Thanks for the feedback...I do try to do my 4 hours in the morning (my best time) and then go into robo-mode for the housework stuff. Actually find this is working much better now..think I just should have been part time while we moved and got settled. However, hindsight is 20-20 and I still have another year after March if I need it, so I´m not that stressed about it. Do like to get things done somewhat on time, though! When I´m deep in thought, after my 4 hours though, I tend to walk around in a daze and answer questions before really thinking what was being asked. Hope my daughter doesn´t end up in Hawaii because I told her she could go! "But Mom, you said....":-)

Oh..please don´t think my husband is some kind of do nothin´ sit around oaf...he really had a lot to do when we moved to get us into the social system in Germany...quite a feat and lots and LOTS of red tape, so I guess we just got into a routine where he did that and I did the household stuff. He does help, but let´s face it..how many guys really know how to use the washing machine properly? No matter how many times I explain it, it goes in one ear and out the other, and the whites turn grey, and and and. Cooking? Not really, unless it´s some wierd fish combination which gets put in a pan with all kinds of vegetables which are not meant to be cooked. He insists it´s delicious, but I don´t know. Perhaps we just have different tastes...I am able to work when I put my mind to it...how many hours do you guys work per day anyway? I clock in an average of around 4 (when I´m good). More than that and my mind turns off anyway.

My daughter is 11...but we live in Germany (I am studying in the UK, though) and she gets out of school at 1pm. So while I have the morning, there are always other things that get in the way (dr appointments, etc). She needs a lot of homework help because she´s going to a German school and her mother tongue is English. I´m due to submit in March as well, but that´s just not going to happen. We moved to Germany 6 months after I started, and moving tasks and settling in took a good part of the first year. Then my husband retired at the same time as well and so he´s always wanting to do something....sometimes I just have to say "GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!" which makes everyone really happy around here!

Would be interested to hear your experiences in juggling home and student life! My life is a constant battle between doing what needs to be done domestically and sitting down and getting on with my work. Sometimes think and off site office would do me a world of good!

I found that starting to write as soon as you can (I started after 2 months) helps to focus your ideas and get something down on paper which will probably change hugely, but it gets the ball rolling. Gives you a bit of an early sense of accomplishment.

Also making a weekly todo list is a good way of trying to keep on track.

Actually, I´m working quite hard at making dinner at the moment. Pamw you are lucky to have your data at the end of your second year. I´m in my third and still working on it! (Actually should have been part time for the first two years)

Nice to meet you!:-)