thank you for your advice as ever :) I laid down for an hour, then picked myself up again. Going to spend couple of hours finishing the bedroom (so nearly nearly done), then spend a few hours this afternoon and evening writing. I think it was getting a bit much having the redecoration of the bedroom running at the same time as rushing to write my thesis, but at least the bedroom is now nearly done!

I am so exhausted today :( I'm wondering whether I should carry on with my work today or take the day off and rest. My body wants to rest, but my schedule is so tight as it is, it seems like a lot of risk to take a day off just because I'm tired. (I also feel like a wimp!!)

thank you all so much for sharing your writing times with me :) I am so grateful for the support that is available on here, you guys always make me feel so much better, thank you :)

I have got May & June for putting things together and editing... I'm hoping to get two versions of the thesis out to the appropriate people in that time. at the moment, my schedule looks like this:

week begining - task
14 Feb - methodology
21 Feb - methodology & finish a small section from another chapter that I didn't do before
28 Feb - Lit 1 (I'm doing things backwards)
7 Mar - Lit 1
14 Mar - Analysis
21 Mar - Analysis
28 Mar - Intro & Conclusion
4 Apr - write up bits I haven't finished
11 Apr - write up bits I haven't finished
18 Apr - roughly put together into one document
25 Apr - do edits already given, then send out to sup

May & June - keep editing until it's done! :)

I really hope this schedule is going to work out ok for me, I'm notoriously bad for not sticking to schedule though.....

Hi MissScientist, are you getting any feedback on each application? Have you asked for any?

I totally agree with Bilbo regarding taking a break. I think it's a good idea to do this before you start the proof reading, so that you'll have 'freshER eyes' for the proof read. Why not book yourself a SPA day with your best friend or a weekend away? You should totally switch off it for a while (as hard as it is!), so that by the end of it, you are looking forward to reading your own thesis again.

Welcome to the thread screwedup :) It sounds like you got a clear plan to finishing, which I think is so important to us at this stage. I keep looking at the diary to make sure I still have enough time for everything. I am sure your username does not match you in real life at all! How many studies do you think you will need to complete?

Patience, please don't feel guilty about taking time out! a) we all need and deserve regular time outs, and b) you have enough pressure and stresses as it is, you don't need to pile guilt onto that as well. As for your stats, is it something that you can outline (not the experiement itself but the bits that are to do with deciding how to approach it statistically) on the forum to ask for some advice? Also, I found reading papers that did similar things (statistically speaking) really helped to guide me through some sticky stats that I had no idea how to do previously. Hope this helps you in any way :)

OK, I have a question to ask... how long on average (yes I know, how long is a piece of string...) have you guys spent on the first draft of each chapter? I am taking anything between a day (published work) to two weeks (from scratch chapters). I'm starting to suspect that I am expecting too much from my chapters at the moment and parhaps spending too long on some of them... I would really appreciate seeing how long others are taking to write chapters that they know quite well. Thank you :)

did someone mention Jon Bon Jovi? Ady, you, me, OUTSIDE!! lol

wow everyone has been so productive today :)

I did 928 words, close enough to the target. I'm off to Ikea now :D yaaaaaay!

Patience, I totally sympathise with you on this, as I have been going through exactly the same thing for the last 10 days. I too feel totally lost, and not confident at all with my decisions. Do you have anyone that can double check your choices of tests for you? I'm sending a brief outline of my studies (in term of stats) with the tests I've selected to my supervisor, just to tell me I did make the right choice.

Congratulations Sneaks for getting your article submitted :)

Read through two research method chapters, and have started my own, written 500 words for it so far. Going to try and get at least another 500 before going over to Ikea to pick up some bedroom furniture (yay!)

Morning :) I'm up early (very rare for me) to start a new chapter of my thesis, the methodology bit! Been reading up on general how to so far.

Goal 1: read my sub's methodology chapter
Goal 2: read my colleague's methodology chapter
Goal 3: scan through my research method books

and make notes along the way :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful day! :-)

thank you sarahlouise and starshape, I'm so glad I am not the only one! I was starting to feel really guilty about it. I think I need to either take a break from this chapter, or get some advice from my sup as to how the chapter is coming along. I have a meeting with them tomorrow, so I will see what they say.

batfink, I'm so sorry to hear that the writing is not going well. If it's any consolation, mine is going very slow as well (688 words today). However, I'm glad that you feel you have got past the block you were having :)

How is everyone getting on this week? I am finding it rather slow going, struggling to get much done.

Ribenagirl & Tusco - I suffered from the slipping deadlines too. It's a hard act to balance for the sup though, as I think there were certain times in my PhD where I would've quite if my sup pushed me. I am finding it however that end of registration period looming is a REALLY good motivator!!

Dunni, I am so impressed at how quickly your supervisor got back to you! You must be so happy that it's so nearly ready for submission, you will be finished in no time! I am very much looking forward to being where you are in a few months time. Well done, you have worked SO hard.

Ady & Patience - it will be amazing if you two finish in 3 years, that shows how hard you two have worked! (you're talking to someone that has taken nearly 6 years to complete, although I was ill for 2 years of that...) I really really hope you guys finish in the time frame that you want, let's keep each other motivated :)

Batfink, you're more than welcome :) Sometimes, it's hard to think of the best strategy when you are tangled up in the mids of it all. Hope it helps you to write anyway.

I'm still ploughing on with my writing, I am so BORED of writing this chapter. Do other people go through this? Is it accpetable to be bored of something that you're suppose to be so keen on?