Also, have a look where your procrastination energy goes - I kind of created some social capital, connections doing the things I liked, which later helped me to get the internship/money more than my thesis work (for a moment). If you procrastinate, do the things which are good for you.

Also, doing sports regularly have helped. Some people get their best ideas for the thesis in the gym. Also, taking showers (as this is the time which you can think and somehow it many times gives some clarity). The comments of Intellectual and huhu were also helpful. I have many times looked at huhu comment and was deciding, ok, now I feel more tired, so I have some rest (I think it is also very important to control, how do you rest, how do you rest best. E.g. staring at Facebook might not be the best way to rest, but using Facebook to plan to which next party (or whatever activity you like) you will go might be helpful. You feel more rejuvenated and fresh and in a working mood afterwards. I can still remember that I was not going to one party which I would have enjoyed a lot and anyway instead of working on thesis just wasted time on the Internet), or, do I feel it is overwhelming, then I try to divide the work in small parts.
Well, and we all know that the best thesis is the done/written thesis. Webaeten, do you have deadlines?

Hi, webaeten,

I have been doing something else, what does not require academic writing and what I like, and I got back confidence. I have been enjoying life quite much as well :)
Well, one thing what helped lastly was that I knew that money will be finished soon and we have to move to another country (I was dependant on another person for that). I also made some plans for the future, like applied to internship in another country and got it, while still writing. So I got some fixed dates to the changes in my life and I knew, yeah, well, I could still do without writing my thesis, but I knew I would feel so much better after handing it in and having a diploma might be handy. So, I got some kind of deadline. I think I actually sent it out like almost the last day of leaving the country, but I was kind of planning towards it and working bit by bit all the time. And then it was taking me another year to send an updated version with just some language and formatting corrections needed, but I also was very busy with life and work during that year and I did not needed to get that diploma for what I have been doing nor I was too much stressed about not making it. I sent the last last version after some new agreed manageable date (at the end of the year) with my supervisor.
When I was still in the country, I made some good friends, found activities which I really liked and had less stress. Some of the friends were in similar situation, so that was helping. I kind of learned to enjoy life more, planned freetime, also took time to deal with stressful things in my life. When I look back, it was really harder to be a student than what I am doing now - it is just the system and no deadlines, which makes you feel miserable. So if there is no deadlines, find creative ways to create them!

Refworks, Endnote, Zotero...

Maybe you could think about changing your supervisors?

I have no external deadline, just plans what I will do right after finishing. I should be close to finishing my thesis, but after I got last supervisor's comments, I wrote too much additional stuff (I will have to cut some). Now I am editing, redrafting and while doing it, writing even more. But since the document got bigger, the editing is too slow. Especially, having in mind, that I have made a commitment to finish it at specific date and as I can see now, I overestimated my time (I had some plan how long editing of each part should take and I have just fallen behind it). I don't want to work at nights, but that was how I made my deadlines in the past. I think harming my health is not worth it. Or maybe it is? Just some nights and I probably would fit in that deadline. There is too many deadlines I set myself and missed. And as I start falling behind, I loose my motivation and start procrastinate more often. I also trying to have a "normal life" - exercising, having normal meals, some little commitments in my community. But I know the only way out is just sticking the butt to the seat and working on it. But I always feel that I could be working more efficiently during hours I actually put in (these are like 5 hours a day at least). How do you get this efficiency? How the hell one gets to edit a load of pages? I mean, is it better to try to get it right at once one goes through those pages (like the last time to get all the ideas) or to make many drafts, when each draft is better than the previous one? I have no opportunity to send shitty drafts to supervisor, this one is supposed to be the last one with minor revisions. Does anyone has the tendency to write too much, and then have too little time to edit it? How do you cope with that? I could try not to write, just edit, but some parts need some more explanation... How do you get things fit together in the thesis?
By the way, there is some good advice on editing in Foss and Waters book, but I feel I need advice from real people.

