have had a few bad days... but now NO excuses anymore. i have to push til i finish this chapter.

am using the pomodoro technique mytomatoesdotcom.

how may tomatoes have you done today? i usually do 6 on an average day and 10 on a good day.

can i do more than 10? am aiming for 11 today.

who wants to join me?

my greatest distractions are fb & sleep.. i need to cut down on fb and give up the idea that one day i will be an early riser. i have accepted myself and the fact that am created to burn the midnight oil.. not to be the Sir Allen 5am type. lol.

right..

12.40 pm - 1am - lets see how many tomatoes i can do.

have a tomatoery day. lol.

thanks Lindalou!

your confidence in my ability is making tonnes more difference than you'll ever know.

am very relieved today, one terribly hard section is done today. will proofread and polish (references only!) tomorrow. and then i'll have 9 days of very hard work as its an analysis section. when this chapter is done i will be the happiest girl in the world!

all the best to everyone else writing. hang in there.

at pineapple - i know what you mean on cutting words. i had to cut a part of my former draft from 58,000 to 10,000 words. to say i was traumatised is an understatement!

hi all!!! its great to have company and know that am not the only one who's overwhelmed by this thesis writing! my organisation hasn't been very good so i have so much to do in a month. write two chapters. one from scratch - though its 5,000 words. also try not to panic while am at it. lol

am particularly concerned about my efficiency. today i have only added three paragraphs to my thesis :( and read so much. i suppose though that's progress from yesterday. its gonna be a tough 10 days ahead but am prepared to take them on. only managing 9 or 10 tomatoes a day. wish i could improve that.

but either way am happy. tomorrow i will try very hard not to be a perfectionist.

to avoid panicking - am not aiming for a good thesis. just an interesting thesis. ;) (that's a major tip right there. lol)

======= Date Modified 29 Nov 2011 14:35:44 =======
34 days to go.. struggling through chapter 4.. want to give it my best shot the next 3 days and then polish. its tough.. no kidding. lol. my aim is to have it done and dusted by December 10th. i've added 5 days to the initial Dec 5th deadline to give myself some breathing space. and then chapter 5 by Christmas eve. its just 5,000 words long so am hoping its doable. then 10 days to proofread and do footnotes and formatting. and then i'll be a free bird.. can't wait. that is actually exciting me more than the quality or outcome of thesis- as at this point i just want to move on with life - regardless of outcome. yay!

but before then 30 days of very hard work..

Lindalou - thanks you post is very encouraging. at least you think its doable. i agree with you about typing straight into document. wish someone told me that ages ago. lol.

how is your work going?

thanks for that Catalinbond. you're right the most important thing is to get it done!

48 days to go.. :$

two chapters to write. i've decided to leave ch.3. no more polishing. i need to move!

there's lots to read for ch.4. sometimes i think can i do this?

but am determined to press on.. like you said, just get it written. how's everyone else doing? any other january deadlines?

hi eska. i am. thanks for the feedback.

49 days to go. sigh.... 1 chapter to hand in today. two to go.. i doubt my supervisor will actually read through this thesis. :(

but gotta be positive for todays target - hand in ch. 3 and stop being a perfectinist!!! :$

2 more chapters to go.

anyone got a chapter that is 30,000 words long? my thesis is 5 chapters and one of them is that long. its on context. anyone else with such a thing?

(ch 1 is intro 10k, then context/background ch.2 - 30k, then ch.3 broad area - 20k leaving me with 20k for ch. 4 (my thesis) & ch5 (conclusion)

======= Date Modified 11 Nov 2011 20:05:32 =======
thanks guys. a lot to think about. i had a change of heart today and decided just to push on. i went to see the doctor yesterday as i have been having recurrent flus and they said they need to contain that first before sending me to a chronic fatigue clinic. am generally working in pain but am hoping that once the antibiotics have done their work things will be better. the phd is the cause of my fatigue and am thinking - i should just get on with it. its just two more months - no more like 50 days after all. even if i take time off i will still come back and be under the same pressure plus there are not guarantees the fatigue will go away soon. any thoughts?

hi all..

am two months to my submission deadline and am struggling chronic fatigue. am wondering whether to push on and submit a sub-standard thesis and hope for corrections or interrupt my studies for 6 weeks or so to recover and be able to give my best as am having problems with my short-term memory. flowing the flow of my work now has become nearly impssible. i've had an extension before on health grounds so i can't ask for another extension as this is the absolute final deadline.

i also think an interruption would seem better than an extension from the school's viewpoint. an extention will just make me look like am not bothered about finishing which is so far from the truth.

i struggle through each day and i really need a break from all this or at least a massive reduction in the pace.

please advise?

should i just carry on or interrupt?

Tey -am keeping that tables advice in mind. in fact from now hence forth am going to work on it like a final draft.

funny enough on my bad days when i manage no work.. i could actually format tables and do bibliography but even that doesn't come to mind!

i probably need help. lol.

96 days to go!

its a lot of time. more than a quarter a year! depends how you look at it. ;)

hey Tey and Catalinbond! thanks so much for the encouragement. :-) am definitely not giving up.

Sunday i completed reading. Yesterday was a bit messed up after getting derailed with family emergencies so i lost a day. But at least today i managed 12 hours of work! am really proud of myself and looking forward to another 12 tomorrow!

am so happy that my work is taking shape now and the quality actually looks better. my first draft seems to have been really rough but then again, that's why its a draft.

thank you all!

all the best Catalinbond - i can only imagine!

7 tomatoes + reading complete. really pleased!! also excited by the quality of my latest brain wave. :)

can't wait to explore that in further detail.

goodnight guys and goodluck to those working.

off to bed.

thanks Ady for your advice. I'm really encouraged that someone thinks its doable!

am up today completing reading that my supervisor says i should include.

i hope to write up the first of the remaining four chapters between Monday and Friday.

you're right about the reading. its so easy to get carried away exploring new tangents.

thanks for the referencing and formatting tip. i should get started on that asap. especially the references!