======= Date Modified 18 Aug 2008 14:58:39 =======
the edit function is not working. otherwise would have added this to my message below

but
how do you give people stars? test

okay only 5 weeks left, eeeeeeeeeek okay now i am stressing out that time will run out! and so much left to write.

i think i might go for the "sprint" and try to get as much done by september 1st. will pretend that's my deadline for my thesis and get it to final draft.

i dont know if i should work on multiple chapters per day. or work on one chapter per day.
or maybe set myself mini deadlines for each chapter, and if i havent completed the chapter by the mini deadline move onto the next chapter.

Miss spacey, the lecture was indeed good, thanks again for telling me about it! its definately changed my perspective on things!! being grateful for everyday we have...

i've started a time journal and its really helping me with motivation. its nice to clock in what you've done on an half hourly or hourly basis. :)
it's so sad he died though, he had t all, good work life balance, and lovely kids and a wife. it really saddens me. so tragic :(

really makes you think that life really is so short, and you never know when.. gotta live one day at a time and make the most of each day. and not waste time complaining but looking at the bright side of things.


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walminskipeas, thanks so much for your supportive and encouraging message, i really appreciate it! :-)

Thanks you guys!! for the kind and encouraging words!

TG you are very kind, thanks so much :) i love your enthusiasm its so contagious :)

although i must confess - i feel like i have so much to learn and understand and write. theres still so much left to do for my thesis, but you're right at least i have a draft i can now improve on, and work on, even though its really crap at the moment. and needs ALOT more information and holes to fill in, and at best its a skeleton, and needs so much more detailed information. i barely have any references in it! but at least its not blank pages...i think at the moment its probably about 30%

but i feel positive about it, even though theres so much to do- i dont know why but i am not feeling embarrassed that i didnt know the stuff, i've just been focusing on the wrong and little minute details instead of the important bits. so from now on, im going to use the mentality "its good enough" and force myself to move onto the next bit. and start to make more of an effort to understand it and be able to explain it verbally. i am not very good at explaining stuff, i might get it, but i find it hard to articulate it.need to work on that. or i have a vague understanding of it. lol its almost like revising for an exam.

i didnt know the answer to any of the questions she asked me which has highlighted what i should be learning and understanding in preperation for the viva. imagine being in the viva and not even knowing the basic information! the questions they ask to make you comfortable! to start off with. i didnt even know those. right now, i dont know anything, but there's still time to learn and revise and understand.

[/quote]

I would so be the breakdown student in a viva! tearing it up and throwing it out the window.... :$[/quote]

me too!! i can so imagine me having a breakdown during the viva and just saying, erm i really dont know anything , i dont know the answer to that, nor that! nor that. "i knnnnnoooow naaaathing" and i would say it in an itallian accent just for flair lol :p and say the examiner , yah i agree with you, its rubbish.

oh no i wrote this massive message and it got deleted :(

oh i can't be bothered to rewrite it. let me write the key points

1. WELL Done tractorgirl on nearly completing your first draft and having it ready to hand in on tuesday. that is BRILLIANT! i am so proud of you and impressed! you did it! yeh! :)

2. i had a really good and productive meeting with my 2nd supervisor, she gave me LOADS of constructive critisism. tore my summary outline of my phd thesis to shreds!!! right now my thesis is crap, but lol, i dont mind, i'm just so happy to get feedback!! but its good that i know now what i need to work on. i feel like i have a set of things i need to do, so dont feel so lost and confused as to what to work on. i feel very overwelmed, and my head is a mush, it was a 3 and half hours meeting!!!! but i learnt more in those 3 hours than i did for the past couple of months!! so i'm really glad she made time for me and gave me feedback on my thesis outline. although she said the thesis outline was too long and detailed. but at least i got my feedback. because this is the only feedback i'm going to get now. she's off on holiday now. my 1st supervisor went on holiday without replying to any of my emails and hasnt signed my entry forms. but he's coming back sept 1st. so that's my deadline to get my thesis completed with all the feedback and harrass him to sign my forms and arrange examiners for me.

3. i'm going to make a 2 week plan starting tommorow. i'm taking the evening off now. tommorow i will write up my notes from the meeting, and then go through the critisism of the thesis outline one by one. approach it methodically.

Good luck Billy!!!! that's great you taking iniative and tracking your daily progress!!

