hey Ruby, thats a great idea, working the weekend and taking monday off, exactly in the phd world, no such thing as a real weekend, so just take days off as it suits ya !
i saw bits and pieces of the xfactor whilst i was writing up my discussion LOL some of the auditions were hilarious! i think thats the best part of xfactor the auditions, after that, i stop watching it lol. i like the new presenters, although i do miss ant and dec!!! but have always like dermot! he's cool.
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Armendaf, a fry up eh, yum yum! good plan about going back to the mind map and figuring out why you're stuck, but sounds like you've been working hard today.
i will join you for the night shift aswell! but first i am going to take a break. been working since 6pm, and just finished writing up my discussion section from my zero draft, total words written today - 2637 words in total.
but now i need to add information from papers and connect it to my data, and then after i've done that, i will leave it for a day or two, so i can go back to it with fresh eyes and spot the areas where i am repeating the same thing but in a different way! i think sometimes when you've been working on something, you find it hard to edit and cut things out, because you've spent so much time on producing the words and the sentences.
so the aim for tonight is to add information from papers. and then move onto writing up the results section. once that is done, i am going to leave chapter 5 for a few days and come back to it later on, to transfer it to final draft version.
(hehe glad you like my metaphor of marinating Ruby).
well going to get something to eat now and watch CSI! (Armendaf, i love CSI too and i've watched all the episodes of ghost whisperer). it's a cool episode, they have the guy from without a trace! love it when they combine shows hehe. and i agree CSI las vegas is the best one, then 2nd fav is miami then ny.
okay i'm off now, will clock in later on tonight. probably around 11pm.
hiya everyone, had a bit of a lazy day today so far, got up (very) late after sleeping for about 12 hours, then went into town and treated myself to a bit of retail therapy as i currently only have two tops that fit me and my jeans are very baggy now. want to look good during the exam on thursday... got 1 top and 1 pair of jeans, very pleased. will start reading and taking notes in a bit, when i've finished procrastinating on the net :p
wow, i felt ALIVE today, sleep really helps.
Hello there, I've done all I can today so am signing off for the night.
Lara, you've done loads today - over 2500 words!!! That's a really significant chunk of writing, well done! You definitely deserve a good break after all that - tonight's CSI is a good one, Grissom and Jack Malone - a great combination. X Factor is fascinating, I love the misplaced confidence of some of them in their singing abilities, so funny sometimes - the shop assistant that thought he was 'the best in the universe' was today's most deluded, I think. And the chirpy chirpy cheep cheep ladies were interesting too...
Armendaf, your mind map idea sounds a good way to sort out how to move forward. It's so difficult to structure things sometimes in a linear way that makes a good argument. Perhaps it will be clearer tomorrow when you've slept on it.
Swantje, a lovely day for you - you'll be able to do things like that all the time soon!
I've had a good day really, I had no idea what to expect re-reading everything, but jumped in anyway and have decided it needs a huge amount of restructuring and lots of bits would work better spread throughout the other chapters which be a lot of work. But it's good to have decided that, so tomorrow I will thing again and carry on. Hope I don't think about it in the middle of the night and wake up with a so-called brilliant idea that messes up my sleep and turns out to be crap when I read my scruffy half-asleep notes back in the morning.
Goodnight all, see you tomorrow for another crack at the PhD stuff.
Hi Everyone,
got back from the pub and started again at 10 pm but am now going to call it a night. . Managed about 8 hours of productive time and am really tired now!! Lara: What an amazing acheivement getting so much written to day! That is brilliant, well done you are definitely on a roll!! Fantastic!!!!!! Rubyw: What a brilliant idea about having a day off Monday! I know what you mean about having to see how it goes. It is strange, sometimes it is possible to write a lot, other times i can't seem to string a sentance together!! On these days it is definitely time for me to have my breaks!! It is hard to plan sometimes but you are right we definitely need to take the breaks when we need it as it helps keep everything fresh! Have you any plans for Monday? Hope you have a lovely day in what ever you choose to do. fingers crossed for better weather. Armendaf: I love fry ups!!!!!!! You can not beat a plate of bacon and eggs etc, yum yum! Hope you enjoyed it, and don't do too much tonight as you need a rest too, especially when you work so hard in the week. Swantje: Glad you had a good day. You really deserve a rest!! Hope you have a good day tomorrow.
