... and aiming to finish quickly?

Help! Need motivation and how the heck do you manage it?

im doing that the mo, it is pure hell, constant worry and stress, coupled with the fear that my writing is suffering due to speed and panic.
my motivation is to finish it, simple as that, have had to reply for an extension which I still havent heard if i've got, adding to the fear.....
:-(

Just working a couple of days a week so not fulltime now, finishing in Feb. I'm resigned to putting my life on hold till then if it's not essential for my job, my thesis or immediate staying alive, housed and healthy type of stuff. Wanting to get to the end of the flipping thing is the best motivation for me at the moment. Can't imagine a more hideous situation than working fulltime and writing up actually, but I admire anyone that can do it.

are you ok now~~

Hello, it is very hideous, more so than I had imagined!

FreeLouise, I'm lucky I don't have to get an extension as I've only just got to year 4. However I HAVE to finish my write up in the next month and submit. It's driving me and my poor husband mental.

I've actually written up most of it but corrections, putting all the chapters together and updating the lit chapters takes longer than you expect :-(

Again, I request someone to invent a program that takes all the sources you throw at it and then writes you a beautiful review??!??!?!

Anyone that can see this whole thing through with you and is still speaking to you afterwards must be a very nice person indeed! :-)

I was thinking I'll really know who my friends are by the end too. Poor long-suffering people...

I know, he's put up with so much over the last few months - mood swings, a fatter and progressively more unattractive wife, me screaming at him "if you don't like it we can get a divorce" etc.

To be honest, if it was the other way around, I don't think I would hack it. I feel like I'm being a proper monster to him but I definitely got better when I started my new job.

My husband will be VERY pleased to see the end of this blasted thesis writing malarky. I'm not working - but splitting my time between childcare and writing up and feeling as though I never give either one enough.

Maybe it should be on the list of post-doc things to do (as there WILL be an end to all this). Be very nice to anyone that's still speaking to us afterwards - they will definitely deserve it. Sometimes I get a nasty feeling it'll dawn on me one day in the future what a selfish pig finishing the PhD has made me. :$ Hopefully it's not permanent...

You need motivation!
Well, you have just given motivation to many by your statement "...aiming to finish quickly", because hundreds of students dream of the day when they can be in your situation...

Hi,
It's hell - there is no other word for it imo.

I work full-time in a really stressful job, am a mum, have a 2.5 hour daily commute and am currently re-writing full-time following a very difficult viva (with the knowledge that not only do I have to re-submit but that I also have to re-viva). I really need the bloody thing finished, completely, forever.

Hats off to everyone in this particularly difficult boat.

x

I work full time and have kids and had a ridiculous deadline to finish - I ended up taking a leave up absence from work for 5 weeks and proceeded to drag my laptop under a rock with me and luckily my husband and kids and even the dogs left me alone...and it got done. Even my advisor did not believe it could, but I'm defending in 2 days. I found it helped to set small goals - work 2 hours, take 1/2 hour off, another 2 hours, etc. and goals with what I wanted to get done per chapter for the day. And work 6-7 days a week, minimal breaks, otherwise it will never end. I never answered the phone or turned on the TV during that time, or went online (that was tough) or showered most days...it was gritty, but if you can take some time off I highly recommend it and just burn through it. Good luck...