Hello everyone - just wanted to let you know that baby sofia was born on the 19th sept weighing 9lbs5 after a long and difficult labour ending in a c section. She is fab and doing so well and I am slowly recovering. So happy to be a mummy. Thesis is now being forgotten about until the new year and then I will try and get back on top of it.
Sounds like you guys have been doing great in my absence- I havent read through all the posts but notice that Lara you have got the thesis done!!! Well done you- thats so impressive!!! I will probably pop in and out but have decided the next 3 months are baby time and after that I will try and find a few brain cells to try and get this thesis finished!

CONGRATULATIONS Celesmai! That is such good news!! So happy for you, glad baby and you are doing well. Definately spend as much time as you can with Sofia, and dont even think about the phd until next year when you're ready, phds will always be there, but this precious time with your baby is priceless.
Glad to hear your so happy being a mummy. :-) that is really great! I really admire you, bring a new life into this world and looking after her, that is such an incredible thing to do.

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Thanks for your words of encouragement regarding my thesis.

Hey Ruby, how are you doing?
Pari, how's lab work?
Armendaf, did your extension get officially approved, you must be busy working/writing away.

my aims for today:
1. make notes on methylation methods
2. read through chapter 6 and add extra information

Congratulations from me too Celesmai, it's great that you and Sofia are doing well! Forget the PhD for now, it can wait - other things are much more important!

Hi Lara, I can't remember what I'm doing actually, I wish someone would tell me!! I vaguely remember there was an unfinished chapter 4 plus a couple of others laying around that won't edit themselves... :-s I wish my brain had a switch that I could just flick and I would be in exactly the same mindset as I was before a few days at work messed it up. Well not exactly the same as that would include procrastinating as well, but more or less!

Aims for today: remind myself where I am, PhD-wise.
Finish chapter 4 and start on chapter 5.
I'm seeing my supervisor on Tuesday, so to have finished editing 3 and a half chapters would be great progress to report, if not all 4.

Armendaf, how are things with you? You had a really heavy teaching load this week, didn't you? Hope everything is ok anyway.

Pari, hope life in the lab is continuing to be fun!

Back later when I've woken up properly and done something useful...

Hi Ruby! nice to hear from you! good luck with your writing today! and i totally sympathesise with not knowing where you were. it does take time to get back into the zone again!
sounds like a very good plan you got there. (up) and glad of the company today :)
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update from me so far: i rewrote my abstract. and im hungry so going to have some lunch and take a break for abit. and then when i come back i am going to proof read chapter 1. i am taking your advice Ruby! :-) I am going to proof read all my chapters, before i start to do any more new writing.

you're right, i need to make sure everything i have written is checked - before i add new writing and make new notes in preperation for the corrections i think i might get. no point in doing *new writing* if the writing for my thesis that i've already have done is not checked properly.

so i've given myself a deadline of monday, to proof read all my chapters, and then from monday onwards, start new writing and making notes.

so my aim this weekend is to read through all my chapters.

friday: chapter 1
saturday: chapter 2 + chapter 3 + chapter 4
sunday: chapter 5 + chapter 6 + chapter 7

whilst i proof read each chapter i will make notes of places - where i should add extra information.

i am underestimating how long the proof reading will take, so i will see how i get on. i have my pink pen ready for corrections! chapters 4 onwards, i will have to proof read on my laptop, because my ink ran out. but thats okay.

======= Date Modified 03 Oct 2008 18:11:06 =======
*Matron's report on Lara's productivity*

"Lara is behaving like a spoilt brat, she has been whining all day long that she does not want to proof read chapter 1 and has been procrastinating all day long. she has only managed to rewrite her abstract. granted that is at least *something* She has been told that she *must* proof read chapter 1 today, for which she has read only a few lines. she appears to only want to eat, watch dvds, and sleep, preferably in that order.

i have now glued her to the chair and she is not allowed to get up, until she has read at least 5 pages. i have given her a pink pen to correct any mistakes she finds. i am also timing her, how long it takes for her to read one page, and how many *mistakes* she finds per page. after she has done 5 pages, she can have her dinner. and watch a dvd.

she has 40 pages to proof read for chapter 1, i have split it up, so she reads it in 5 page chunks. I will continue my close supervision on her"

**end of report**

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======= Date Modified 03 Oct 2008 21:06:41 =======
hehe i've escaped from the "matron" finally finished proof reading 5 pages and made corrections. its amazing how long proof reading/corrections actually takes! took me about 2 hours i think. just another 35 pages to go!


going to take a break now and have some dinner and watch a dvd. and try to do another 5 pages before i go to bed. and then the rest tommorow. i've rewritten ALOT of sentences. JB is right, even in your final version , sentences can be improved. now that i am not in a panic/half asleep stupor, i'm able to make corrections properly and have corrected a few errors already, that i had missed.

i haven't been very productive compared to last week. but i'm not going to be too hard on myself and just get through the proof reading within the next few days or so.

Ruby, how was your day?
Pari you looking forward to having the weekend off?
Armendaf, how are you doing?