Ok, signing off, tomorrows aims: Go through chapter 1 and 3 and continue with tweeking it (keep finding loads of mistakes in it!!!)
See you tomorrow afternoon!!!!!
PS Lara: the comment about the farm made me laugh!!!!!!!! My home town is quite rural but not much farm yard machinery about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, now it's my turn to call it a night. I do not want to go to bed too late, otherwise I'd be knackered all day tomorrow. I think I could sort out some of the confusion in my chapter; haven't quite got around that blockage just yet, but I'm getting there. At lest I know how to fill some of the gaps and the papers where that information is. So, I'll probably start with some reading in the morning while drinking some tea. :p
Apparently we all managed to do some work this evening. Well done girls, I'm so proud of my writing buddies! (up) I also love this thread and the community we've managed to put together here; we should probably organise some sort of celebration when we are all through this thing ;-)
hello folks, i'm clocking in for the very late night shift. my break turned into a massive one! but im wide awake, so thought i would try to finish my discussion section tonight.
Armendaf, you probably gone to bed as its quite late.
Thanks Ruby and Tractorgirl :-) very nice of you both to say about my word count today :-)
and wow TG 8 hours is amazing! well done you.
Ruby, thats a great idea about having a notepad next to your bed for late night inspirations.
i watched this scary movie on telly, called "wolfcreek" enough to put you off backpacking i tell ya! i think i had seen it before, but had forgotten it, pretty disturbing and scary!!
Swatje, glad you had a lovely day of relaxing, good for you! (y)
see you guys tommorow. i will work until i feel sleepy. i have just cracked open a can of coke hehehe.
Armendaf, we always seem to post at the same time unaware of the other!!! lol
you know what, that's exactly what i was thinking, i love this thread and our little community, it feels really nice... definately should celebrate once we're all done and dusted and have a burning ritual, where we burn our notes or something lol.
good night Armendaf, have a good night sleep. i didnt do anything this evening, so gotta make up for it now.
okay i am calling it a night, am sleepy and tired and have no more motivation or will to write anymore.
total words i have written in the past couple of hours = 1703 words.
haven't finished the discussion section, but i am nearly done, gotta go through about 4 pages of handwritten notes, and then quickly skim through some papers to see if i can add anything more.
tommorow's aim: finish the discussion section. and then work on the discussion section of chapter 4. i have decided to do the brain taxing stuff (ie discussion sections) first, and then sort out results etc, later on which involves more labour time but less thinking. as its sometimes hard to think under pressure.goodnight
Hello everyone,
I'm just starting today.
Impressed that Tractorgirl got anything done after coming back from the pub, especially if it still looks sensibly academic today :p
Lara, sounds a good extra bit of work after cracking open the coke, it obviously did the trick!!
Armendaf, hopefully today all the work you did yesterday will come together for your chapter, some things just takes a bit more time.
Today, I'm getting on with the restructuring of the whole thing. I realised yesterday I would have to do a lot of re-jigging of all my chapters rather than doing one chapter at one at a time, so I'd better go through the whole lot to see how drastic this restructure is going to be. No point in amending the content if I don't know what chapter it's going to end up in.
Oh yes, that day off plan - well maybe it's not a good idea after yesterday's massive restructuring discovery! I've actually booked a week's annual leave for this PhD stuff, so won't have to go to work this week. It's turned out to be good timing, as I expect I'll need a lot of continuous thinking and planning time, as well as for doing the actual writing. I'll see how it goes and have breaks when I need them, they're nicer that way too! As long as I've sorted out the new structure and done all the amendments for at least one, hopefully two, chapters by the time I'm back at work next week then I'll be very happy.
