I'm sorry but I live for christmas! Love it! Its all I'm holding onto right now to get me through, although to be honest I'm not feeling too festive just yet, its always a busy and stressful time on the lead up to christmas.

Good luck - remember you will most likely feel more nervous than you look - also remember that noone can know everything so don't worry if you get asked a question you can't answer. The examiners will probably want you to pass, so they will be looking for evidence that you do know a bit about your topic. They are not looking to catch you out and find out what you don't know (in most cases). Try not to be nervous, this time tomorrow you could be celebrating - try and think of that. What a weekend that would be. Positive attitude;-)

Hi I did the same as you. Started at 21, I'm 23 now and in my third year. I'm getting on just fine. The only regret I have is that noone warned me how much the PhD would take over my life and how much I would have to sacrifice for it. Feel like the best years of my youth have been spent being stressed and anxious beyond anything I could imagine. Still, I think its worth it, there are advantages and disadvantages. Watch out for people thinking you are niave. When I started I was quite naive (which I put down to age and experience), and it didn't go down too well, so I learned to appear more confident and experienced even at times I felt out of my depth. I do feel a little bit like the PhD has aged me, but in a wisdom kind of way. I tend to bring a little immaturity to the department, but I think thats just fine, it would be boring if we were all the same. Our lab is mainly made up of people 30+, but there are a couple of 'youngsters'. I find everyone gets on just fine.

you can't possibly know or do EVERYTHING. Like someone said a PhD is AN answer, not THE answer to a hypothesis. As long as you have made a contribution that you have 'tested' beyond all reasonable doubt, I'm sure it will be enough. In the end, there will always be more you can do to strengthen your argument, but doing a PhD has a time limit and you must do the best you can in the time you have. Worrying too much about perfection may hold you back! On the other hand, it is important to have high standards and think about your work critically, but perfection I think is a step too far and you will end up wasting time. Take it from someone who was stuck with a perfection obssessed supervisor for 1 year. It did me no favours! Progress is important.

CONGRATULATIONS - thats great

how do you get one? have i missed something?

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I do around 8.30-5.30 for 5 days a week minimum, but then I am lab based. Occassionaly this will go up considerably but I aim to get things done as quickly as I can. I think a lot of it is organisation. If people were more honest about the actual number of PRODUCTIVE hours they put in a day, we wouldn't feel so bad ( a lot of people lie about hours put in for some bizaar reason which doesn't help). Try to remember that when you are making yourself feel guilty. Also, my fellow PhDs work from around 10 until 8, but I get more work done than them in less time, it really does depend how you work. A PhD is like a marathon, so just try and keep things going steadily and consistantly, if you do find yourself panicking then you can increase your hours, but don't do it just because you think you should. As a previous post said if you do not take time for yourself and to take a step back, you will burn out. Its hard getting rid of the feeling you should be working harder, but if you are motivated, taking it a bit easier shouldn't be a problem.

So I have a year left. I'm working a little harder than in the summer, but not too much. I believe in good work life balance. I'm also more efficient so I'm getting more done in less time.

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