Morning everyone :)

I was MIA for a while, my health went downwards for few months, but since then, I've been quietly working on my software for several months. Now that's done, I'm doing the last leg of this marathon - writing up everything! Got about three chapters that I just need to finish off, but the rest is still yet to be done.

So two weeks into my writing up (take 2) and I'm going stir crazy already!

If you're writing up or have written up, did you have a daily goal? What was your goal? I'm trying to write 1500 words everyday but it becomes tough after a few days of writing in a row, and I'm not even sure if that is enough!

Anyway, today's goal is to type up the current chapter that I hand wrote this week (do other people still do that?).

can you not do the black and white printing in your office at uni or get a colleague to do it for you? That's what I'm planning to do to save some money because I just can't afford that much cost!

oh wow Walminski, I remember few months back, you and I were in a similar place, but now I see you are much much closer to the goal! That is amazing, so close! I am so happy for you and so impressed that you're no nearly there.

keep going, only a little bit more to go.

Thanks Star-shape, you are right, I realise it's just a 'phase' that comes and goes but sometimes you just have to shout it out loud don't you? :)

I was talking with my OH, and we both find working during the summer quite hard going.

You're doing super though, 1000 words in one morning... wish I could work as hard as you!

I hate my work.

I really really REALLY hate my work.

AGH! I'm having a bad day, I'm trying to work, and every atom in my body is screaming "I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS!!!!!"

it all seem so endless and bleak

and I suck at writing... who's idea was it to WRITE?

Sneaks - sorry to hear about being thrown about with your writing. why not tell you sup what you will write and when, not the other way round? Maybe she's waiting for you to take over?

I book a meeting with my sub every 2 to 3 weeks. I show up with what I've done (currently very rough drafts of chapters) and get her to go through it then, and discuss issues I'm having... my sup's never told me which chapter to write where. She might gently nudge me to write a paper for this or that conf once in a while (which I do listen to), but that's it. We end the meeting with a quick discussion on the next chapter I'll be writing, but I may not write that chapter if another chapter starts shouting for attention.

At the end of the day, a chunk of writing on topic x, y, z will come to you when it wants to, you can't hurry it and neither can your supervisor!

Wow Batfink, you are rushing away! I'm ashamed to say, I've only just started considering methodology... that's the new chapter I'm working on, and realised that I've never thought about it properly before. oppps.

Star shaped - I never thought of lack of internet is productive towards work done, but now you mention it, it makes sense... I quit facebook last month because I was spending waaaayyy too much time 'just checking in'.

Tomorrow, submit short paper, finish copying notes into right sections for chapter.

off to make more gooseberry jam...

oh yeah, I realised today that I like Katy Perry... I'm gonna go pop my ear drums in shame now. :-s

sorry to hear that you've had a slow day. I know that feeling, I've had it for about 2 weeks - prob why I was hiding away from work and this forum!

You know that a) it's only a blip, b) things will get better pretty quick and c) you're more than capable of doing the work!

coulda be a millionnaire, shoulda be a good housewife and woulda be a supermodel.

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I think it all boils down to the fact that we can't have everything and so we must choose what it is that we really want.

If I want to be in academia, I'm never going to be millionnaire.

If I want to progress with other aspects of my life such as turning a hobby into something more serious, I'm never going to finish my PhD.

If I want to finish my PhD, then the dream of travelling around the world does have to wait.

It's the classic case of you have to pick your fight carefully. None of us have the time/money/energy/etc. to achieve everything we dream of.

So what is it that YOU really want to achieve with your life?

Hi peeps, I've been missing for a while. I've had a hard two or three weeks were things just weren't going right. Mental health went down for a bit, then my physical health, and it was hard to focus on my work. Only managed to write a short paper (which needs to be submitted tomorrow) and the rest has been bits and pieces dotted around the thesis.

Isn't it frustrating when you're in that 'bits and pieces' phase? You put in a lot of work, but you can't really see a noticeable change in the final product :(

I'm getting worried about whether I am going to get everything done for the deadline...

anyway, tasks for today:
1. Carry on working on the new chapter
2. Work on the short paper when it comes back from sup, I really want to submit or at least finish work on it today.

Sorry to hear about the gf, I get you about the not having time. I had to declare that I will be a totally useless gf until this is done. For me, it helps that we live together, or I would just not have time to spend with my OH. I have no idea how he deals with my a) lack of attention to him, b) me being stressed about writing all the time, c) not having much time off, d) me leaving most of the work around the house to him.

I sort of see myself as a female Byron or Sherlock Holmes... only without the genius bit. Oh and my word is considerably insignificant in comparison!

Well done for being so determined with your writing, I wish I could be so determined! I do have a policy of starting to write when I have about 70% of the reading done, so that I can really see where all the notes fall into, and where I still need to read up more. Afterall, you can't improve your writing if you don't have any writing!

I'm taking the day off today to go to a festival where the OH is working. I haven't seen him in three days!

Sorry I haven't checked in for a while, been so so this week but nothing major to report.

How is work going for you? Have you started to write?

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I also use endNote and honestly, it has save me countless hours when writing papers!

My system is:
1. Name all PDF files as "Author year"
2. Copy abstract of each paper in EndNote (so that you are reminded of what the paper was about quickly)
3. If it's a paper copy, scan it in and covert to PDF (so I have PDF of all papers)

I invested in a really fast scanner (scansnap), and I spent a morning scanning all of my papers in... I've never had to print out and carry loads of heavy physical papers since - it's brilliant!