i also have a little book, which i call "paper memory" (term nicked from joan bolker) where i jot down, problems, ideas, and things i need to look up. that way i feel psychologically secure that it's written down, and i can go back to it at a later stage, and doesnt interrupt my flow of writing when i'm in the "zone".
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total productive time = 2 hours and 25 minutes.

total words = 2053 words

goodnight

*clocks out*

I basically did what Joan bolker suggests, to keep writing, and not stop for anything. if i didn't understand something, i would just put in brackets in blue, {don't get this, find out more about it, read up on it.} etc, most of time,it was relating to the stats that was done on my data. which i really dont get!

so i will have to read up on it. i could ask my 2nd supervisor, but feel intimidated to bother her. so i will try to find out on my own. the statician that did the work, is super busy and the other one moved to another country. but at the moment i'm trying not to stress about it, and ploughing through with the rest of the chapter. and then come back to it.

*clocks in*

So I have realised I work better when I have a short-term deadlines.
So I will work in 3 day deadlines.

My next deadline is friday 6th june:
aim to get a zero draft of chapter 4 and approx 6000 words.

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I mistakenly emailed my 2nd supervisor asking for a table that we made for my paper, and realised i already had it! doh, i'm sleepy, i sent another email apolagising. hope she doesn't get irritated with me!
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okay update: after panicking for most of the day and having writers block. i finally got over it.
i stuck several pieces of A4 paper together and made a huge sheet, on which i made a spider- diagram of the basic layout of the chapter. i have now stuck it to the wall. :)

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wait till you hit your last year of your phd. multiply the stress your having for your msc, by 100 (or even more!) when you come to writing a phd thesis.

be careful of supervisors that convince you to write papers first before your thesis, if you can, do both at the same time.

don't let them make you feel guilty for taking time off. they will ALWAYS say, "when i did my phd, i worked 7 days a week, and 12 hours a day, and i never took any holiday" blah blah. they will act as if they were a martyr. don't listen to them! you deserve your holiday, otherwise you will go mad. they wont thank you for NOT taking any holiday.

expect experiments not to work all the time. even when you do everything right, it's just sods law.

apart from that, Good luck!!

learn how to use endnote

keep your labbook up to date! most important. try to write up your experiments as you go along! if need be, spend an hour each day writing up what you did, you will be happy you did. i sometimes made the mistake of doing loads and loads of experiments, and not wanting to "waste" time writing my lab book, wouldn't write in it for weeks, and then coming back to it, i would be completely stumped as to what i did!

(sorry i am assuming it's a science phd, whatever applies to you, take that, ignore the rest)

expect harsh critisisms, some will be totally unjustified, sometimes someone is having a bad day and will just lash out at you.

i agree with everyone above, and what they have said..

from my personal experience. here are some tips.

read papers as you go along, even if its just one paper a week, it will add up! and you wont understand everything the paper says, some papers are written poorly (when i first started, i thought every paper was perfect, and i was the idiot that couldn't understand it, until my supervisor told me about good papers and bad papers - so be critical about the papers you read - if you get stuck, make a note of it, and find another paper on a similar subject to understand that paper).

write notes on the papers as you read them, they will come in useful, and file this away, whether you write on paper, or on your computer... you might get inspired by what you read, and may help you to broaded your knowledge and think out of the box sometimes.

hmm my masters was easy compared to my phd, now that i am looking back at it! or maybe i am looking back with tinted rose glasses! the writing of the Msc thesis of the 3 month project was stressful though! i can't even remember exactly what the heck i did! or what the project was, something about cloning.

my advice though, is to write as you go along, those 3 months that you spend doing your final experiment project, do fly by, and you don't want the stress of writing your MSc thesis, whilst embarking on a phd. and don't worry if the experiment doesn't pan out, or you get negative results. Msc examiners aren't so fussy as long as you write a nice story.

Yep, I went straight from my masters into my phd, with only 2 week break between. i had to write my masters thesis and hand it in, then told my phd supervisor, i really need a little break before i started.

yep, it was hard. i've never taken a break from studying! it's been gcse, alevels, degree, msc, now phd. after my phd, whether i pass or fail, i am taking a sebatical! and finally having some "me" time to do whatever i want :)

once you sign up for a phd, it's like selling your soul to the devil! no escape, your life is in their hands now!

sorry i'm meant to be encouraging you. erm, *looks to the other members of the forum*

okay on the plus side, the only thing that i do like, (did like) is the ability to work independently, basically you are given the freedom to just get on with it. but with regular deadlines and checking up on you though!

but in essence, you work to your own way. that's one thing i do like, i must admit.

yes, you're right, deadlines really do focus the mind! so i'm setting a new deadline, for this friday.

Thanks Bilbo! for your advice. you're right.

I have decided to get on with the papaer chapter rewrite. face my fear so to speak. that way when i have my meeting next week, i will feel that i have done something for my thesis. and can feel that my supervisor didn't do ALL The work for the paper as he likes to think he did.

i know this chapter i will definately have to include in my thesis. so i really ought to get going on it. so my motivation is to really expand on it..that way i will feel that it's my chapter.

yeh the counselling thing is a good idea! if i have to meet with my graduate tutor, i will ask him if i can have a session with a counceller. but he hasn't responded to my emails yet, about my deadline.

thanks so much for your advice. i really appreciate it.

i'm going to do a big brainstorm for all the things i think i need to do for this chapter. so i've pasted a couple of A4 papers together and going to do a big spider brainstorm diagram. and stick it to my wall..

and tell myself i ONLY have 3 days to write the draft for this chapter. i think deadlines (even if they are self imposed, really work for me).

so my deadline is friday 6th june, to get a zero draft of chapter 4.

lol thanks Sam,

i think i feel overwelmed by this particular chapter, because i spent a year writing the paper. and i have multitude of drafts and results tables and just alot of raw material, i haven't looked at for months! once the paper was finalised. i didn't wanna look at it.
and then what my supervisor said, really hurt me.

so i am just going to focus on the task itself, and put my supervisors words out of my head. and just focus on getting a zero draft done and just think about that and nothing else.

i really hate him for saying that. and acting as if he wrote the paper and did all the work. $&%$£$$!!

i don't know what to do. i feel like i don't want to use any of the paper for my chapter, because of what he said. but i wrote the paper so that it would help me write the chapter. but he changed what i wrote. so maybe i should rewrite the whole paper in my own words. that way i wont get done for "plagerism" and i read that you're meant to write it in your own words, and i dont remeber what bits are mine and what bits he rewrote.

but if i rewrite it in my own words, when i show him my chapter, he's gonna say its crap because he thinks i write very badly and unscientifically

Thanks Sam for your help.

at the moment I have writers block :(

i hate my supervisor and what he said to me concerning my 2nd paper and now i have writers block. because i hate him so much. and i cant even bring myself to read my 2nd paper and use it as a foundation to write my chapter.

i spent a year working on my 2nd paper, meticulously checking the data, making loads of figures, changing them as requested. writing drafts after drafts. and then finally giving them my final draft. and then he turns around and says to me based on the fact i haven't written my thesis yet, and my deadline is september..

"Where is the productivity? And then **** and I both ended up putting a lot of work into the papers to make them presentable."

i feel utterly gutted. the email was sent last week. but it's still haunting me