Hows it going you all?
I am editing editning editing lol. I want to get my thesis finished by the third week of august and proof read etc. ... do you think i can do it? I dont know. I am planning to give to my supervisor in a ringbinder with a bow on it as a present so she can read the thing properly... i doubt she will!
How are you all getting on?

Keep up the good work!! not long to go now. putting a bow on the binder might be a bit OTT, but hey, its your work and it should deserve more than that :-)
I'm also in editing phase but I still have some writing to do also, plan to finish a good first draft in dec.

Hi EE. I'm doing final revisions following my mock viva a few weeks ago with final submission in 10 days time. I reckon you'll be fine to get everything done by 3rd week of August if you keep going at a steady pace.

Why don't you get the draft of your thesis spiral bound? I printed mine at home and then took it to a print shop nearby who charged £5.00 for spiral binding - only slightly more than purchasing a folder and makes it look really good. It felt like a proper thesis for the first time instead of stacks of paper!

Hi all,

I'm at the same stage :D and aiming to submit w/c 3rd August. I still have a bit of writing to do and one of my supervisors is giving me some final comments on Monday - hopefully there will not be too much. Then it's the 'fun' bit (!) - checking through the preliminary pages and everything else over the last week.

I think you can do it EE. It only took me 3 weeks between handing in 1st draft to final draft. Not too sure how I managed it, and neither is anyone else! But I am lucky as I have two supervisors - one checks through briefly (asks me to do a document indicating the changes, and blatantly only reads those changes), the other one looks over in detail - sometimes pretty annoying when you agonise over a comma for 10 minutes - I am not joking! It is a shame if you only have one supervisor. Perhaps if she knows it is the final draft she will make sure to read it in detail? Maybe stress that this is the final draft and say when you would like to submit to put pressure on?

Hello

Am envious of you all, being so close to finishing! I have to have the first draft of my thesis done by the end of the year. So far I've done the introduction, a context chapters which really needs updating, and two field work chapters. So - only about another 70,000 words to go I reckon!! But am determined. I've cleared the decks, so after August I don't have anything else to do except this. Am trying not to freak out about the amount of work I have to do, and am plodding along, one thing at a time.

And, at the moment, enjoying it.

Hiya.

I wish I was able to have a first draft of the whole thesis by August! :(

I'm still working on my analysis and my result chapters. Hoping to get all of my quantitative chapters done by the end of July and qualitative chapter end of August.

Which leaves September onwards to reduce my whopping 90,000 words literature reviews and methodology chapter and to write my discussion chapters!

I've applied for a 6 months extension from September. Perhaps by end of September- I'll have a first draft?!

I hope to submit everything by December! well lets see how it goes :S

I dont think i can do this - today i have done everything but my thesis. I just DONT want to work. I know I should - i really do... but I just cannot bring myself to do it. I just find it so difficult to finish things - like absolutely finishing chapters - the thoguht of doing everything for them to make them finished just scares me. I dont know anymore.

Ok if I dont finish to the best of my ability by the 17th August I will quit my PhD. I know its bad but if I dont get it done nwo then I wont ever get it done - shall i bother - dunno.

Ok if I dont finish to the best of my ability by the 17th August I will quit my PhD. I know its bad but if I dont get it done nwo then I wont ever get it done - shall i bother - dunno.

EE, I too frequently feel like getting down from my chair and just lying on the carpet for several hours instead of looking at my bl**dy thesis ever again. In fact, I have done it several times (minutes, not hours though!) and only two things help:

Finding a bit of the thesis I feel pleased with (content, language and everything-wise) reading it and hoping I kind of take flight from there into the not-so-good / still needs doing bits.

OR

Tricking myself. Sometimes I start doing a footnote or adding to the bibliography, I get interested (ok, maybe just distracted!) and start doing Work That Really Needs Doing

Sometimes though, I can't even be arsed to try either of these things because I don't want to be tricked into it. I don't want to do it at all and finishing stuff is REALLY difficult but it will be really worth it when you can truly be free of it.

Can you find a way to break today's cycle, come back and really give it a go? I mean like go for a walk or something.

I'm trying to think of everything I can suggest because I know so well how it feels! Believe me, you can get into it again. Just do something - anything which is a step in the right direction (walk, "official" break, footnote, anything) and you'll feel better.

