With just over a week to wait until my viva takes place, I am here, unsuccessfully trying to prepare myself for the day.

I am so tired and bored of reading my thesis that I fall asleep after one page! So far I have re-read it, highlighted key points, thought about my contribution, possible problems, I have read again some key papers...I feel like I have made a soup of it all, and now I don't now how to get to next week without panicking!

I should have probably make an effort to summarise each page, although I inserted post-its in strategic points, but now I barely manage to flick through it (and every time I do it I find something I am not happy with!).
Does anyone have a word of wisdom on how to survive the week, and what should I focus on?

Many thanks!!!

You've prepared enough. Take a break. Honestly. You can do this at this time, and it will be best for you. Watch trivial TV. Read books you want to. Relax. Go for a walk. Just don't stress about the viva constantly. And try to look after yourself in what you eat and try to sleep well (I totally failed at that in the run-up to my viva, and even the night after!). The best way you can help yourself now is to give your brain and body some time out. And then when the viva comes you'll be best ready for it.

Hi Corinne, I also got to the point that my head was just not taking anything in and I was sick of seeing my thesis.  I posted about this problem on the Saturday with the viva on the Wednesday, so similar issues/emotions at about the same time. The advice I was given by the fabulous forum members was to rest, relax and scale down the prep.  Eat well, get some fresh air, have some decent sleep. If you keep working hard on the prep without a break (v, hard to do), your brain isn't getting the time to process what you are exposing it too.  You need to reduce the prep a little and then you will find that your mind will start processing through the thesis and viva prep Qs. I just did some reading through of my viva prep notes rather than the thesis.  It sounds like you have it all tagged with post-its, mine were for chapter starts, appendices, references, subsections of interest and then additional notes for my own clarity stuck on the relevant pages. I made a corrections/errors document which detailed the errors I had noted ie typos etc to give to the examiners.

The day before (or two) - Obviously your mind will be on the viva day and everything associated with it. We all worry or get nervous about such things!  Try to get their early if pos to check out the allocated room so that you are 'familiar' with the exam environment. Then go for a break somewhere quiet with a newspaper or some other distracting pastime (ipod music, non related book).  Try not to focus specifically on the anxieties around the viva itself, rather focus on leaving the exam post viva. I found that if I was getting worried about the viva prior to going in, I turned my thoughts to what I was going to do when I left, ie pop to the Disney shop, get some lunch, my drive home etc so essentially I was shifting the focus and desensitizing myself to the nerves surrounding the 'viva' .  It sounds a bit weird but it really worked for me (normally a nervous wreck!!!).

Above all, you can do this as you know your subject area having lived it for some years. You can never predict the viva Qs but you can give yourself confidence by being prepared, which you obviously are! Good luck  (up)

Thanks Bilbo & Dunni. I suppose that tiredness, uncertainty and hundreds of other things to finish do not help, but you have been there and you know how it is.

I do my best to take it easy, because at the end of the day, les jeux sont faits. Unless I manage to make a complete fool of myself at the viva, the result will depend on what the examiners think of my thesis. So the result is probably pretty much decided already anyway.

As I didn't have a mock viva - and I prefer not to have one anyway - I really don't know what to expect. I know my external examiner already, and I think is a fair person, nonetheless he is very thorough, and rightly so. As my internal is not a specialist in my area I am afraid that she will pilot questions towards her area of expertise, something I know little about. We shall see...

Anyway, thank you very much for your support and tips. I really appreciate your encouragement. It was very much needed!

I meant to post earlier - best of luck with the viva Corinne, you sound very prepared despite your misgivings. I really hope it goes well for you.

Thanks Ady, I am keeping all my fingers crossed!

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I agree with Ady, you sound more prepared than you probably think you are. Which is why I think you should take the next few days in as relaxing a way as possible, to rest yourself to be as ready as possible for the big day.

As for the examiners making up their minds based mainly on the thesis, I agree, and I found that actually quite liberating myself. I adopted a "Que sera sera" attitude in the run-up to my viva. You can influence the decision - in both a good, and a bad way - on the day, but your thesis is the core thing.

I also didn't have a mock viva, but I read Tinkler and Jackson's book, and that demystified the process for me. I think a mock viva would just have terrified me!

Good luck.

I think that your "que sera sera" attitude is very wise.

Nonetheless, I cannot help changing mood, from very optimistic to deep negative. Obviously the PhD is long journey, and has an impact not only on the student (that's me!), but also on the people close to you. Family time has often been sacrificed in order to accommodate the PhD, and the idea of failing, or having to spend another year to work on major corrections does not sound very appealing.

I am confident about my material - I have unearthed some very important archival docs, and as a result I completely changed the outlook on my topic. This said, I am not so confident about the way in which I laid out the thesis, especially the introductory chapters. 

But we shall see, I trust that adrenaline will kick in when the viva starts, and I will be able to deal with the unexpected questions.

Thanks also for reminding me of the book. I am going to the library later on, and get a copy for the we!