Thank you, Intellectual and Huhu, for your support. I have been better for some time, made another deadline for the same chapter and was working quite productively on it (haven't seen popping up so many pages in so short time for a while). The deadline was a bit external - I agreed someone (who knows about troubles with progress) to comment on my work, and this person only has limited days to comment, so I gotta send it and get comments, or I will not get any comments for a long time. This quite motivated me. Also, I planned a two day trip as a reward after completing the draft (this was also motivating, at the beginning). But I was wholeheartedly writing only when I saw the prospect of completing it on time. When I lost this prospect, seeing too much work in too little time - today (today evening or tomorrow morning is the deadline), I did not write at all. Neither did something really pleasurable. As a result, I do not want to eat normally, and to do things which I usually enjoy. I doubt, whether I deserve going to that trip (I can easily not to go, no tickets bought). And this is kind of a cycle I see when I look back to my writing.
I can beat the bad side of perfectionist in me, all the other bad feelings, I can forget that I thought of other people thinking about me as failed person and write with those bad feelings staying somewhere around, but I cannot beat this monster of "deadline close, it's too much work, so let's hide the head in the sand". Any suggestions, how to cope with this? For some time back I was trying to work without any interim deadlines, but this did not felt good. Maybe I demand too much of myself and set unrealistic deadlines... or I work too little.

Hi, John,

If I understand your question right, you are asking, whether it is OK to analyze reports and other written sources/documents as a material and thus search for answers to your research questions only in these sources, not taking any interviews. From what I know (had a good course in methodology), that's totally acceptable. The main thing is that your research questions and documents you would use would match each other, i.e. that you would be able to find answers in those documents. Of course, it's always partial answers and more documents and interviews would make the picture of the phenomena you are researching more nuanced, but this you can acknowledge in your methodology section on limitations. If it turns out that you have done with your material smth else, that you previously thought you will do, you can (and need!) change your research questions to match what you have actually done. Also, be sure not to select too many reports and data overall. You need to say much about the little (some small phenomena, few documents). Have some reports (maybe each from a country is enough, hard to say not knowing the topic) as your main data and maybe use some other for triangulation (this might not be needed). Or more shorter units of data (e.g. newspaper articles). Also, I would advice to reach some other teachers, if your original supervisor is not available. Email to the people in your faculty, asking some specific questions about your thesis (e.g. ask about methodology your methodology teacher and tips on the way to analyse your material, for example, the teacher who is most familiar with your topic). Good luck! I am sure you will do great!

I think it's possible to enter the PhD for the poor, but you have to be prepared for the possibly long journey before you enter it. I know people submitting 20-30 proposals to different institutions, till they get the position. I mean in western world. It can take a year or more. So it requires commitment.
I know nothing about education system in India, but maybe you want to try in some western university? In some universities you get paid for doing a PhD,

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Hi, Bonzo,

I am in a bit similar situation as yours (my other post), just I am in my master's (but almost taking it as serious as a PhD). You are saying you are getting medical help - maybe you need psychological help? Have you tried your university's counsselling services? Do you have a good supervisor? Maybe he can motivate you - for me, even talking with supervisor and discussing things would usually give the better mood and motivation. To get some other person - a friend, faculty member to share your concerns about how to deal with material also could be helpful and add motivation. Through my ups and downs I have discovered that when you are actually starting working on material for some time, you get interested by the process and you start even to discover something and then it can be enjoyable. Through the years when I was not being able to finish, I have read loads of advice, how to go into state of working - but putting all that into work was more difficult and advice sometimes even contradict each other! But my suggestion now is schedule some short time to work on your project - 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour - how much you feel is appropriate to you. Maybe other day you can do the same. It's just the beginning, it'll get better. I have just called my university counssellor and, among other things and suggestion to come, she offered me to work for half an hour or an hour today, then stop (because being in such a bad state of mind requires some energy to get) and do other things which I like. Maybe you want to do this together? Or are you already doing more hours? But if you feel you need a break and it's not time to do even 15 minutes now, ignore my suggestion, do what helps you better.