I am doing that also, i have a time journal. i have to record what i have done on an hourly basis! kinda has helped me to stay motivated. because when the egg timer goes off, i don't want to log in and write "erm did nothing". lol

i look forward to reading your daily progress! we're all with you!

I hope she is feeling better about it. Today my collegue told me about how she went to a talk about a viva, and how the lecturer told them about how one time she was an examiner at a viva, and a phd student literally had a breakdown DURING the viva! She took her phd thesis and started tearing it page by page and throwing it out of the window! (i kid you not)

i said to my collegue, that could be me!

and the examiner was just astounded and shocked, and couldnt believe what she was doing, later realised that the student was actually having a nervous breakdown, and she had to lie down or something.

i can so imagine me failing my phd viva! lol i dont think i'm ready, but being forced to submit cause of my deadline. eeeeek 5 weeks. i feel like i dont know anything
oh well, nevermind :-) will try to cram!!

Poor thing, she must be devastated. but i agree with tom, it's not a failure, she can still get her mphil. which is good. somethings are not meant to be, it's not the end of the world. i am sure she's more hard on herself than she needs to be. these things happen. it doesnt mean she's a poor student or lacks intelligence, just sometimes these things happen.
i hope she takes a break and finds courage and determination to do the changes for the mphil. but right now, she needs a break from it all to recover emotionally. i really do feel for her :-(

======= Date Modified 13 Aug 2008 12:48:55 =======
You're welcome armendaf :) and well done on achieving your goal, that is great!

I just watched this amazing and inspiring lecture by Randy Pausch about time management. It's so tragic, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was told he would only have 3-6 months of good health left, but still kept his humour and didn't complain. He sadly died in July of this year. He was full of life, and so productive with his time.

His main take home message is that TIME is valuable more so than money, because you can never get time back.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5784740380335567758

Miss Spacey gave me the link to the lecture. Thanks !!

it is well worth watching it, but watch it at the end of the day, when you are "free" i dont want it to disturb your productivity. but it is inspiring, and well worth it.

take home messages i took from the lecture:

have a time journal, where every 15-30minutes you log in what you actually did. so you can keep track where your time goes.
create artificial deadlines.
break everything down into smaller steps.
file everything away.
have a plan, even though later on you will change it, but start with a rough plan to begin with.

quotes:
""We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand...
* "How do you get people to help you? By telling the truth.
* "Apologise when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.
* "Show gratitude.
* "Don't complain. Just work harder
"Find the best in everybody. You might have to wait a long time, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting, it will come out. And be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity."

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======= Date Modified 13 Aug 2008 10:37:56 =======

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/0910/
you_can_write_your_thesis_without_writing_lists/

copy it all together. i had to put in a gap otherwise didnt get posted in full.

nice little article about how if you're not the type of person that doesn't make lists and think linerarly, there is still hope you can finish your thesis!

WOW nice quote. thanks Olivia! :-)



and OMG!!! the layout, I was away from the PG forum for one day, and its all changed. i like the word count feature and the quote feature, although the colours and layout will take some getting used to it. but me likes. but yah it's very strange!!!

My general aims for today are to work on the results section of chapter 3, 4, and 5. i have a meeting with my 2nd supervisor tommorow, I am really nervous about that. as i feel like i haven't accomplished much this past month! and i dont know where the time flies..

i am not going to put down a list of aims, as i never ever meet them, so just putting a general aim to get as much done today. (up)

TG i hope you had a relaxing weekend! I did too. I was feeling very tired, so took the day off on saturday, and then did a tiny bit on sunday (my friend showed me how to do a chi squared test using this free programe).

right it's monday, so away we go!

i have a meeting with my 2nd supervisor on thursday. i am feeling very nervous about it. but am preparing myself for her to say my thesis is complete crap and needs ALOT of work. which i already know. i am thinking to myself that i only have 3 weeks left till sept 1st, so will try to complete it as much as i can, so than i have a few weeks to tidy up loose ends etc. Alot can be done in 3 weeks. just need to pace ourselves, and not overwork ourselves, because it's a marathon not a sprint. so regular breaks are essential, so we don't feel frustrated and tired.

i once read a quote something on the lines of, it's not the problems or the nature of the difficulty or adversary that matter, but how we respond to it...