So I'm at a bit of a loss and even feeling guilty over taking the time to post this up.

I have a deadline to submit my thesis by December. But realistically looking at how many pages I have to write to get there and yes I still have some lab work to complete it's not going to be done by then. Also, my advisor is really putting the pressure on to get pages done weekly. The trouble is the little bits of lab work I need to complete it stopping me from writing quite a bit of my conclusions. And I can't both write and analyse data at the same time. Basically yes I am running behind.

My university's grad school department has also suddenly starting being quite strict with regard to finishing dates. And although they haven't kicked anyone out yet for not making a deadline, no one wants to be the one to test the new rules and attitude they are taking towards students.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips to write the thesis, have a life and not suffer from sleep deprivation at the same time.

To be honest the stress in doing this is really taking it's toll to the point where I have just had to shut down at my desk a little and have a bit of a teary. These times I've been glad to have my own little office. But it makes me feel worse because this is time where I am not getting anything done. I'm thinking of going to the free counseling service at uni, but I know they can't change anything and it's even more time I'm not working.

So yeah, any advice however general I would be grateful of right now.

Hi there,

Sorry to hear you are having a tough time of it. I'm in an unrelated field, so I am unfamiliar with the lab work side of things but here is what I would suggest.

Allow yourself to cry, get it all out of your system. It is likely that this will be the most stressful part of the process you will experience - from here it can only get better. Regarding counselling, do what feels right for you. From my experience, I decided against counselling as I knew exactly why i was feeling so down/stressed and knew that once it was done these feelings would subside. From this, I was able to regain a feeling of control.

Can you sit down and work out a realistic timeframe, detailing when you will be doing the lab work, and the time for writing up results following this. Then you will have a clearer picture of what needs to be done, as will your supervisor - there will be little nasty suprises left.

Can you in the meantime work on formatting of the thesis - never underestimate how long and fiddly the process of spacing, sorting margins, bibliography, referencing takes. This would be a constructive thing to pursue now, with the added bonus that you won't have much to do closer to submission when setting margins and spacing seems like a massive stress!

To be honest, there is rarely much room to have a life when writing up, but I think that if you lay out a plan of action at least you will feel in control of what you are doing, ticking of tasks as you go along.

Finally, I would say that the very fact that you care so much to be so worried is a clear indication that you have the commitment and passion to suceed in this - hopefully, sooner rather than later, you will be able to utilise this blip as a motivator to get everything wrapped up.

All the best