Sarah, it did work :)

Chickpea and Zutterly, thanks. I have objectives clearly written up but that research question is the difficult one. I think I might wait till 1st drat is written up.

Hi folks, my first post! Somehow got to the final year of this thing, and looking forward to some support -- and giving some of my own -- for the last leg of the journey! :D

Aw cheers Zutterfly! I feel like the whole thing for me has been one long exercise in emotional management! I waited for so long to become "ready" to get things done, and now I'm finally handing in those crappy first drafts- it sometimes feels like failing, but perhaps thats the only way to get things done. I am willing to believe in the miraculous power of editing ;)
How's everyone's week been?

Oh well done you! Good luck! When are you hoping to get final findings in?

I can totally empathise, keep getting dragged back to planning lessons and marking whenever I hit the momentum!
I've also put off marking, to try get a chapter slightly more polished today before lunch, eek!

Then I'm coming back to the summaries of my chapters tomorrow to try and work out how it all hangs together and assign each a word count. Hopefully then it might feel like there's an actual project underneath the rubble!

When's your final hand in? I'm aiming for October :$

In a few days! I went over my initial deadline of the end of April due to illness :(

Good luck with polishing; I plan to do that tomorrow and Monday. Today I have been dragged away from it as I am writing a paper for publication which I am chipping away at for the rest of the month.

The summary approach sounds really sensible along with setting word counts. I plan to also submit in October too as this gives me plenty of time (I hope) to go back and edit. I also need to cut about 10k out of my thesis. I have some ideas where I can cut down content though. I also think I will rewrite a couple of earlier chapters as now the findings are almost complete, some areas I have waffled on about are no longer relevant, whereas other things that I did not include are VERY relevant. This is the part I am dreading the most!

I like the summary approach too! I might try it.

I'm also aiming for Oct for 1st draft.

I've reached the stage where I'm fed up with the PhD and I can't believe I am saying this, but I feel like giving it up. I know I won't and I seriously can't, but I just can't wait for it to all be over, and I can move on with my life.

Hi folks, gorgeous day! Hope you managed to enjoy some of it.
I know exactly what you mean Hugh, been there so many times. Is it because it feels overwhelming, or just that you'd rather be doing something else? For me it seemed to just drag up all my feelings of inadequacy, I guess I felt clever till this point!

All the best with the paper, Zutterfly. It sounds like you are well on track for the Oct submission, surely cutting is easier than adding?!

Submitted my ever so slightly polished chapter yesterday, so actually looking forward to doing the summaries- hopefully a good check in with where I'm at. I often find too that getting an overview of the thing reminds me that I'm excited about the ideas and need to get them down!

I know what you mean too, Hugh, and can't wait to be done with it. I feel that I'm going to have this constant background anxiety until I'm finished with it, and am looking forward to having my life back! I don't think it helps that I'm thinking about non-academic jobs and therefore questioning, 'What is this even for?' - even though I started the PhD out of interest/ambition and not necessarily to enter academia!

Anyway, onwards and onwards - what are folks' plans for the week?

Myoldmonkey and chickpea, thank you! It's reassuring that others relate to my experience and feelings. I think it's a mixture of this had gone on too long, this is making me feel dumb, and what is the point of all this? BUT as chickpea said, onwards and upwards, let's get this thing finished! :)

This week for me is writing up literature review. I've got a lot of reading to do too, so I'm kind of doing it in tandem. I'm also expecting feedback back from supervisor on Friday and I'm dreading it. I know it's going to need revisions, but I just hope it doesn't bruise my self-confidence.

What are you all up to this week?

Guys, I feel the same way about being eager to finish. It has been a beautiful day but I have literally sat at my desk all day marking before working on my thesis.

I am currently editing the chapter on paper before applying the amendments. I am hoping to send it off tomorrow! myoldmonkey- I plan to give myself a week off of the thesis once this chapter is in to focus on the paper and marking. I also want a break from looking at it before I tackle the conclusion! How are the summaries going?

So this week, I hope to have sent this chapter off to my sup, make some headway on the paper I am writing and get through my marking pile. I should also try to spend a day on some major revisions I got from a journal but I keep putting that off. What are you up to Chickpea?

Everyone sounds very industrious!

I'm working on my biggest chapter, writing and analysing in tandem. I gave myself an extra month for this one, so hoping to have it drafted by the end of the month. I'm also still trying to do the dregs of data collection/recruitment for another chapter *bangs head off desk* Recruitment will just never finish, will it? I'll still be recruiting when I'm five years into working at Tesco!