Celesmai enjoy the weekend with the baby.

and a hello to the admin people! have a good weekend, although if we're here, you're here also ;-) and hello to anyone else venturing on this thread. good luck with your work, if you're working this weekend.

======= Date Modified 03 Oct 2008 23:01:40 =======
okay i think i am calling it a day now, i read a further 5 pages, i got distracted by supernanny lol and didnt end up going to dinner, love how Jo Frost controls those unruly kids! so i proof read/corrected a further 5 pages. so i have done 10 pages in total today. :-) just another 30 to go, which i will do tommorow.


my dad just sent me this link, to this amazing woman, who has no arms and does all this incredible work with her feet. really really made me feel so grateful for my arms and hands. and made me feel so shameful for all the times i have moaned or complained. really puts things into perspective. if i ever start to feel ungrateful, stressed, or moan about anything- i will watch this video, and tell myself off. just goes to show how much we have to be thankful for, but take for granted.

http://www.elegantbay.com/main/amazingwoman.htm

Morning!

Lara, it's great that you've read part of that chapter, obviously the disapproving matron approach worked for you lol !!! Plod on and you'll probably have foreseen some of the corrections that your sup will also suggest and will have already done them! Coloured pens are good for corrections, I stretched to 3 recently as my toner was running out and I wouldn't have been able to print out a new draft, so it seemed best to have different colours for each different batch of amendments. And maybe that little dash of extra colour brightened up the dull editing process too!! Though it doesn't take much to do that really, does it...

I'm starting to feel a big fat fraud around here, to borrow a phrase from another thread. Except I'm not big or fat to be quite honest, so that would be a big fat lie lol. I didn't do anything worth mentioning yesterday, apart from start looking at that unfinished chapter :-s then I ended up doing domestic things, spent ages on the phone, went shopping etc, then it was dinnertime and I fell asleep and decided that I might as well go to bed, as all that working on my PhD pretence was just that - a figment of my imagination. :$

It's really annoying me, as people say to me 'when are you finishing?' like the Head of College did the other day, and I glibly say 'oh yes, Feb, it's nearly done'. In my mind, I'm nearly finished and keep thinking of getting my life back and nice things I can do afterwards, but there's a huge chasm between then and now, filled with a hideous amount of work that has to be achieved before I can really cross over back into normality. I know what my deadlines are and there's loads to do before then, but I can't do it every time there's a free PhD time slot. Sometimes I'm just knackered, sometimes I keep thinking about work stuff, but sometimes it's neither and it's still hard to get started. I know you have to think about how nice it will be to finish as it keeps you going, especially in the darker moments of PhD hell, but it's the difference between positive thinking and living in cloud cuckoo land I guess.

So aims for today, taking into account that fraudulent aspect.... exactly the same as yesterday, I'm embarrassed to say.
Finish that flipping chapter 4. By lunchtime. :-s
Then start one of the others after lunch- I'll decide which one later, will probably choose the one that's likely to be finished the quickest.
Right, I'll report back later, as this is getting ridiculous. Time is not on my side at the moment, so I'd better speed up a bit...

See you later (up)

Hey Ruby!! nice to hear from you :-) i was beginning to feel like i was talking to myself. hehe
that is such a good point about corrections that i am doing now that the sup would have pointed out, didnt think of it like that. thanks for that boost!

don't feel bad about your productivity. it is very hard to find motivation and energy to write. and it isnt easy for you when you have work aswell. and sometimes you just want to blow off time, just for the hell of it, trust me, i know about that!! as long as you do as much as you can everyday that's what matters. dont worry so much *how much* you are doing everyday, as long as you do a little bit, it will all add up in the end. and you do have plenty of time, you will get it done. just gotta take it one day at a time.

good luck with the chapter! i admire your determination to get it done today.

i woke up at 9.30am. and haven't started yet, always take a long time to *warm up*. i'm feeling hungry though, feel like french toast. so i'm going to proof read 5 pages, and then treat myself to breakfast. yum yum.

lately all i do is think about food lol. im like a food monster.

i have 30 pages to proof read and correct today. must must get it done! (battle face). :-s
i'll keep you company whilst you work aswell.

Hi Lara, I'm glad you're up too!! You are very good at talking to yourself actually, it's very entertaining to read lol!! I was starting to wonder whether I'd be up to that on this thread after you, Tractorgirl and Armendaf are finished - I've a feeling it might fizzle out around here.

Carry on being a foodmonster btw, whatever gets you through this final stretch - it really doesn't matter right now, as long as you're healthy enough.

