Congratulations the both of you! I hope you enjoy this feeling as much as I envy you =)

My article was accepted with minor revisions only two weeks after I submitted it, so now I'm doing the (extremely boring) work of adding a few paragraphs to the article. I was supposed to submit a final version by early august, but the editor asked to submit asap as he wants the article in the next edition. On the one hand, I'm happy it got accepted and all (I put a lot of effort into it), while on the other, this fast track publishing bothers me. I feel like they don't really care. I think my article is good enough for publication, but I expected them to dig deeper to find the improvement potential in the article. My concern is founded on the fact that none of them addressed the core of my article, and one reviewer only commented on typos. The editor and my suggested reviewers are respectable academicians, so I was hoping for more elaborate feedback. Either they didn't understand it, or worse, they didn't care. I guess it's not such a big deal, but I'll submit my future papers in more highly rated journals to make sure my work is properly scrutinized.

Next week I'll be travelling with friends. It's a bit ignorant when all I should do is write, but I need a break from my concerns. Going for a holiday with worriless friends is the best remedy for me right now.

I wish you all a great and productive week!

Hi guys!

Yesterday was a minor milestone for me as I finished some stuff I've working towards this spring, so now I'm a bit in that post-deadline vacuum. Luckily, I had to move to a new office space today, which is a perfect exercise for days like this. Thursday will be exceptionally warm, so I'll have to work efficiently today and tomorrow so I can take the day off.

ClairaN, thanks for the advice! I've been planning to introduce morning exercises as well as it puts in a productive and constructive state of mind. Also, I need to get my schedule back, now it's all over the place. I hardly get anything done before noon nowadays, and as much as I suspect that my mind actually is mostly effective after that point, I desperately need to start sparing some hours to myself. It's just not healthy thinking about my thesis 24 hours a day (I dream about it to, of course).

Your topic is so important and so interesting! I admire anyone who takes on research or other work related to social problems, especially the kind you're working on. I wish you all the luck!

As for my own topic, although I'm professionally motivated, I feel like my topic isn't aligned with my values. I come from environmental sciences, but what I work on doesn't add much to solving environmental problems. It doesn't kill my motivation, but that extra dimension just isn't there, and now I just want to finish (so I can start working on topics that are more important to me).

Ah, so good to know I'm not alone =)

TreeofLife, good luck with your final submission!! I can't wait for my own submission either, although it's not visible in the horizon just yet. I admire anyone who have come to this point, as I already struggle a bit with self-discipline now that I feel like I'm done (with my synthesis/analysis) but still need to write the frigging thing.

clairaN, my topic is within decision support in engineering design. What is yours? I will soon be in your shoes as I'm starting a full time research position next month, and have to finalize my thesis on my spare time. Hopefully, it will be so painful that I become more focused, spending more time on writing than on internet funny. Any tip on how to combine PhD with a full time job (and avoid procrastination) is much appreciated =)

Just wanted to start a thread to keep motivation up over the summer. Struggling as the sun is shining outside and my office looks like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie - I'm completely alone with nobody here to remind me to focus on my work.

This thread is to keep productivity and motivation up, so anyone feeling like reporting on their progress, expressing their frustration or asking for feedback are welcome to do so.

I have three weeks before I leave for a minor (but epic) holiday with friends. In the meantime, I'm writing on my thesis. Just got my first article accepted with minor revisions, which didn't burst my motivation as much as I expected, but hopefully enough to keep me going over the summer. I need to revise my article and hopefully write a huge chunk on my second so my supervisor can look at it during my holiday. It will require a bit of self-discipline, so I hope I'm not as alone in this forum as I am at my uni at the time. =)

I agree with all others that getting your hours in is very, very important. You're not mentioning whether you work from home or not, but if you're not working at least 8-10 hours a day, you'll fall behind.

I still think you raise a point - your relationship with your supervisor doesn't seem very constructive at the time, which might negatively affect your progression from now on.

Regardless of what happens, you need to start getting your hours in. If this is the only source of frustration for your supervisor, she will probably become more friendly with time. If she remains negative, you still have that 2nd supervisor which seems important to you as well. If you find this to problematic, you could perhaps change supervisor?

Anyway, your first step should be to work normal weeks at least. It might solve several of your problems.

Haha, Nautilus, funny you should say that. I think my main challenge in my PhD is that I'm not that creative. I was a really good master student, but this lack of genuine creativity (which is rather vital for my PhD as I'm developing methods) has given me quite the struggle. I was very "narrow minded" when I started my PhD, so it's safe to say that I didn't hit the ground running. I guess this could be one of the most underestimated tasks of a PhD - transitioning from that safe learning environment we operate in during our studies to become scientists who set a research agenda and by creation form new methods, theories and concepts. I believe this can be the most difficult and ambitious thing I'll ever do in my career, which is funny as I'm only at the very beginning of it.

I'm not sure if I have any good advice for your remaining sections, also because there might be different practices within different domains. Generally, I try to present data in its pure (but structured) form before I analyze it. In my discussion I also interpret wider implications of my results and compare with other findings. There might be some differences in engineering, natural and social sciences, so I'm not sure how transferable my approach is.

Hi guys!

Thanks for the encouragement! Yesterday ended up being very productive as well, mostly cognitively but today is the great day of writing and finalization. As opposed to work in my articles, which is rather quantitative, the text in my thesis is more conceptual and abstract somehow as I have to bring my contributions together in a coherent framework.

My deadline is rather elastic, but for myself, I'm finishing this today as I have other commitments rest of the week. I'm so excited (a very, very rare feeling) about my work in this section, as a lot of stuff came together over the weekend. My text is a mess, of course, but I'll "write" it from start to end again today, starting with a blank page and writing/copy-pasting the entire text.

