Congrats Hugh on completed PhD!

In my field there is rarely a right answer... and I suspect it will be the case for other fields too. What do you mean by the PhD life cycle?

Sounds like a fun idea by the way!

And is it working so far?

Thanks for sharing. I will start writing up the theory very soon. I keep putting it off but am going to dedicate a day for writing so will be begin to tackle it then.

This does help - thanks for sharing. I did once have a "done" list too, and it so helped. But something seems to have happened lately where all my great habits have gone to pot and I am just scrabbling about trying to get things down. I need to sort myself out again.

Re Facebook - thankfully I'm not on it. One distraction is checking the news. But I use it as a sort of treat (lol) and at least it doesn't require any replying.

Hi Pixiecup

Thanks for sharing. Actually this ties in well with a book I'm reading called "Organize yourself" (a general personal development kinda book not a PhD skills one). So it is good to hear it coming from another source as well.

Yes - I am gonna have to start doing something similar to stop myself double working! And yeh, the conclusions do feel pretty robust now!

I spent a week or so coming up with ideas and planning/reading around a topic for a new study in my PhD. It was sort of going OK and I had some good sound ideas. Then a few days later I found 2 pages (undated) where I'd outlined most of the ideas, references, and really good clear thoughts about it all. I was so shocked. It was as though I had amnesia. Couldn't remember writing it or thinking it, and basically had re-did the lots of work/thinking/planning/reading without any recollection of having done it before. And came to the same conclusions as well! Scary!

I don't really waste time on activities I'm not supposed to as such... (apart from this forum - but this is helpful and allowed!)... I'm just slow at everything I think!

Beginning to think how the heck am I gonna get all this done (and that is without the writing up)!

Any tips from those who came to this spot before me and made it through?

It sounds like there is a bit of a mismatch of expectations. You feel that you are struggling and need more support and time yet your supervisors are expecting you to work more independently (and quickly). Independent study is what the PhD is about, that is true. But at the same time, we should be able to expect some guidance from our supervisors. It is hard to judge a situation from one posting.

My suggestions would be to take a bit of time out (a few days) away from the situation, and during or after this time really reflect on the following: Are their expectations really unreasonable? Do you want to make this work? Could you work in a more effective way? What could help you be more efficient? Are there any other sources of support you can use, e.g., other students for advice?

Also I would definitely recommend talking to your advisor if you have one. Try not to criticize your supervisors (even if you think they are worthy of it). Take an attitude of: I want to make this work (if you do). Switching supervisors may be something you can talk about with the advisor/support person. It could be that you need to make some changes too, not just your supervisors. In that case, switching supervisors would not help - the same problems would happen again.

Good luck.

Hi Selkie

Do you know how to run linear regression? It is very similar conceptually (in fact another name for it is mixed regression). If you understand multiple regression then it quite easy to take the next step to multilevel models.

There are enough materials available online to teach yourself (I taught myself in the latter part of last year). But how long it will take you probably will depend on your general stats knowledge. And how long it takes for you to successfully implement it in your analysis will definitely depend on the complexity of your design (e.g., how many levels, how many fixed and random effects, etc). Mine was very simple.

Tudor

If you want it, go for it, and do everything you can to improve your application. You could apply for as many opportunities as possible to increase the chances of getting accepted.

When I was applying, I watched Pursuit of Happyness for inspiration/motivation. People can get what they set out to achieve even in the face of massive obstacles. At the same time, it is always useful to have a Plan B in case it takes longer than anticipated, or you don't feel able to keep on trying thanklessly.

Just an encouraging story... I know someone who was accepted on a highly competitive BSc programme at a Russell Group university when she had no A levels or equivalent, and no evidence of study in the past 4 years (which was the requirement for mature students). Her application obviously impressed them so much that they thought: screw the protocol. And now she is doing a PhD!

Yay! Hope it goes well! :)