i understand, sometimes crying and releasing built up and pent up frustration is our bodies way of releasing it. that's what i did last saturday, i cried all day, because i felt i was going to fail, and there was no point carrying on...

i am proud of you, for pushing through.

and having 4 draft chapters is very excellent!! i wish i had that! at the moment i have no draft chapters. so you're my inspiration, to get cracking and produce my drafts..

good luck with your work today!!! you can do it!

I want to say a big thank you to everyone on the forum for your support and encouragment, i could not have done it without you guys! ya'll are the best !

and now i feel good that i accomplished a zero draft of the results section of one of my chapters. even though its a tiny piece of the big puzzle. it feels good to have taken that one tiny step...and even though its only a crappy zero draft, it's better than what i had last week, which was a blank document

*clocks in *

approx producitive time spent = 5 hours and 30 minutes.
total words approx - 2000.

accomplished. tables and results calculations done.
finished my first zero draft of the results section of chapter 5.

i am feeling pretty tired now, so i am done for today.

i will look through my zero draft tommorow and turn it into a first draft fit enough to email to my supervisor tommorow.

i think the zero draft needs to rest overnight, and i need fresh pair of eyes to look over it tommorow. i am feeling too tired to do it now.

seems like deadlines really do get my butt into gear lol. i really pushed myself today, and took no breaks and just worked all day, even though at times i wanted to just take a long break and get away from it, i kept at it, because i knew today was my last day to get it done.

Thanks Bobby!!
i appreciate your encouragement!

coginitive psychology and neuroscience, wow sounds very interesting!! very impressive

ignore the people that ask about how you're writing up is going...

concentrate on getting all your lab work done, and 4 months is plenty of time, to accomplish alot! and you wont fail. you can do it! we're all right behind ya!

and there are always more experiments you can do, but you finally have to draw a line. and can always put in the thesis, for future...so do your best and get as much lab work done as you can. and if you're not feeling too tired, try to spend a day or so a week, writing up what you have done, and reading a paper. it does add up!

i've read a thesis that passed, where the student said stuff like, experiment needs to be repeated to verify findings, etc etc. and he passed!

Jouri

"I'm sure there are countries where you get 5 months paid holiday and additional benefits such as a 9-4 environment with 1-hour lunchbreaks"

let me know when you find such a country!! i am so there!

i am leaving academia after i finish my phd, fail or pass. i am outta here!!!

don't worry yourself about what they will say about your work. at least you're trying and have work to show them. better than showing them a blank piece of paper. the point is, that you're trying, and that's what really counts!!!

Remember what BB said, that psychologists were saying that the best way to write first, was to first write loads and loads of rubbish, and then edit it later, and polish it up.
people who write like that, are more productive and will unlock something very interesting and inspiring, that they didnt even know they knew! those type of people are much more productive than those who plan meticulously and try to write perfect first time. no one can write perfect first time. no such thing!

you're doing so great Jojo!! you've inspired me to work hard! i think there will always be days where we doubt our capability, we just have to fight those demons and push through the pain barrier...

i will keep you company tonight. it's going to be an all nighter for me, i have to email my supervisor with results section of one of my chapter by tommorow morning..

i am feeling hungry though. i told myself i cant have dinner unless i was complete. so just had popcorn today whilst i was working on my computer..

i'm right behind ya Jojo! if it wasn't for your online writing diary and this forum, i would have given up writing my thesis. and succumbed to just failing and not even trying.

awww Jojo, I know how you feel. I was going through a very depressing day yesterday, where i felt like i was no way going to be able to write a thesis that's even decent and meet my sept deadline, and that in a weeks time, my main supervisor was going to tell me , that i a a complete idiot and i dont deserve a phd!
--

i think it's normal for every phd student to have doubts and fears. doing a phd is very hard, and emotionally and psychologically draining.

hang in there Jojo. you have been doing so well!

and like Joan Bolkers says, its easier to improve on the writing you have done, the hardest part is getting the stuff down now matter how crap you *think* it is, there probably is alot of rough diamonds, that just need some polishing.

but that was funny, yah exactly it's ridiculous for us to scorn at ourselves for not having written our entire thesis in a day. lol

You are so funny, you made me laugh and smile

I can SOOOOOOOOOOOO relate to what you said

"Sitting at my laptop and being utterly miserable because I haven’t written my whole thesis before lunch time may, possibly, be being a little hard on myself. Especially since I still have data to collect!"

lol!! i thought i was the only one that felt like that. felt guilty and incompetent that i havent written my whole thesis, and even though logically i know it's going to take time. and that every step counts. you still feel crap how long it's going to take..

oh no! that's worst nightmare. do you know how you got the virus?

i'm suprised, considering you have a firewall and antivirus software. that scares me that no one is safe then!

trillian,

"My supervisor recommends dividing each chapter up into subsections, then dividing each of those into paragraph that make one point, until what you have left is not an enormous piece of work but lots of little tasks."

that is EXCELLENT advice! i read about that in a book on how to write a phd thesis.

thanks for sharing that!

nothing like a deadline to focus the mind and get you motivated!