Very sorry to hear you weren't given the job. It sounds like you did v well at the interview, perhaps they did have an internal candidate :( I can see why you were pissed off with the initial feedbacks - just wasn't logical!! I'm glad though that you got some useful feedbacks from the other interviewer! Thanks for sharing them on here too.

Good luck finding another post to apply for (if you haven't yet). I'm sure you'll do even better at the next interview!

Hi all,

Sorry took me a while but I've come back to say thanks!! I did read all your replies after taking the weekend off. And had taken on your advice - worked out timetable, used tomatoes. Glad to say it helped!! Have been making steady progress since then. I'm still worried if I'd finish in time, but overall I'm feeling more positive (or perhaps it should be less negative) than when I started this thread. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that gets down by procrastination and anxiety and guilt from time to time too!

Thanks again and hope you're all doing well!

Thank you so much for the quick replies. Meant a lot to me (as you can tell I am in a bad state) :$

I will take your advice to take some proper time off this weekend. Not sure if I can afford to have the whole weekend off (says the person who just spent a whole week procrastinating... :p) but will definitely get away from my laptop for at least half a day for sure. It's time to zzzzzzzz now. My shoulder and neck are killing me from sitting at the computer all day and night (even though I wasn't actually being productive...). Hopefully will go back to my happier and more positive self soon!

Have a good weekend everyone!!

xx

======= Date Modified 19 47 2010 00:47:45 =======
Sorry this is going to be a negative post but I feel like I'm going a bit insane and am in need of all you lovely people's support and advice!

I am due to submit in July/Aug. Had been working very hard but recently just kind of run out of steam. I am very lucky in that I've recently been offered a job (which I really wanted). I took a few days off to celebrate and to have a rest but since then I am having problems getting back in gear. I've wasted a week just procrastinating, which I'm hating myself for because I have so little time left I shouldn't waste one minute, let alone a whole week... :$ It's as if the more I stress about finishing the more I procrastinate.

I'm feeling like it's like an impossible task to finish in time, but I know I HAVE to do it nevertheless. I haven't got a complete draft done yet... So far I have written about 6 of the 8 chapters (all on 2nd or 3rd draft), but they still need lots of polishing and I will need to re-do lots of stats too :-(

I'm sorry to sound so pathetic! But am feeling fairly depressed and stressed out at the same time. :$

xx

Hi Eska,

I can totally relate!! I was in a very similar state not so long ago! I also had some positive informal communications (was encouraged to apply and was also given the impression that I'd be invited for interview, which I was). So like you one minute I felt positive (even checked out info about the city and accommodation options!) but the next I was consumed with self doubt, thinking other candidates would probably be lots more capable and suitable than me. I worked very, very hard at preparing for the interview. Spent a lot of time crafting answers to potential questions and familiarize myself with the relevant literature. I'm glad to say the interview went ok (could have been better though I feel!) and I was offered the job.

My advice would be to prepare as much as you can. I was worried that I spent too much time preparing for the interview rather than on my own thesis, but in retrospect I would have been even less confident and therefore even more nervous if I didn't do all the preparation work. If you haven't come across these yet, I found http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/1660/Academic%20job%20interviews.html and http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/1380/Successful-interviews.html very helpful.

Best of luck Eska!! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

xx

Well done! I hope to be in a position to write a happy thread some day too...

Nice to know that you're making such good progress despite everything. (up)

xx

Hi all!

Haven't been here for a while. Just read the latest posts - well done everyone! Looks like you are all making good progress. And MatildaL well done on getting the full draft done!

I've got some good news and bad news. Good news is that I had a successful job interview and now have a research job lined up!

Bad news is that I've had a shamefully completely unproductive week and am now on verge of tears :( I worked really hard on the thesis and on preparing for the job interview. After I was offered the job I allowed myself a few days off as I really needed it. But since then I've had troubles getting back in gear. Doesn't help that my supervisor is not supportive. He wasn't happy when he found out I was applying for the job anyway (despite the fact that my funding has run out last Oct and I have to submit in Sept at the very latest), and now I have this job lined up (which starts on 1 Sept) he basically doubts that I can finish in time. Despite previously feeling that I would be able to submit by mid Aug, I am now having lots of self doubts and starting to freak out. In a strange way this made me procrastinate rather than working harder. Which I am now hating myself for. I still haven't got a complete draft done. I have written about 6 of the 8 chapters (all on 2nd or 3rd draft), but they still need lots of editing and I will need to re-do a lot of analyses. :(

I'm sorry to sound so pathetic but I'm feeling v down but stressed out at the same time. I don't want to face the work and yet I know that I can't afford to procrastinate.

Any advice on getting my emotions under control and getting back into work gear?

Sorry this isn't a happy post. Hope everyone else is doing ok!

I also work from home mainly. My uni is only 30min away but I just don't fancy taking in papers and books etc in everyday. I don't drive and it's just too much to carry. I like the freedom of being at home as well - e.g. eating and drinking whenever I like, watch bit of TV at lunch break etc. But I do go into uni every so often for little jobs like photocopying, printing and meetings etc so I don't really feel isolated. In fact I like the fact that I'm away from the gossips and department politics - not my cup of tea.

I used dropbox.com before but it never became a habit. I now use Google Document. It's just like a filestore where you can upload files - word, excel, etc. I uploaded SPSS datasets onto there too and use it as a on-line backup as well as for when I work at uni.