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Probably I should also say that I was considering quiting my degree several times, cause I have this attitude that everyone should be doing the thing which they want most to do. And I realized I want to do something else - and I was doing it a bit - it also became some form of procrastination, but for a good reasons, producing good outcomes (not for thesis, though). But I quited that type of procrastination almost to zero long ago. At some point I decided that I have to go, that I want to finish it - after all, I liked my program very much and a degree might be some use in the future (despite I value more what I learned, not the degree itself). I was one of the best students in the program and this thesis down... I am probably tieing too much my performance and value as a person. I know it's not true, but still hard to convince my inner critic. The fact that my significant other harshly criticized me once tieing my performance and me as a person does not help. Despite he is and was very supportive. Also, before beginning thesis, I was tired of myself writing up/doing things last minute/week/day, so I decided that I can learn being more consistent, have a normal life and write a thesis at the same time. I failed at it. Also, I don't like being in a country where I am now, despite it has many advantages, do not have many friends here, and lack social contacts overall. And I am not supposed to search for social contacts when I am supposed to focus on my thesis, am I? I was also changing the focus of my thesis partly, which made some work I made on it useless. Also, my thesis does not seem so interesting as before. It is also quite characteristic to me that I want to work most and get in the shoes of working, when I should be finishing it - before when it's time to sleep (I cannot work at night because of other people, at least not at home), on Friday late afternoon, before vacation, before the party. Anyone, who has overcome something similar to my situation - how did you did it? Others, who has seen this in other people - what helped them? Maybe I should forget all deadlines - but that I have already tried and felt not knowing where I am and where I am heading.

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Hello, all,
I started master's program in social sciences three years ago. It was supposed to be two years. Probably it is how I feel impedes progress. Before I had a job connected to writing (not academic), was successful at it, receiving praise. I had a tendency to write too much back that time, but I managed to fit in the format required, sometimes working at nights. I was not good at time management, but I had deadlines... Now I do not have any clear external deadline since I missed the first one, which was for all students in the program. My supervisor is not pushing me, but I think it's good - I would like to learn time management and be able to stick to deadlines which I set myself. But I miss them - quite always. From few days to a week. Like now, I set new deadline to make a half of big chapter in specific time and now it has taken 1/3 more of the time and I have only one fourth of it written - but I have done some work on it, but I am not sure, whether it's right (I know there is no one right way to write, but I torture myself thinking maybe the way which I did it before was better - I had a bit different approach and wrote few pages using it, and my supervisor said it was quite OK, but I decided to change it, focusing on that part of chapter as a whole.) I feel miserable and think that others see me as failed. I feel like I have already failed. Despite I know that if I finally write my thesis, I will not get "fail". During these years of writing I very much lost confidence in my abilities. Not only abilities to write a thesis in scheduled time, but abilities as a person. I feel I am not professional and could not be. I have thoughts about my supervisor thinking that I am not good at writing and not professional at all. I even started to think that I do not deserve his help anymore, after not keeping my promises to meet deadlines which I set myself. I also became afraid of setting deadlines for myself, because I do not meet them. After some months writing, when I have already missed to comply with some suggestions of my supervisor, I proposed to my supervisor to make a plan, a schedule, when I should do which step to complete it in time. We made it and at early point I started missing these short deadlines and got better at procrastinating. Some delays were bec.of health and family problems, but not now. I have read parts of Becker "Writing for social scientists", applied smth from Foss & Waters "Destination Dissertation", many articles about stopping procrastination, developing regular schedule, etc. in the net. Maybe applied smth, but was never satisfied with myself. Two psychologists told me I am indeed working on thesis,but my progress ALWAYS seemed too little. Supervisor will be on vacation (friend will give feedback), so I probably will not get his feedback for a longer time. Smth - or many things - is wrong with me. I am also oversensitive.