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Hi all. I've just entered the third year of my Psychology PhD in October 2011, and I can't believe I only have 10 months until it's *supposed* to be finished. Where does time go?! Some days, I feel sad that PhD-bubble will come to an end, more recently I've began to want to get it done and dusted. Sometimes this feels totally managable and others it feels incrediably DAUNTING! :$
I just wondered if anyone is due to finish this October (fingers crossed, of course!) and whereabouts you are with everything? I have a small study to conduct... and a lot of writing up to do. I've written up drafts of three studies (over 10,000 words each) and have one chapter *rough* draft... I'm unsure how realistic this is but determined to think positive and try to maintain my sanity/enjoyment of everything PhD-related!

Hi there. I'm at the same point time-wise as you, and yes, it's daunting!!

My supervisors want me to hand in in August, to have a September viva - seems over-ambitious to me, I look at how much I have left to do and just can't see it happening! But I'm aiming for that, with the knowledge that I can slip by a few weeks if I need to. My funding runs until 1 October so that's my absolute deadline for myself.

I'm not sure it's a good idea to compare progress with other people really - everyone does things in a slightly different order and needs to spend different amounts of time on different sections. But for the sake of discussion rather than comparison, where I am is that I still have masses of stuff to do - a huge amount. I'm doing data analysis from my main study and writing the analysis up alongside at the moment. I still have interviews to conduct, and another small study involving taking some measurements. I've got some very scrappy draft chapters written (Background, Lit Review, Methodology, bits of Method) but they need major revision.

Yikes, I've scared myself writing all this down, it seems like so much to do! But I know if I keep plodding on and knocking it down a chunk at a time I'll get to the end eventually. Looking at the whole thing is overwhelming, but seeing it as a series of linked tasks makes it much more manageable, I think!

Hi, I am new to this website and stumbled across it because I am experiencing a massive writer's block :-( I am on a similar deadline to yourself, money runs out on 1st October so I am planning to get my thesis finished by the start of September.

I have a couple of major issues. The first is trying to get papers out for publication, which seems to be taking waaaay longer than it should, and I can't really begin to get stuck into my thesis until they're out of the way. Second my writing completely sucks atm. I have a good undergrad and masters, and have been taught to write well. So the fact that I can't seem to write anything half decent is making me freak out a bit.

Both of you seem to have a lot of work already done. I haven't really started my thesis, except ~5,000 words of intro material which will be edited heavily. So far I have been concentrating on doing my individual studies, analysing data etc.

Any advice for getting over writer's block??

@ Batfink, I see what you mean about not comparing! it's good to hear someone in a similiar position though :) I like the idea of setting a deadline before funding runs out like you have!

@ng24 I know exactly how you feel about writing. One book that may help is 'Writing your dissertation in 15 minutes a day' - it's an excellent little read and changed the way I see writing. It made me get into the practice of writing anything, however rubbish or messy, and working on it from there on, instead on being a perfectionist and writing everything perfectly the first time. From what I've seen, ery few people are lucky enough to be able to do that :)
She recommends just giving yourself a short burst of time to write anything and everything you know on a particular topic and not to worry whether it sounds silly, or about spelling or grammar. Then, you might be motivated at how much you know or at least you might see the way you want to structure your argument. And most importantly, you've made a start! You then have something to work on and improve, rather than staring at a blank screen. Then go back, do spelling, grammar, references, add stuff in... it's something to start you from :) Also, well done you for focusing on publications! I have none so far and I'm sure you'll be so thankful you put the work in when you're published

8-)

I'm not due to complete until January 2013 but I thought I'd just add in that Writing your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day by Bolker is a an absolutely great read, I got through it in about 2 or 3 days and it totally changed my attitude to writing! Setting yourself an achievable goal every day makes you get through the work quicker and you don't get the dread feeling in the pit of your stomach when you feel like you have wasted a day!

Hi all,

My funding runs out at the end of September so my deadline is October 2012 as well.