What type of writers are you guys? I know a lot of "brick-by-brick" writers. My approach is very messy. I create an outline, write a bunch of crap here and there, think and read for a long time, make some notes, procrastinate for some time, and then I start again, writing the whole thing all over in one piece. It's probably inefficient, but it's the only way I can. Also, I often have problems reading it again once I'm done. I have to apply a lot of discipline to that final editing process. Luckily, I have great coauthors working with me on my articles, who are both great researchers and communicators (my supervisor is none of those, and extremely busy. Great person, though).

Anyways, guys, I wish you all a productive day! Glowworm - I am so happy for you and it's so motivating to hear that you're so close to the end! Oh, how I wish I was in your shoes right now...

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Hello everybody!

I got to do a lot of writing and thinking yesterday, so what remains today is to make some tough decisions to make my chapter become more clear, coherent and concise (it's currently like drinking from a water hydrant). I had a rather "diverging" weekend, which was good as I got a more comprehensive perspective of this chapter and my overall contribution. On the one hand, I wish my deadline was extended now, because I feel I haven't really digested this chapter well enough. On the other hand, I think more time could make me diverge more than I strictly should. So perhaps this deadline right around the corner will help my chapter evolve around a fundamental core of my topic. Anyways, the deadline is only fictional (I'm submitting it as a report for a course) - afterwards, I may complete it more so that I am satisfied with what it brings to the thesis. At this point, I'm not (and should not) be concerned with grades (although a good grade could help boost my motivation a bit).

For some reason, I've been more productive and content when working on weekends compared to weekdays during my entire PhD period. I'm not sure why, but guess it has to do with constant interruptions (invited by me and my colleagues) during ordinary working hours. I see how most of my eureka moments have been on weekends and that I find myself being more efficient those days. Any of you feel the same? It's so backwards..

Caro, good luck on your discussion today and data processing later on! Good luck on whatever you do today Nautilus - vacation right around the corner! And glowworm, I guess you're swamped at the moment, so good luck on the last few days before submission! =)

Hi guys!

Hope you're either enjoying a nice holiday weekend or working and prospering academically. I'm currently writing my discussion, with renewed motivation after visiting this forum. I must say: It really helps!

Glowworm, the imposter syndrome was something I only had heard of before I started actually writing on my thesis. The moment I got the few first words on paper (articles etc), I felt entirely useless, unoriginal and like that memedog sitting in a car or lab thinking "I have no idea what I'm doing". Now I've realized this is a phase in my writing process (I'm actually there today). Whenever I start thinking "this is useless, nobody cares", I know I'm on track. Also, (once "procrastination hour" is over) I start writing with the goal of convincing myself that my work is significant, instead of my reader. I usually employ a different strategy at that stage, which is to target all those fuzzy and crappy parts that I know I've avoided because I found them troublesome. If I get to the bottom of those parts I know that I will believe in the text and my work, and more importantly, that I can defend it in the face of any opponent.

Nautilus, to me, one month now is as productive as my entire first year (I truly had no idea what I was doing). Also, I keep reminding myself that if I focus on efforts rather than outcome, I perform better. I agree that motivation is nice to have, and discipline is need to have - Especially now that motivation is so hard to come by!
I cross my fingers for your extension!

Great! It's motivating that you're meeting your deadline glowworm. I can totally relate to that feeling - my reward center is always activated a bit to soon, sending me off into excited states when I really should be concerned and focused. You seem to have everything in control though, so I'm sure you'll meet your deadline just fine. :) I have a deadline next week and will have a mini-holiday with friends shortly after. The excitement kind of propagates to feelings for my work, which is both motivating and derailing at the same time.

I'm working on my discussion section today and throughout the weekend. My language sucks, which breaks my heart, but I'll try to get a complete draft within Sunday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hello everybody, thanks for the good spirit =) A weekend off seems like a good idea, Tulip, enjoy it!

I didn't get much writing done yesterday, but did do a lot of thinking and hope my thoughts end up as clear and meaningful on paper as they seemed in my mind yesterday (hardly the case, though). Although it's a five page report for a course, I'm using it in a chapter of my thesis, so it's a useful exercise. Today, I intend to finalize sketching my line of thought in the report and define terms and interconnections. Tomorrow, I'll start my discussion part, which will probably also be the dominant activity for the weekend. My goal is minimum 500 words per day so that I have a sketch early next week.

Good luck everyone - I'll try to radiate positive energy to all of you!

Hi Nautilus! I feel sympathy, I'm in the same situation myself. I've only finished one paper, two are on draft level and my fourth is kind of somewhere in my mind - my funding ends this fall. And before I can finalize these papers, I actually have a final PhD course to finish (next week).

I managed to meet my goal for Friday, but have been spending the weekend and today preparing a presentation for a seminar tomorrow (It's really not important, but always gets prioritized as I freak out if I'm not very well prepared). So my goal for Wednesday is to get back on track with my report - finishing the structure and start writing on the main body.

I'm joining in on this one! I'm in the final stages of my PhD-period (but still have a lot of writing left) so need to burst my motivation. The positive spirit and energy in this forum is already working =)

For tomorrow, I intend to create an outline and structure relevant literature for a mini-report I have to submit in a course (need a few more credits). I've been struggling to focus on this as I'm writing articles and drafting my thesis at the same time. I only have a few weeks on this, so will need to work day and night to finalize this last mandatory obstacle to a PhD.

I wish you all a productive work day tomorrow!