Hi all, I just happened to find this site and within minutes i was welling up at the kind of support there is out there for a phd student in crisis.....(Q- melancholic indie tune) anyway I just wanted to put it out there, I am in the final stages of my phd- the write up- I have had a few months since the upgrade to work on it but could not for the life of me get going on it . It was like a chore that I didn't want to do ... I think I let myself forget why I was doing it in the first place - anyway - I have just spent the whole night sorting out the abstract and the initial introduction(still not complete)
I am super stressed but I have been so encouraged by everyone here and how people just offer golden advice.
My question is- am I the only one who has gone through such a phase after their upgrade and couldn't bare to look at their work? its been 3 months and I finally im getting on with it .. roll on all nighters etc...one has to do what they have to when the mood finally strikes .. I am due to submit it at the end of September so there truly is no rest.. any tips .. moving forward ... Thanks in advance and bon courage to all those doing their writing - XX:-):-)

You are not alone, I think being stressed during the write-up phase is all part of the process.  It is a culmination of all of the work we have done, written in a mountain of words that seems insurmountable! Often there is a lot of emotional baggage tied up in the process too.  For many this is a pinnacle of their studies and something that was only dreamed about some time ago which is on the verge of reality. The imposter syndrome rears its head about this time too, are we really good enough, have I done enough?  The key to most phases where the work is not progressing is to break it down into smaller achievable pieces. The smaller areas are not so daunting and over time completion of these leads to one chapter then another until you have a thesis.  I started with a rough outline of each chapter topic area, then sub-sections and added to these were rough notes of what to include. I gradually started to fill in the sub-sections to complete each chapter. I saved each chapter separately (sent to sup aswell for comments) and once all chapters were done I added them all into the whole thesis.  Then it was a phase of making sure it all flowed, removing repeated areas and editing. You have got to this stage, so you can do this.  Take small baby steps to help you along.

There is a summer submitter thread on here that has lots of comments and support for all of use with summer deadlines (inc sept), you are welcome to join it!

I found the final month or two of the PhD to be the absolute worst. I think that this is a common experience. All kinds of things can feed into why these become so awful....but I think it is all just part of the whole PhD journey...

You are definately not alone and as Olivia said there are all sorts of reasons which can make the last few months seem awful! I found an appointment with the university counselling service really helpful just to talk a few things over. Remember than you don't have to go throuh this feeling alone!

I totally agree with the others - the last 10 % is the worse! It's just the final push until you can submit but by that time you are usually so emotionally drained and tired that can't bear looking at it anymore! I know I certainly felt this way at the end and couldn't stand looking at my thesis anymore as just the thought of it made me feel sick! Remember to take breaks so you can relax and just steel yourself to get through. You just need to gather up your last bit of motivation to finish! Try breaking it into little chunks and reward yourself after you have done it e.g. go for a walk, have some chocolate which got me through or whatever you fancy! A little treat goes a long way and can really help you push through the last bit which is really the most painful! I think the rush to get it in contributes to the stress but this can work in positive ways making you more productive! Good luck and hope you get it all sorted. (up) (turkey) (gift) ;-)

Some fantastic advise on here about what to do to get yourself through to the final hurdle...take breaks. Reward yourself. Get support from friends and family. Be sure to step away from your work to get enough rest, exercise and good quality food.

My experience became worse the closer I was to submitting.....
My printer caught on fire and it took all night to print ONE copy of the thesis for soft binding
The commercial copier I paid a fortune to copy for the rest of the soft binding messed up the copies, and then yelled at me and charged me again to fix this ( by this point I had purely lost the will to fight, I simply wanted the thing out of my life...)
The weird and repeating Roman numbered footnote that appeared with no warning or explanation in the middle of a chapter...I was not using Roman numerals, and this repeated itself like 137 times...
etc.

I remember wanting to roll up in the fetal position under my desk numerous times during the day during this debacle.

Agree that there's been lots of fantastic advice already. I personally found the writing up phase the worst by far. I loathed it from beginning to end! But I would keep going, by breaking things down into small achievable tasks, writing to-do lists based on that, and then picking them off in order of least unappealing. That way I would make progress and build my confidence. It's easy to view the writing up as a massive task that you don't know how to tackle or start. But if you break it down into small sub-tasks it's much more manageable, and will get done.

Good luck!

Hey! You're definitely not alone! I'm also in my last few weeks, 5-6 weeks until submission and I'm seriously stressed! Usually in these situations I manage to keep my nerve and get the job done but it's easier said than done this time. My nerves are more to do with the viva then getting the thesis finished really, but as my viva is only 6 days after submission the two are pretty much hitting me at the same time (at least it will be over and done with relatively quickly though!). Each day I go from normal to stressed to anxious to crying and back to normal again...I try to calm myself down and I exercise like a bat out of hell every day to cope with the stress but I think I'm just gonna be like this until it's all over, there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it. We'll all get through to the other side though...we're most of the way there and not everyone gets this far :) Stick at it! Best, KB

Hi all once again, just wanted to say thank to everyone who wrote and gave such brilliant advise......I took some of the advise and took a weeks break with my partner which was great I didnt even think about the project. I have come back and my prof. Is already on my case about the impending submission etc .... I have made a choice that I will keep it all positive and its only three more months, the break has made all the world of difference so that instead of falling into another rut of stressing out and not writing .. I have told him (in many words) to just have a bit of faith in me and that we will see it through!!...
What can I advise anyone in this situation? please take a break from it all(a real one- NO PHONES, NO LAPTOP) and when you get back you trully feel you are able to just get on with it.

Further to that I wil be here very often, we can all console each other .. as I realised .. whatever the situation you are not alone HONEST!!
CHEERS EVERYONE =(up)

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