Ng24 - I haven't done a great deal of writing either. The focus of my thesis had to change during my data collection and so all that I had written for my upgrade is now largely irrelevant (or at least will play a much smaller part of my final thesis and therefore needs thinning down). I have been focusing on fieldwork and analysis and my writing has taken a bit of a back seat. I have tried to sit down and make progress with this but am having trouble getting going with it - I think mainly because I keep thinking about the end product rather than setting myself smaller goals and am just daunted by how much I have to do. Tomorrow, I'm planning on sitting down with my notes and sorting through, setting some realistic deadlines and hopefully seeing a way to progress.

Purpleflower & Lindalou - I'm going to have a look at that book you recommend and hopefully that will help me get writing.

I'll be interested to follow everyone's progress over the next few months - even though we will all probably be working on different stages of our theses, it's nice to feel that I'm not alone in the process!

:-)

I agree with Busybee, it's certainly helping to discuss how everyone's getting on... I'll be checking back in on this thread! I'm also going to set myself a lot smaller goals and try to work through them, and will hopefully feel less daunted! I'll report back in the new few days once I've had a think about my goals... Let me know how you get on - and hopefully in a few months there will be light at the end of the tunnel :)

Hi all
I'm due to submit in Sept/October this year. I still have to administer a questionnaire to around 60 participants for a factor analysis (and possibly administer the questionnaire to 100s of participants, but I might not get round to that :/), and do a LOT of writing...quite daunting! I've got a lot of stuff in draft already - just need to make a start on those chapters I've been neglecting up until now!
Looking forward to seeing the finish line...

Oh, it's great to see how many of us are submitting at a similar time - I've seen how helpful other similar threads have been previously, so I hope we can keep each other going and help each other over the various hurdles along the way. And then also celebrate each others' successful progress through vivas, if saying that doesn't jinx anything!

Yup, I would have been lost without the support from the 'summer submitters, let's do it together' thread even though technically (sic) October doesn't really constitute summer!!

good luck everyone getting to October 2012(up)

Thank Ady - fingers crossed the next few months go smoothly for us all (and not too quickly!!)...

I stuck to my plan today and have had a really productive day (the first one in a while!). I managed to sort through and organise all my notes, make a list of the chapters I need to do and roughly what needs to go into each and have managed to set some rough deadlines. Although I know I have a mountain to climb, I am actually feeling ok about it...I've just got to take it one step at a time!

I hope you have all had a good day :-)

I was just wondering how everyone's progress was going for those hoping to submit in Autumn?

Despite my best intentions, the last week has been a bit of a write off - things just seem to be cropping up left, right and centre and before I realise it, it's the end of the day and I've barely done any PhD related work - grrr! It's soooo frustrating!!!

The library at uni is also in the middle of a refurb which is driving me up the wall as it's either really noisy or the books I need have been relocated! Grrr!

Apologies, just needed to vent!!!

Hope everyone else is making some headway with their writing!

:-)

Hi there

I too find myself in the same boat as many of you guys. I am set to finish this year, but I am not so sure I can stick to the deadline. I have a major progress report coming up next week as well and I am freaking out about that and the impending year ahead!! I'm a geography PhD trying to link human and natural sciences so its a bit of geomorphology and alot of social science and risk and landscape perecption stuff. I am halfway through the fieldwrk stage I just cannot seem to get my last 10 interviews, its sooooooo frustrating. Writing has been really slow and painful, I seem to have hit a bit of a road block with finishing my lit review, although I am sure it will change somewhat once I start the data analysis. I have not even begun transcribing my interviews, I've just been putting it of since its so time consuming. Does anyone feel overwhelmed with the start of a final year??

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Hi guys! I certainly know how you feel about feel overwhelmed, I'm petrified! I'm such a worrier, and am forever thinking about the worst case scenerio... However, I'm sure we will all be fine, and I bet you guys have done way more than you realise. I know how you feel about things always popping up, it's soo frustrating.
In terms of progress I've had a good week with writing, have been writing lots and slowly feel like I am making progress with a literature review chapter. I have drafts of four chapters, am on my fifth at the moment, and have three chapter to write from scratch. I also have one more study to run. However, after seeing lots of people on here that have managed to do it, I'm determined to feel positive. All we can do is our best, right?
What's everyone got planned today? I need to have a productive one of writing... I'll check back in later! Purpleflower x