I enjoyed reading this thread. I'm in my late 20s and have been in education most of my life. There are only a few more months to go before I finish my PhD and I have to say I really, really look forward to it being over. In addition to being fed up with the work I also don't like the other things that come with being a student - low pay, being treated as 2nd class citizen by banks and landlords, not feeling like a proper, professional person (although one could argue this is probably due to my own self-esteem problem than whether I'm a student). Having said that, I did enjoy the good social life, the opportunity to meet people who share the passion for research, the flexible working hours, and the opportunity to undertake a big project that came out of my own ideas, and the trips abroad that I made for conferences. That said, I think I'm ready to give the 9-5 life a go and have some responsibilities, not to mention a salary.

I have a lot of respect for all of you who gave up your previous careers and (financially) more comfortable life to do the PhD. When I started my PhD I had nothing to lose, and I honestly don't know if I'd be brave and determined enough to give up all trappings to do a PhD. I'm sorry to hear a PhD may not worth a lot for you in terms of future career prospect. I would like to think though, that even if your PhD doesn't directly lead onto a job, what you learnt and developed from you PhD will still prove useful in the future and in other areas of life? E.g. transferable skills like critical thinking skill, project management skill etc...

As for Sue's big existential question - sounds like you might like to look into starting another "life project" after you PhD? Write a book? Start a blog? :)

Hi all,

Been about 2 weeks since I was last on here. How's everyone been? I've had a pretty rubbish two weeks. 3/4 months after thinking I'd got all data I needed, and after all empirical chapters were written up, I've recently been told by my supervisor that I need more data. So the last 2 weeks had just been working on collecting more data, and didn't spend anytime at all on my writing. So that Intro chapter I started weeks ago is still unfinished... In this coming week I still need to work on data collection, and to enter and analyse the data, so doesn't look like I can go back to writing the Intro anytime soon. I'm feeling so frustrated and also demotivated by this. The deadlines I set previously have to be revised, and I just feel as if the PhD is never going to end... :-(

Sorry this is a negative post - just reflects my current mood.

On a positive note, I have been invited for a job interview! This may be my only hope because research positions in my (v narrow) field is very hard to come by. I really hope it goes okay. Note to self - must start preparing for it asap!

How's everyone getting on? Sue - how are you feeling about returning to your job on 1 July? It's not long to go now. Do you think you may be able to get most of the thesis work done by then? Algaequeen - good to hear you had a good workshop, and well done on convincing your supervisor to run the workshop too! Will you help organise and run it? If so you must remember to put this on your CV/resume! (I forgot to put a nice-sounding admin experience on my CV and been kicking myself for it!)

Have a good week everyone!

HerdingCats: Sounds like you're well on your way. Well done! I also wish I am on 3rd draft for most of the thesis!

Sue: sounds like you've made very good progress! Well done to you too!

As for me, unfortunately I've made little progress on my writing since I last posted, because I had to re-do some data analyses and I spent ages and AGES preparing a job application (good luck to me! I really want this job!!). However I got both of these out of the way now so tomorrow I shall return to writing. I have to say I don't look forward to it at all...

I'm also in the last stage of my PhD, my funding went out months ago and my saving will only last me for another few months. I can totally relate to what you said - most of my friends who went on to a "proper" job straight from uni seem to all enjoy a good career (and all the material gains that came with it), and a few got married and have children. It's not constructive though to compare with other people as everyone has different aspirations. You may not think it but what you've done in the last 5 years is a pretty huge deal, and is not something that everyone can do. PhD is hard work, so don't discount what you've done/are doing. Three publications are really good - not everyone have publications out before they finish their PhD.

It's great that you've met someone and are feeling very motivated to finish and get your life back. Personally I found setting small tasks and using timer like mytomatoes.com really help. Taking real breaks - get away from the computer and the thesis - help too.

Good luck. You're almost there!

Hi Mlis,

I can relate :-( I have also had countless times feeling like how you felt in the past few years (the cycle of worry about thesis - worry about future work prospects - feel demotivated - procrastinate - cycle repeats). However relying on sleeping pills does sound worrying! I would agree with the others and suggest you seek some professional help - GP/counsellor.

I agree with others that a job would be quite different to writing your own PhD thesis. For a start there will be more rigid working hours, and you will be given specific tasks to do, and have somebody to account to. Also there's no real reason to assume your current work ethic would transfer onto your future jobs. You will probably have different motivations, in a different environment and have different tasks.

As for the knuckling down to work bit, I agree with others that setting small tasks and using tools like mytomatoes might help. Also do you think you may need a break? A real break - getting away from the desk and the thesis. I also find that reminding myself why I decided to do a PhD helps with my motivation - I realise this every time I go to a conference, also when I read some interesting papers/books, and also recently when I re-read my own PhD studentship application (which I "accidentally" came across while filing).

Also - don't forget to forgive yourself. Research shows that self-forgiveness is a good antidote to procrastination. http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2010/05/cure-for-procrastination-forgive.html

Good luck!

I'm really sorry to hear about your ordeal. If I were you I would try my best to get a PhD out of it, as like you said you already invested years in it. I know you said your UBS doesn't want to submit to another journal, but you also said the journals you submitted to have high IF - would submitting to lower IF journals be an option?

Good luck!

Sounds like you were already feeling better which is good. Plenty of good advice here.

I'm in a long distance relationship as well and I know how difficult it can be. What I hate most is when you have a row on the phone and you can't even have a hug to make up. As it happens we just had a row tonight and I got quite upset myself, which half explained why I came on here to distract myself. I can understand what you mean by the little annoyances too. I think the stress with the PhD and the long distance doesn't help. I agree with the others that communication is the key, and arguably even more important in a long distance relationship. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to agree with each other on everything, just that it'd help to talk about things calmly and openly, and agree to disagree rather than working yourself up into an argument.

Hope you like his weekend plans! :-)