I had this with the Robert Jordan 'Wheel of Time' series. Still happens every time I read them. Unfortunately there are 13 HUGE books so far! I had to seal them up in a box and put them in my parents attic coming close to one set of exams. I find setting aside some time (long enough !) to finish a book when it gets to that exciting part can be really great. You enjoy it so much more and feel refreshed for your work. Also set some tasks you have to finish before your friend/colleague/family member is allowed to give you the book back.

But sometimes it's just fun to throw caution to the wind and read like crazy! :$

This is where I wish I could write my thesis in my natural language which has these wonderful things 'free verbs' which is like saying that 'someone' brought things together (for example) without mentioning who the someone was or even having to use any word for them. It results in beautiful writing and clear expressions and is often used in formal writing like this. I'm not sure if this is useful to you, perhaps there's a way you could imply that somebody (probably you) instigated or conceptualised whatever you are describing.

After finding it really hard to get back to work for the past few weeks I've made this list of things that I have three weeks to do, so until Feb 7th:

* Write Slides
* Type Slides
* Practice Talk
* Prepare TY work
* Write Chapter on PG code
* Type Chapter
* Sort out current c code
* Test c code
* Adapt c code

I've gotten a little done already today so I'm feeling good!

Well done phdbug on the acceptance. Both you and KeepCalm seem to be making great strides!

Well done! Now we can all aspire to be as successful!

LaTeX definitely the way to go! Bit of a learning curve but completely worth it. Especially for technical things and presentations. I love it!

I only see my supervisor randomly most of the time, he never makes our meetings on time and often they have to be cancelled completely after him leaving me waiting for hours. Except when term is out or over the holidays (eg Christmas) when he practically wants to see me every second day and still expects me to have the same amount of work done as i usually would in a month. He has two offices, one on campus and one elsewhere which doesn't help.

Hi all. I'm technically in my third year but it's a four year phd with the first year being mostly coursework so it's equivalent to being in 2nd year for most people. Mind if I join? So far I have 0 chapters, 0 data (not relevant to me), 0 conference presentations and 0 hope of being finished on time. 20 months is enough time for a complete phd right?

(snowman)

I got Pokemon! and the nintendo DS to play it on. I love pokemon and have never had my own game-thing, always had to borrow my brothers'. Oh and a itty bitty booklight and matching page-holder-open-thingy. They are the best. A great christmas :) (tree)

Thanks! Though I'm not sure they'd help much, unless your phd is in math too?

Thanks. Had a tricky time even coming up with lists of things to do. Have one or two things listed now and meeting supervisor in a day or two who might be able to help spark a little direction. Still tough going. Before I even get to Doing things on the list!

So, just married and back from my holidays and cannot concentrate at all on phd. Really want to get back into it but can't seem to figure out how. Keep drifting off while reading papers and finding it hard to get back up to speed on what I was working on. At least I've more time for it all now but just tough to get going. Any advice on how to get stuck in again?

aw florence! hopefully things are going better now. We always have setbacks. Like my transfer has been postponed. Can't wait to get it done and dusted. Supervisor sent me a message lastnight to say he wanted to meet today, but I've not slept since and I'm getting nothing done. Just one of those weeks really. I'll be more positive and goal-setting tomorrow.

Volunteering is great. I volunteer on an ambulance and train in emergency medicine. Can make you feel really guilty when you can't help out when they need you because you need to work on your phd. especially if you then get little or no work done during that time. Outside phd activities are oh-so important, I'm all about the extra-curricular action !

I'll be holding both of you accountable on your promises! Best of luck! Got stuck on part one of my last post list when I realised the documentation was 900pgs. slogging my way through it. Also getting ready for my transfer assessment which is this week. all the sudden report writing is a pain, I'm really bad at the writing bits! So my plan for this week is to read on, read some new papers, finish my lit review and report and get transferrred!!

Congratulations! Hope that everything goes well for you.

Often times us phd students go through times when we can't concentrate and get no work done. It's pretty normal and your supervisor should almost expect it anyway! If he asks you could just say it was your personal life distracting you. I'd wait at least til you have yourself settled in and have a plan of action, certainly a few weeks anyway. If you are usually pretty open about personal things with him that might be different.

Best of luck!!