Hi all,

Hope you all had a nice weekend. Just want to say a big THANK YOU to all the replies! Very much appreciate the supportive words and the advice and tips. Placed an order for Joan Bolker's book too! Also thanks for the youtube links Someone - I've seen all but the Steve Job one as it's a bit long. But will check it out later (definitely interested in what he has to say - I'm an Apple fan). Also I've saved the links to all three so I can return to them when I need to later.

As for the advice about setting a finishing date - I can see how it'd help but honestly don't know how to go about writing mine, mainly because I have little idea how long things will take? Apart from knowing I will need 3-4 weeks to collect more data, I don't know how long I'll need to do the writing. I only have some first and second drafts written for the experiments I have done so far, and a (very drafty) first draft for my introduction chapter... I know they will have to be re-written many many times before they are ready but don't know how long it'll take exactly, or even roughly... And i have little guidance from my supervisor. I was just wondering how did you set your finishing date/thesis plan? Did you know how long you'd take to do the writing or did your supervisor help you set that? And did/do you tend to focus on one chapter at a time when rewriting and start on another when it's finished or do you say work half a week on one chapter and half a week on another?

Have a good week all and I'm gonna set a goal for this week :)

That's appalling! Any chance you can change your supervisor? If you're funded by one of the research councils in the UK I've heard that you could even change your uni if needed be? I don't now for sure though and it sounds like you need to talk to someone who can give you some real advice, if you haven't yet. At my uni there's a postgrad advice centre where postgrads can go and talk about their problems, bypassing their own supervisors (not that i've used the service myself but i know it's there). Do you now if there are similar facilities in place at your uni or department?

Good luck!

Have you considered joining something like Couch Surfer or Hospitality Club? These are primarily for backpackers to look for a place to crash when travelling, but I suspect many members are also up for meeting up for drinks and hanging out with people who've moved to their city/country. I've used these two sites before when travelling and everyone I met were friendly, enjoy making new friends and mostly fluent in English (it's probably a case that these clubs attract a certain "type" of people). As I said the clubs are primarily for travellers and people who are happy to host travellers for a night or two, or meet up with them for a drink. But if you message them and explain your situation some of them may be happy to meet up with you? I certainly have friends that managed to make friends this way when they moved to a new place.

Take care and good luck!!

Hello! I'm new here. I'm in my 4th year of the PhD and am feeling demotivated. I do find my research topic interesting but a lot of the time I also doubt if my work is good at all and if it's worthwhile. I'm also a big procrastinator and can sit at the desk all day without getting much done, though there are days when I'm in the "zone" and I get lots done. My supervisor is not particularly supportive. I hardly see him and he seems to be more interested in/busy with his other work/students. His comments on my work so far are not very critical and I always fear that when it comes to my viva (which will be ages and ages away) I'll be told that my work is rubbish. It doesn't help that recently a lot of my friends who had started at the same time as me have submitted. Of course I am genuinely happy for them, but a part of me also feels like such a loser. I know I shouldn't compare to other people but sometimes I can't help it. I keep these feelings to myself though as I don't want to upset anyone. I'm also fed up with being asked when I"m finishing by friends, new people I meet, my family, my partner's family etc etc. Eventhough I've accepted the fact that I'm not finishing anytime soon I really don't enjoy explaining it to people. Moneywise it's not great either as my funding was only for 3 years and I am now living on my savings. I do some teaching but get paid peanuts for it. Now with the festive season approaching money is becoming a bigger headache. And I don't even have the faintest idea when I will finish. I still need more data and have a lot more writing to do. I know I will finish it SOMEDAY but am just finding it difficult everyday. My life is consumed with guilt. If I get some work done I feel guilty that I'm still behind and am nowhere near finishing, if I don't get much work done then of cos I feel guilty at the end of the day. I don't usually work in the weekend but sometimes I feel guilty and think may be I should...

Sorry about the incoherent rant! I know I just need to get on with it and get it finished... Still, any tips/advice on coping with 4th year/guilt/distant supervisor/motivation problem etc welcome!