I'll check in regularly this weekend as am getting a bit sick of my own procrastination, maybe the thought of the public accountability 'shame' will make me work quicker! It's a bit like being in the stocks or something, or that name and shame thing they did with people that didn't pay their TV licences a while back, putting their names and postcodes on posters down the tube stations. Well, maybe not as bad as that lol but these are unusual times, so whatever helps us get through it!(up)

See you later :-)

======= Date Modified 04 Oct 2008 11:26:58 =======
Hello! lol thanks for finding my monologues entertaining hehe. don't worry i am going to be around here for a longgggg time! IF i ever submit, i will be here all the time, trying to coax myself to prepare for my viva and then i will be here when i have to do major corrections. so i reckon another 6 months at least! maybe even another year. so im glad i got you as company.


i just finished proof reading and correcting 5 pages. i first proof read and made corrections on the paper with my pink pen, and after 5 pages, i then corrected my word document on the laptop, found it to be quicker. so that's what i am going to do, instead of doing it alongside.


i am hungry now, so going to have some french toast. yap i will try to be healthy. hehehe well maybe next week lol

good luck with your writing!! i find having to regularly declare what i have done, helps me. sometimes when i was really stuck i would come on here and update how many words i had written on an hourly basis, until i got back into the zone.

Hi girls,

Sorry I haven't been around that much. It's been crazy in work with the new class that started last night. On the bright side, it is a great class, I enjoyed last night lecture, but ended up completely knackered. I couldn't bring myself to switch on the computer again when I got home, although, I got a phone call from my family and I ended up having to switch it on anyway for skype, which resulted in me going to bed really late... Anyway.

My dearest Ruby, you have described in your latest posts so accurately how I've been feeling this past week, that it looks like I could have written it myself. Low motivation, overwhelming feeling of poor achievement, the eyes of people casting their critical views on me, and the embarrassment of having next to nothing to show for. I haven't got news from my supervisor, but I haven't written him either, as I have very little to update since the last time. So no confirmation from him about the extension, however I've got an email from IT services confirming that the expiry date for my account has been removed, which means that my student record has been modified. So, I can take that as a yes, I have the extension. But I'm far, far away from being ready, so there is loads of work to be done just before submitting, and as Lara says, there is still the Viva to prepare to and the mayor corrections I'm sure I will be given. Most likely, I'll be around for still a long time as well.

Lara, I'm glad to hear that you are having a bit of a more relaxing time and that you are working your corrections without having to fret any more. All that hard work is paying off now. I loved you *Matron report* but I'm thinking that I'll need someone a bit stronger than that; perhaps super nanny herself could come and put me in the naughty step until I finish the thesis. Although instead of putting me there for a minute per year of age, I might need a full day per year of age...:$

Celesmai, congratulations on the new arrival. That is fantastic news and I'm glad that both you and Sofia are well. Enjoy your little bundle of joy!

As for myself, I know I've said this before, but I can no longer afford to feel sorry for myself or put things off. Time is running short and I need to get this done now. So I'm going to go crazy this week end and try to get a final version of the first five chapters on a single pdf file as a "separata" of the thesis and distribute it to proof readers while I work on the remaining two chapters. :-s

I can do this!!!! :-s

Hello again!

Hi Armendaf, great to hear from you, we were wondering how you were! It's good that you've got a nice cohort for your new class, it makes such a difference. Once I had a really quiet bunch who came, listened, wrote loads of notes and went away each week and I just couldn't get a lot of discussion going, I actually wished there had been a few gobby students in the group to start them off arguing.

Might be different in your uni, but is it wise to just rely on IT services changing your account as proof of your extension....? Is there a post-grad administrator you could phone to ask for confirmation of the status of your extension, as you can't get hold of your sup? I'm sure it's all fine anyway, no reason it shouldn't be, but it might be extra reassuring to get official evidence - one more little bit of stress busted! Anyway, hope your motivation is increasing a bit more now, it's not long to go and then you can leave it and bask in all your fine efforts!

I've just had a little break - only a snackette, as I know having a big meal sends me to sleep and I don't want that at this time of the day.
I can't believe I'm still going through that chapter, I've started doing that signposting thing, thinking 'well, a sociologist won't understand that term,' so I'd better explain it in a footnote. Anyway, this is the last time I'm reading this chapter for this draft. I've gone through it up to page 26, of 37, and done the fig numbers as I've gone along. A bit more to do on paper, then will have to type up my corrections on the computer and scan in the extra illustrations and fiddle with them a bit. Oh no, it's nearly 2pm!!!! I had some funny idea I'd be done by lunchtime and could go shoe shopping for some of these work events coming up - how naive!!!

Oh well, back to work, I suppose!

Wow. I can't tell you how relieving it is to find lots of the feelings I've had over the past 3 year and six months are completely normal for phd students!! Now I'm in a resubmit phase and having to re-engage with something I had hoped was almost over I find the same feelings returning. However, onward and upward is my only option now.

God speed to us all ;-)

Hi Angelofthenorth,

Me too, I felt so like I was the only one coping with all this PhD weirdness before I discovered this forum. I've read your posts on the other threads and was really horrified at your experiences, I'm so sorry you had to go through it. I really hope your work is going ok now. Pop over to this thread if you ever want to try that sort of online diary approach to working - I thought it was slightly odd and unlikely to help at first, but it seems to work for some of us, at least you get encouragement from others doing the same things. Good luck with your own work!