I agree with you Sue in terms of treating it as a 9-5.

But what would be the total hours spent actually writing during these hours?

Im not sure whether to work at it with mornings dedicated to reading/finding articles - general "research" - and then write up in the afternoon

- or -

Dedicate Mon to Wed "researching" and then use Thursday and Friday for writing up...

I think I'm going to bite the bullet and phone up for an appointment for tomorrow afternoon

I'm extremely nervous about going but I've rehearsed what I'm going to say over and over in my head.

Lets see how it goes.

Thanks for all your replies.

this thread as been great for me. I just cant talk about these things - not even to my wife or parents. the idea of going to see a doctor scares me a lot. I have a separate cronic condition that is triggered by stress and i have no probs of talking about that as its a physical condition - but speaking about psychological symptoms that in my mind cannot be proven, makes me think I will be doubted by everyone.

For me the big thing is taking in my supervisors email and showing that I spoke to someone at the time, who, lookingback on it now, gave me great support that I didnt appreciate then. I do suffer from bouts of it, especially as I say in the winter when it gets dark at 4pm, but hopefully hte doc will be sympathetic and at least give me some sort of medical note, though I'm guessing a 5 minute visit isn't going to lead to any serious trust building on his part or desire to write me a medical diagnosis on the spot.

======= Date Modified 18 Nov 2009 22:17:05 =======
Thanks for the very supportive replies - I was expecting widespread ridicule!



The funding body is looking for the doctors note from the time that I took my LOA. Basically in the form that I submitted my supervisor recommended that I take time off due to family/personal problems - which was "supported" by my "visit" to the doctor. It was a very dark time and I didnt intend to lie - basically my supervisor (who I thought had it in for me at the time - after my MA diss mark was lower than expected - again due to staying up all night having panic attacks) asked me did I go to the doctor and I said yes in a flash.



I think I'll go to the doctor and explain the situation. He wont give me a note for that period Im sure but Ill show him my supervisors statement and see what he thinks. I always have problems in the winter time and maybe its related to that. If that doesnt work out then Im going to come clean to the funding body and see what they say. They shouldnt really be letting me back and they might use this to finally say no. I dont know.


EDIT: Edit to say I've never spoken to a doctor about my feelings - What is depression really? I know Im over self-critical and think underneath it all I'm not good enough for this but I wouldnt have been accepted and my supervisor (who is the head of the department) has agreed to take me back and likes my revised structural plan.

I have got myself into a pickle regarding a doctors note and funding. I was depressed at the time of requesting a temporary leave of absence and didn't go to the doctor (at the time I wasnt even leaving my bedroom never mind my house). I said I did and disappeared off their radar.

Now they are requesting the doctors note if I want to return.

I know theres an ethical and moral dilemma but should I get a false note, get a note and change the date, or just own up?

At this stage I just want to own up but i'm too embarrased about being another "depressed" arts student. And if I now reveal the truth they are going to throw me out.

I've handled this very badly.

I've just stopped telling people and old friends I run into that I'm doing a Phd - I just say am still at uni. It saves getting the eyebrows look and the "look at you" - no don't look at me thanks. I'm just grinding it out really like any other 9-5.

I'd love to hear some advice about this too as I guess I'm gonna find myself in a similar situation soon enough.

I'm just like to say I'm (re)starting my Phd in October and I am seriously seriously excited.

I had started it two years ago but coming off the end of my MA I had zero motivation and belief in myself.

But now I've been working on my pre-phd bibliography and can already see a structure to the conceptual model that I just couldn't see last time.

Reading William G Sharpe's "New York Nocturne" has been an inspiration - it made me realise that a successful piece of work doesn't need to be complicated - it simply needs structure, direction, clarity, and honesty. I always thought that inspiration came before application but I've just realised it's the other way round.

I'm just about to start my Phd in October. After reading all the threads about lit reviews and the such, my feeling is that I'm going to structure my thesis chronologically (4 chapters / 4 periods) and so have a mini lit review at the beginning of each one. Just to clarify, cos i'm an idiot, a lit review is just the presentation of pieces of work from your field of research - work that you are rejecting, or work that you are "building upon" etc etc, isn't it? I think.

I'm about to restart my Phd In October after a bit of a false start.

I'm currently working on constructing a bibliography that covers the main themes of the project.

My question is about biblio ethics - I've found some great biblios on the web and I've been modifying these (cutting out irrelevant stuff and adding in crucial texts) to suit my project.

I've also been consulting the works cited off books I'm looking to emulate with my project. Again is it OK to admit this?

This may be a real newbie question but I'm just wondering how it will look or it its normal.

Anyone researching in the field or know anyone that is doing their Phd on NY fiction?

That is exactly what happened to me in my MA diss. I got into a rut of writing and rewriting certain sections and basically leaving myself with very little time to finish. My plan is to just write and worry about stylistic issues later on when I revise the review each section. Words on the page is my mantra, words on the page!

I'm only starting my PhD but I plan to write as full a draft as possible for each chapter as I go along and then move on to the next. However I'm expecting to be continually going back to revise and review each chapter as I uncover more essential information (!). I'm doing a humanities PhD so it might be different for PhDers in other disciplines.