I don't know if I'm just tired from all the stress/nerves, but I am sleeping for so long every night! I normally get by on about 7-8 hours but now I'm out for the count for about 10-11 hours every night, just when I need to be working for longer than ever before! If I get up any earlier than that then I'm too knackered to work properly!

Did anyone else experience this so close to submission (10 days to go!!)? On the plus side, when I'm awake, I really am awake and am working quite efficiently, but still...it seems a bit excessive.

Be good to hear your sleep experiences, especially close to submission and viva!!
Cheers, KB

Is it possibly because your brain is doing overtime during the day in the run up to submission that you need sleep in order to restore it? If you're working efficiently and effectively and will meet the deadline I wouldn't worry about it, otherwise it might be wise to set your alarm. Personally, I think you should let your mind and body dictate the terms and if they want extra shut eye:-)

10 days - eeek! Well done so far though, and hang in there!

I find that when I am stressed about something I need more sleep as well, being on anti-depressants doesn't seem to help either. I think that Delta is right, it is because your brain is working more during the day.

I think you just need to listen to your body and sleep for as long as you want to. It sounds like it isn't stopping you from getting the work done either - it isn't healthy to do all-nighters with no sleep and it sounds like you're doing just fine!

Nx

I agree with Natassia. Go with the flow, do what your body is telling you to do, and sleep as needed. It sounds as though you have a good sleep/work balance, even though the sleeping seems a lot.

I am ridiculously unusual in my sleeping. I sleep for up to 18 hours, every single day, due to the brain damage from my progressive neurological disease. When the disease is more active I sleep more, when better controlled I sleep less, sometimes as little as 12 hours a day. But I just go with the flow. I figure my body knows what it needs, and I shouldn't fight it.

Good luck for the last push!

Hi Kean Bean, 10 days to go eh! Although I haven't been through the writing up thing... yet, I do sleep a lot when work stressed. In my final year at undergrad I used to need to sleep for two hours in the afternoon, plus 8-10 hours at night, just to be able to keep going with the work. I'm sure your body and mind know what they need. Good luck, and it's great to see you so close to finishing. X

KB - I was exactly the same although I often used to wake up in a panic in the middle of the night! I think it's just so exhausting because your brain is working overtime trying to get it all done. Right at the very end I was working until 11pm most nights but I'd sleep in until around 10am and start work again at lunchtime. I found that getting enough sleep was so important to staying sane at that stage. So sleep all you like because you need it!

Good luck with the very last push.

I found that I really pushed the study hours when I was writing up the draft thesis but relaxed the hours and slept more when I was fiddling around with the final thesis.  You need the sleep to rest your brain for it to process the thesis. I found that new ideas or changes would come to light during this more restful time of 'mulling it over'.  The same happened prior to my viva, a lot of viva prep increased my working hours, decreasing my sleep. But I was getting tired and unable to process or take in info a few days prior to the viva so I had to rest and scale down the work (recommended by the forumees!). By doing this my thoughts where much clearer on my arguments and justifications.  If you work too hard and are sleep deprived (expert at this with three babies lol) you cannot focus, process or remember info. So respect your body and mind, sleep if you need as you are still being efficient in the waking hours!

Good luck KB, not long to go (up)

Listen to your body ( and your brain!)! It knows how much sleep it needs. I find anytime I have done "heavy" mental work that I am very tired and need ridiculous seeming amounts of sleep. I normally sleep 8-9 hours a night, but sometimes ( once a week or so!) it seems like I need ten or twelve to just feel mentally rested again. I always marvel that mental as opposed to physical work can make you so tired...but somehow it DOES!

======= Date Modified 25 Jul 2011 18:34:57 =======
Thanks guys, you've all pretty much said the same thing! I'll give my brain and body the sleep they seem to be demanding with the hope that they will continue to function well during the day!

Just found out today that my thesis will probably be too big for the usual binding equipment (even though it's easily within the word limit) meaning that I'll need to leave two days to get it bound instead of the usual 90 minutes...so need to have it ready by a week today. Also had my draft discussion back from my sup and she doesn't like it. I based the structure on a couple of other recent theses in the group that passed recently with very few corrections, but she wants an awful lot of revisions (including about 5000 new words) and I just don't have the time :( Just telling myself that a not-brilliant discussion won't compromise the result too much....I hope.

Anyway, better get on with it!
Cheers all, KB

======= Date Modified 25 Jul 2011 20:13:16 =======
Keenbean-best of luck with your final few days before submission (up)

I'm shortly behind you in terms of submission but my supervisor also got me to add an additional few thousand words very late in the day and my heart fell when I realised what I had to do. I'm not that happy with my discussion as I feel it reads like I have run out of steam, which to be fair I feel that I have. I think the rest of the thesis is okay but honestly I don't really have anything left to say. You have publications behind you which I'm sure will impress any examiner. Some people put these in as appendices as a sort of tacit way of saying 'here, journals think I'm good...'. Have you thought of doing this?

Also, how long is your thesis in terms of it being too big for normal binding? Mine is coming in about 350 pages including everything - is yours longer?

Edit: spelt your name wrong:$

======= Date Modified 25 Jul 2011 20:50:08 =======
Hey Ady! Yeah- I wouldn't mind but I don't really understand her suggestions... most comments are along the lines of 'this needs more depth' or 'relate this to the relevant literature' etc etc, and I feel like I've done all of that already in the individual chapters. So I'm trying to expand on this in the discussion but I think it just seems very repetitive. I'd rather be concise than just waffle on for the sake of it...a pal on the same team had the same comments before she handed in a few weeks ago and she couldn't really understand what she was being asked to do either.

My thesis will be about 290 sides of 1.5 spacing (about 80k words excluding appendices). I did 1.5 spacing instead of 2 because I thought I'd be able to get it bound in one volume instead of needing two. But apparently the binding machine can only go up to 260 sides, otherwise they have to do it by hand or something, and that takes two days :( Can't understand why they have a binding machine that only goes up to 260 sides lol!

Good luck with your submission too- how long have you got left?
Best, KB

Edit: I have included a list of my publications in the intro, so won't need to put them in the appendices as well.

Hopefully submitting sometime in August :-). Actually I think it'll be just under the 300 page mark, not 350. It's long though, c 99,000 words. My supv constantly said expand, need more here, and here, and here. I have a lot of context which he likes - just hope my external is of a similar mindset! Our wordcount is 80-100,000 so I'm just under the wire!

I must check out with my uni postoffice about the binding. I think they're okay for a large hardcopy but I'll check it out.

Good luck with yours - nearly there(up)

Hey Ady!

We don't have a minimum, just a maximum of 100k words. Have just realised my reference list is over 9k words so I guess I'll be nearer 90k lol! I can't wait to get it handed in but I could have done with an extra couple of weeks to be honest, to make sure that the references and formatting are spot on. I've got a feeling that a few mistakes might creep in given that I'm on last minute...although since my examiners only have 5-6 days to look at it I don't suppose they'll be checking my reference list in any detail lol!

Good luck with the rest of yours, not long to go! Had a mock viva with my supervisor the other day- it was awful :( Really random questions I had never even thought of, let alone thought of answers to! Can't wait until a few weeks time when we can look back and know that the hard work is done!

Best, KB