Signup date: 21 May 2008 at 9:34pm
Last login: 11 Jul 2011 at 10:39am
Post count: 3929
======= Date Modified 22 Aug 2008 11:37:51 =======
======= Date Modified 21 Aug 2008 23:30:39 =======
okay peeps i am clocking out for today. i am really sleepy.
my original plan was to complete results section and discussion by 9pm. didn't meet either aims, but am making progress on chapter 5.
total "productive time" today was about 7 and half hours. a personal record for me i think! lol.
i love tracking my time and filling in the bubbles on the online tracker. http://davidseah.com/tools/ett/alpha/
and clocking in my times everytime i come back to my desk to work.
i no longer surf the internet or anything. and just do my work, and during my breaks, i actually leave my desk, and either walk for a minute in the garden or watch 15 minutes of a dvd. or have a quick snack. i found the key is to take a break every hour or at least every 2 hours.
i took regular breaks almost every hour or 2 hours. even if the break was just 15 minutes or so. i didnt have a heavy lunch today, but just had light snacks, like fruits, salads and hummus, or abit of fish. and herbal tea and water.
and found myself more alert. anytime i was feeling bored or didn't want to work, i told myself i *only* have to work for 15 minutes and then can take a break, which led to me still being at my desk for an hour. i love how i manage to trick myself every time haha.
i realised before i used to procrastinate all day and then feel guilty and then work during the night to make up for it. but now i am forcing myself to work during the day even if i hate it, and keep reminding myself, i have to work during the day when i am actually alert and i wont be able to make up for it in the evening because i will be too tired and sleepy, so during the day is all i have. and i can even treat myself in the evening by watching a dvd or something.
and omg i can't believe another week has flown by!!!!!! does anyone have the power to stop time? because t
======= Date Modified 21 Aug 2008 09:37:17 =======
Yesterday's report: Did about 4 and half hours of productive time. i haven't finished chapter 5. i have set a new deadline to finish it by tonight. because today i am meant to be working on chapter 3. so i am already behind schedule:$ although chapter 5 -my 2nd sup critisised the most and said it was the least polished and required the most work. so perhaps its justified to spend abit more time on this chapter.
i'm going to split the day up. and set myself deadlines throughout the day.
1. results section : deadline 2pm
2. discussion section: deadline 6pm
3. introduction section: deadline 10pm
i will pretend that by midnight - i have to give my chapter 5 to an examiner. and so pull it up to a level, i would be comfortable showing to a person.
but will take a small break every hour...
======= Date Modified 20 Aug 2008 10:21:25 =======
======= Date Modified 20 Aug 2008 10:20:23 =======
My time log from yesterday:
total productive hours - 5 and half hours.
worked for an hour,
an hour and half break (breakfast etc),
worked for an hour and half,
took a 3 and half hour break (lunch/nap),
worked for an hour and half, then took a small 30min break,
worked for an hour.
then had dinner watched some telly and fell asleep at midnight.
--
what i did:
made 1 figure.
wrote 2 paragraphs.
did 2 statistical analysis.
----
compared to my previous days of accomplishing absolutely zero on this chapter, because i was so lost and overwelmed by restructuring my chapter, thinking of doing just one thing at a time, really helped.
----
usually , my working days, consisted of working 1-2 hours of productive time, and the other time, procrastinating!! or working for an hour or so, then taking a break and not wanting to go back to work. but now i trick myself and tell myself, i only have to work for 15 minutes and then i can take a break again. but the 15 minutes always turns into an hour, because i get into it!...
i might even try going for a bike ride for 30 minutes too, as i feel abit sluggish.
---
my aims today:
work for 15minutes or 1 hour at a time, and take regular breaks.
work on chapter 5: results section.
--
good luck everyone!
of course i know if i carry on like this, i wont meet my deadline, but the idea is to get into the habit of working consistently everyday, and spend more time working than worrying.. so each day i am going to try to aim to work that bit more ....improve each day... and tell myself that every bit i've done, is that one step closer to finishing, and means i have done that one bit, and its done.
p.s i also did not check my email all day yesterday. and will check my email every other day, but at the end of my working day. my only vice is checking this forum once in the morning :-)
oh no! i wrote this long message and it got deleted!! ugh!!!!
okay nevermind. will keep this short and write more later
but just wanted to say WELL DONE tractorgirl on getting your chapters done! that's brilliant!!!
and dont worry about it being up to scratch. your supervisor cannot stop you from submitting, if its a choice between submitting and risking a fail/major corrections, or not submitting at all and then failing by default because u didnt meet the deadline. the decision to submit ultimately according to uni regulations lies with the student!
if he thinks its not up to scracth then he should apply for an extention on your behalf. he cant just say. you cant submit. and then you just fail because u didnt meet the deadline. so dont worry about that.
besides i am sure it is up to scratch!! i have faith in you :-)
and you totally deserve a reward for working so hard and meeting your deadline. you've got a complete draft now and that is so brilliant at this stage!! i wish i had a complete draft, so you're doing really well!!
hope you have a good day today! and see you tommorow :-) good on ya for getting back to it.
thanks for the advice yesterday about doing bit by bit, and it worked!!! instead of telling myself i have to work 6 -8 hours i just told myself, to work on 1 thing and i took regular breaks, and i worked for 5 and half hours in total. but took massive breaks !!
so going to do that again. instead of saying to myself, i have to have a marathon working session. so thanks alot for your support! and the advice K gave too :)
the only thing that works for me, is to set myself a very small thing to do for my thesis. like i will write down:
make figure 1. and then set my timer for 15 minutes.
instead of thinking, restructure the entire chapter. thats too much for my brain and i get bored or disheartened even before i start. so i just focus on one thing at a time, tick it off and then move onto the next thing.
i hope that has helped(up) good luck! and its perfectly natural to feel like you. i feel like that alot! my main worry is that time will run out and i wont have finished my chapters. or that my chapters are not up to scratch. the only thing we can do, is work as much as we can during each day.
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