i consider a person who is boring, a person that does absolutely NOTHING.

you're doing something. you're working hard. which is to be admired.

Jojo, i cant believe he said that to you! boring!! what a jerk! how can you be boring. your putting your blood sweat and tears into this doctorate!!

they make movies about exciting research etc. not about people who do boring 9-5 jobs!!

yah people who are not in the "phd" world, they just dont get it. and will never get it.
and only few friends outside the phd world, will understand.

i am lucky that most of my friends are fellow phd students. one of my best friends just recently finished her phd.
my other two best friends even though they are non-phd. they understand the stress of my phd. others dont so i just stay out of their way.

you keep going jojo, when this is over and done with, you can then do all the things you wanted to do!

i'll keep you company today! starting on a brand new chapter today. will be stuck in my study room all day.

good luck with your work! keep it up, you're doing so great.

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next deadline is next friday: zero or 1st draft of my main result chapters:

chapter 2 (zero draft previously done based on first paper published + need to do a 1st draft and include some stuff from mphil thesis)

chapter 3 (zero draft done, sent to 2nd supervisor, awaiting feedback)

chapter 4 (zero draft nearly finished)

chapter 6: need to do a zero draft from scratch, one of the hardest chapters of my thesis. some of which will take from mphil but most will have to write from lab books and from memory eek.

ok i've decided:

sat - target: zero draft of chapter 6.

sun - target: 1st draft of chapter 3.

monday - make a detailed outline of all the chapters and thesis.
- phone the graduate office (again) and ask them if they have sent the examination forms.

* wait for the forms to come in the post. and then email evil supervisor to arrange a meeting.

okay i feel better.

but i still haven't recieved my examination forms. so maybe i should wait till i get the forms, and then arrange the meeting. i cant afford to keep going to the lab (train fares etc are so expensive). so might aswell do it all in one trip.
maybe i can just email him the thesis content and give him a brief outline of the chapters i want to write, and what i have done so far.

he still hasnt answered my first email i wrote to him.

and my second supervisor told me she will get back to me on the rough draft of one of the chapters i sent her.

sorry just thinking out loud. it helps me to get it out, otherwise it keeps swooshing in my head and clouds my brain.

and my collegue just told me that one of his phd students, quit her phd this week! after 2 years! so thats abit of a shock to everyone. but she said its because of technical difficulties and not having any data and etc. but i reckon lab politics has alot to do with it.

AND my other collegue was "considering" about quitting his phd too, because he's so unhappy in the lab environment. and with our supervisors.. but he's gonna stick to it, because he's invested 2 years in it.

so it makes me feel better that i am not the only one that feels like this.

anyone have any advice on how i can get over my anxiety to meet my supervisor for my meeting? i think i am suffering from agrophobia. i haven't left the house, and i feel scared to do so.

i was thinking of emailing him on monday to arrange a meeting, but i dont want to meet him next week... but then i cant keep avoiding it.

so i'm spending this weekend to get a rough draft of two other chapters done. so i wont feel like a complete loser that hasn't done anything for my thesis.

i really really don't want to meet him, and i'm dreading it so much! his email really scared me. and he's even more scarier in real life, when you're on his bad side..

but i have to meet him, to get his "approval" of the chapters for my thesis, and he wants to know exactly what i have done. otherwise he wont let me submit my thesis in sept.

side note:

something that's worrying me - i have to arrange a meeting with my evil supervisor next week. i'm really scared to meet him, as he will tell me off severly for not having my thesis written. and thinks its a waste of his time having to read my thesis and arranging examiners for me, cause he thinks
a) i wont be able to write a good thesis, as he thinks my writing is rubbish
b) thinks i dont have a good understand of my subject.

both of which has affected my confidence.

love this strip..

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=334

so update:

met my deadline today, my target was to write 6000 words for chapter 4, by friday night, based on my paper. most of the words were already there, and i just rewrote it.

total words so far of the chapter is 6516 words.

i still need to do loads of stuff for the chapter though. but its a start, a zero draft.

hey, how did your transcribing go and burning the midnight oil last night?

i've been procrastinating most of this evening. i feel i should do a couple of hours before i head to bed.

anyone else up and trying to work?

i'm sure it will be fine, you should be proud of yourself for handing it in. well done you! good luck

i dont watch BB, but i like the idea of the september club
i'm addicted to greys anatomy, that's my vice

it's fine gathering an idea on what the future holds to make a decision. but it seems like you're really stressed at the moment regarding your masters. is the reason your asking all these questions a way to figure out whether you want to finish your masters at all?

Can I actually ask you a question, it seems like you're really stressed about your masters.

my advice would be to not worry about phd, fellowship etc. until you get through your masters. concentrate on the task at hand, and then deal with the rest. it will all fall into place.

and ask yourself why you really want to do a phd.

focus on your masters, and get that done. trust me, when you look too far into the future, it can really stress you out.

lol fantastic find of the comic. i'm a big fan of the phd comics!! the one that i really like is when he's trying to write his thesis and his wife keeps asking him how he's getting on. and he keeps procrastinating. classic!