GRRRRRR I CANNOT DO THIS ANYMORE! Its not that I can't - I just feel I cannot give this thesis the depth it needs - i am not over reacting - i just cannot do it. Its just not goog enough. Ir really isn't. I have seriuosly wasted the last 3 years of my life. Theres no point in bothering anymore. I am sick of it - just totally sick of it. I hate hard work and I just do not want to finish it. Is this normal? Please don't tell me to take a holiday cos they wont let me have one. Its just a horrible process. How are yhou all getting on?

Hi EE

Yes, you CAN do this!!! You haven't wasted the last three years!! Rationally, if your thesis wasn't good enough, your supervisor would've told you by now. They wouldn't let you get to this stage if you weren't good enough.

Think about how good it'll feel to finally have this finished! I think you should have either have a bit of a break, or go and expel some energy - you sound very worked up, go and do something else with that energy for a bit.

I'm editing a chapter that I hope to have finished by today - and that will be my second one done! Well, the first draft of it...

...anyhoo, back into it. Hope you feel better soon.

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eatingelephants. i totally get what you're going through. i was in your shoes this time last year. and i know how horrible it is! i was near suicidal!! i just wanted it to all go away and for me to just run away from it. i wanted to chuck it all in aswelll. and give up and not finish writing my thesis cause i thought it was impossible. but my mom just kept telling me to do my best. and everyone around me just said. give it in, in any shape and form, just do your best.

just make it good enough and let the examiners decide!!!

it will never be perfect so dont even try to get it to be the way you want it to be. there are two thesis. one that is perfect in your mind and one that is written ! go for the later.

dont give up. you havent wasted 3 years of your life. you've done research , now you just have to compile it in your thesis. believe me, i totally understand how you feel. i feel like i've wasted 7 years of my life (i had 2 failed phd projects that were just disasterous and i had to start from scratch 3 times, it was only in the past 4 years that i was able to work on a project that proved fruitful. i should have quit long ago, but i kept at it. do i regret it? part of me, wishes i quit after the first year, when project 1 failed. but then if i had, than i would never have eventually moved onto my 3rd project which i developed with a visiting prof.. and from that i published 2 first author papers.

but after all these years, i am really petrified of failing at the viva stage. i still feel like i dont know anything about my subject, just know like 5%. but my mom keeps telling me it wont be the end of the world. and to do just my best. thats all we can do. is to try our best. as long as we can be satisfied with ourselves that we did our best, we can then live with ourselves.

DO NOT chuck it in , at the very end. you are soooooooooo close! you can do it. and what you're feeling is perfectly normal. joan bolker in her book writes that she has known students with just 5% i think left of the thesis left to write, wanting to quit and chuck it all in. those demons will get you. you just have to ignore it, and push through the pain barrier.

my motto is always, just a little bit, just a few minutes. when you coax yourself to do just a few minutes, you will find you get involved and continue with it.

keep at it EE. we are all with you, every step of the way.

make a list of all the things you need to do for your thesis (this is what i did. when i was nearing the end of my thesis. i had LOADS of things left to do- but i made a long list, and everyday did as many of them as i could and would tick them off.

just do it bit by bit.

i will leave you with a quote i still have hanging on my wall next to my monitor. when i wanted to quit.


"BURN THE BOATS

when ancient Greek armies travelled across the sea to do battle, the first thing they would do after landing, was to burn the boats, leaving them stranded. with no way to make it home besides victory. the resolve of the soldiers were strengthened. when sucess and failure are the only options you have no choice but to follow through"

at the moment i am revising for my viva. believe me when i say this. i feel like i know nothing and that there are 100s of references i still need to read and understand. and that i am currently reading through my thesis for the 3rd time. its boring!! but i force myself. once i've summarised each page of my thesis. will then move onto viva questions.
but any day my sup can email me and tell me my viva date is next week. so i sometimes feel like i will never get all my revision done and be prepared for my viva and cant be bothered, and just want to do nothing. but then i think. what if my sup doesnt email me tommorow and tells me its next week , but infact its next month, so i better study, i still have time and to do as much as i can. even if its just one page in one full day.

"one day plus another has an accumulative effect" every little thing you do will add up in the end!

joan bolker "every day is more important than how much time you spend, or how many pages you produce or the quality"

wow, thank you all so much. Its nice but scaary to know that others feel the same way as I do. Its just like I just don;t feel good enough.. you have all helped so much. I want to write more on here but i cant as i have someone in this room. But will check back soon. But I just wanted to say a quck thank you x