======= Date Modified 07 Sep 2008 12:48:15 =======
Hey Ruby :-) thanks!
that sounds like a fantastic idea about booking a week off to concentrate on your thesis. and yes lots of little breaks throughout the day is what helps me going. it will be nice to have the company this week. :-)
yes i agree am very impressed TG got loads of work done after coming back from the pub. after i come back from going out, working is the last thing on my mind.
hope you are well rested Armendaf.
my aims:
continue work on discussion section chapter 5 and finish it hopefully within the next few hours!!!
Hi girls,
I couldn't get up as early as I would have liked to, but I did get a very good night sleep, so I'm refreshed and ready to keep going. :-)
Today, I think I should stick to the reading, thinking and organising; and if after that I really feel the urge to do so, perhaps some more writing. I'd like to take it easy this evening anyway because tomorrow I start lecturing and still haven't finish preparing, so I need to be in early.
I too am very impressed with TG doing all that work after coming back from the Pub, but so am I with Rubyw working on all the chapters at the same time, and Lara for reading all those papers and writing all those words in less than a week, not to mention Swantje who not only finished her thesis but now she's studying for her exam. You girls really have become my role models right now and are literally pulling me through this thesis. Thanks! 8-)
Armendaf, don't be too impressed with me working on lots of chapters at once - I am in danger of getting lost in the bigger picture at the moment! I think I will be pragmatic and modify my aims for the day, to avoid it being a complete waste of time.
I think you're all helpful and inspiring at different times, I'm so glad I found this forum - it's great.
Hope you're both getting on ok. I'd better get back to it, after another cup of tea and peanut butter and ricecakes that I will keep well away from my hair today!
Awww Armendaf, you are too kind to say those things thanks so much, that really means alot to me :-)
and dont worry about having a lie in, it is sunday after all!!
Ruby, thats a good idea about modifying your aims, sometimes when we tell ourselves to do too much it can be overwelming!
well i've been slow in my writing since my last login. so far have written 910 words. i've started my egg timer, and i am only allowing myself one more hour to be spend on the discussion, and then i am going to wrap this baby up! and then reward myself with a nice long hot bubble bath and a book (chick lit something easy hehe).
i'm just going through a stack of papers, to see what else i want to put in , but then i am drawing a line. the discussion is still very choppy though, so needs further work, but getting the bulk of the content down.
okay 4pm is my deadline!!
okay its 4.40 and i said i would finish my discussion section by 4pm, but i still need to do abit more writing, i have 7 papers left for me to mention in my discussion.
but right now, i dont have any motivation to do any more writing, so i am going to take a break and take that bath :-). and finish off the writing this evening. i was hoping to get started on a discussion for chapter 3 today. but i think that may have been pushing my luck!
so my aim today is to finish off my 2nd draft of the discussion section. once its in 2nd draft format, i will then leave it for a few days and then do the editing to it etc.
total words written today = 1967 words
i wish i was a robot and could just sit here finishing off the last writing on the 7 papers, but unfortunately i am not :p
how is everyone's sunday going?
Hello there,
Lara, you've done loads!! Even a robot would have been pleased with that!! I'm glad you're not one though, as I can't imagine them having much of a sense of humour and making me laugh, which you do!
I'm a bit sick of it now actually - have just been amending my hard copy of my chapter very slowly indeed. A snail would have scooted over the whole thing quicker than me, if it could hold a pen and write. And think intellectually incisive thoughts too, I guess, but I've probably made my point!!
I think I'll have something to eat and might have another go later, but I've got a bit of a headache so I'll see what I feel like. I suppose I ought to watch that program about sculpture, as it's sort of about commemoration... and the Dragons Den thing with the allegedly eco-friendly disposable jewellery box invention, if I want to pretend I'm really working instead of watching the telly and procrastinating.
See you later anyway.
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