thanks all, I'm trying to keep it subdued at the moment, it feels unreal, I also haven't told my sup yet, who had already offered me a keep-me-tied-over-type-role. waiting to call her today eek. Plus my husband is interviewing at the same uni - would be fantastic to both get jobs there, but feeling it would be too good to be true etc. feeling a bit panicky if anything lol!

aww rubbish. Hope you feel better soon Batfink! I got a job ;-)

yes, that's true and they also probably don't have a ravenous dog who craves denta sticks!

Yesterday I got some very good news, but it also means I'm under more pressure than ever to get this blimmin PhD submitted.

I WILL finish my lit review today!

its completely doable you do have to make sacrifices though. I don't buy clothes, I have 2 pairs of black trousers from George that I alternate and hope no one notices, I don't cut my hair, ever. I think I got it cut about 18 months ago. I don't drink, smoke etc so that helps. But then I see some people who manage to have a new wardrobe every week on a PhD stipend. I have no idea how but its obviously doable.

proofreading is now outsourced to mum who was a secretary or something back in the day and learnt 'proper grammar' back in the 50s so understands verbs and stuff :p

Referencing is outsourced to hubs :-) just have to bug him to do it!

from memory, the free plan won't let you download the data anyway. So I went with the paid plan. We do have a shared uni account where anyone can access it, but I paid personally cos I felt my data was too important to let some numpty delete it one day by mistake!

I'd like to add points 6-8 to my list too haha. I haven't formatted it and HATE word :-s

RE proofreading, I'd get a first year PhD to do it and palm it off as 'understanding the process of thesis writing' or 'how to structure a thesis' which will be useful in future years for them and therefore they should do it for free :p

survey monkey is good, but now a lot of universities offer the use of qualtrics and from my limited use of it, and my extensive use of survey monkey, I'd say it was better than SM. However if you can't get it then SM is great too.

I'm currently drinking cherry tango - does that count?? :$

I didn't know you could get beta blockers - that would have been super useful for my presentation yesterday lol. I don't know what they are, they sound like an 80s dance move like the 'running man'. as in "hey, come over and show me your best beta block moves"

I'd suggest giving it to someone else for the grammar, its a job you could get someone else to do relatively easily and takes the pressure off you.

What I have to do for end of sep.

- complete re-draft of lit review (will probably take another 2 days)
- re-focus methods chapter and add a lot of new info in (i.e. go off and research areas and add them in).
- change entire study 1 i.e. move info out of intro, change method and re-structure results and conclusion with different arguments
- change study 2 results section (qualitative so will take some time)
- divide study 3 into study 3a and study 3b, write a new 'overall discussion' section
- write a discussion chapter

Phew!

oh plus grammar and referencing whcih will be a complete nightmare, currently trying to outsource them.

I'd say its not 'normal' I don't know anyone who does it (although maybe I'm abnormal :p )

I do know lots of women who take amphetimines for weight loss though - I could never do that because I'd probably just eat more to compensate lol.

Anyway, I'd just taker her annoying overbearing comments to be an indication of lack of self-esteem on her part. Safe in that knowledge you should be able to navigate your interactions with her with ease :-) (up)

Hey squaredot. You're in exactly the same position as me.

I'm re-drafting the lit review today. I have another 5 chapters to re-draft and a discussion to write before the end of sep when I want to submit.

I'm just taking each day at a time and trying to get as much done as possible

I think I'm now at the point where I'll get it as good as *I* can and then rely on the examiners to give feedback. I'd rather have major amendments than hang around for another 6 momths for my sup to not read stuff! She has the annoying habit of reading the first 2 pages of each chapter and then deciding on what she thinks is relavent (even though she has no idea about the research in my area) and asks me to re-structure, even though she doesn't even glance at how I've actually structured it! :-s

I have no idea, but I have the same problem. I recenlty said to my sup I'd like her to read each chapter now I'm re-drafting them, but she said no, and i know there is no point pushing it, as she'll just say yes and then won't do it anyway. :-s I've just started sending chapters to colleagues for advice, but feel guilty cos its not really their job!