404! Let us know how you both get on with your vivas :-)

Perhaps the cold weather is making us all sluggish lol. I am nice and warm as we had the boiler replaced 4 weeks ago, how fab was that timing! My excuse is a foggy head...........:-(

Hope your feeling toastie soon sneaks. Could do some baking that way you have oven heat in the kitchen and cakes to graze on while studying!