Part time PhD - how to finish?

[Leskovac]

Can I please ask for some moral support and/or tips on how to finish this damned thing, please? I have a full time management job in an academic department, two young children, and I am in the fifth and final year of a part time PhD.

Doing a PhD was longstanding dream, and I was given an opportunity that I could not turn down. I can't honestly say I regret taking it up, but the price has been high in terms of family life and my own health and wellbeing. I sometimes feel like the bloke who has an obsession about climbing Everest and everyone else pays the price.

I am hoping I will look back on it and it will have been worth it (and worth it for my family), but the longer it goes on the harder it gets. I am struggling to identify my core arguments and contribution. Other people's theses seem either brilliant or boring, and either way don't help me work out how to focus and what might be good enough.

Any tips on how to get it over the line? I like writing and I don't usually have a problem with procrastination - I just don't know how to do this!

Hi, I am still here too!

I only have one draft chapter, but a fairly clear thesis outline to work towards. I have also written about two-thousand short paragraphs of commentary, as I went through my analysis, so am hoping that they will form the basis of my findings chapters. A bit like the post-it notes idea described upthread.

I am conscious of the passing of time and want to get it done, but also have other preoccupations that are far more pressing in real life. So I just keep working on at a steady pace and try not to worry about it, as that really is a waste of energy!

@MaybeDoctor - Hooray! Sounds amazing that you have a clear outline and so many pieces to slot in. The process has been very different for me - I've had lots of ideas swirling around and found it hard to impose structure.

I hope you are enjoying it. It sounds like you have a good handle on it.

I used to work in public engagement and I think you need to talk about your phd with laypeople. It’s amazing the value gained from interested but unknowledgeable people asking questions. Think about joining one of the many online support groups where you can pair up with someone in another field to talk it through as well as offering each other support. If you can explain what you studied and why and what you found out in conversation then you’ll have the “argument” nailed which will make the writing much easier.

That's an interesting idea, thank you. Maybe it will help me learn not to talk too much as well. I am not very good at being concise. Also, the main challenge I have had throughout is knowing how to focus and what to leave out....

Hello again, I am coming back to say that I've had a viva and passed (with corrections). Thanks to everyone for the wise words and support - they've got me through some periods when I felt road-blocked.

The thesis I submitted was very much a final draft, rather than the finished article, and the corrections and feedback will help me take a step back and make sure the published version is something I can be really happy with.

Wishing strength and courage to all!

Congratulations and very well done. And thank you for taking the time to update this thread.

onwards and upwards to your final submission

That's wonderful news, well done

Thank you very much!

@Leskovac Congratulations! Epic achievement and so glad the viva and resulting corrections sound constructive. No such thing as a perfect PhD! Enjoy your success and make sure you use your ‘Dr’ title!

Huge, huge congratulations!

That's fabulous news, congratulations Dr @Leskovac !

Thank you very much! I'll be using the Dr title at work, in my e-mail signature at least. Not sure about outside, I don't want to get into any awkward situations with medical emergencies on planes!

I don’t know if working online is proving any kind of hindrance but I struggled to complete until I went back to some hard copy notes-to/self/annotated sources and sorted them into an order and then motored through the pile adding into bits of my text and then destroying them. It felt time-limited that way. But that was at a final stage, and it’s possible to replicate the method on a draft chapter/ case study or section. I also found bullet- pointing and short explanations as to what’s missing helped me to flesh out the whole

The OP has finished now - see above. 😁

I am currently working on a very expanded outline, where I write a paragraph about each section of data. I am hoping that in time those paragraphs will get longer!

Best of luck with it, @MaybeDoctor ! It will all come together....

🥳 Congratulations Dr ❤️

I didn’t have children but I was working full time in a uni and I completed my PhD in five years simply out of sheer bloody mindedness. I think part of your problem is that you didn’t collect the data yourself and haven’t been able to to conduct interviews so you don’t have ownership of the data and you aren’t immersed in it. Perhaps if you recognise that fact it will help you to sort out how to finish your thesis.Perhaps you need to discuss this issue in your writing? I do think the idea of writing a short summary of what will be in each chapter is a good one. It will help you to see the overall arc of your discussion and analysis.

I’ve been where you are. You can do this. Designate time and space for writing - the closer you get to the end the easier it will be to get into that flow state and churn it out. Best times for me were an hour or two after work each day (ideally in the office) and 9 to 5 at the library on at least one if not two days at the weekend. Babysitters and/or family support needed to get this done. Look at your annual leave and see what you can take to dedicate for this. Especially around submission and viva stage.

@Rocknrollstar @LimeDahl OP has finished and passed her viva!

Gosh i really must remember to read the thread properly. Congratulations Dr OP!

Take four weeks unpaid parental leave in September and do it then

Oh just seen you’ve passed - congrats dr op!

Fantastic news! WELL DONE

Well done 🎉🎉🎉 but please please please make sure you do the corrections and actually GET the PhD! I had one colleague who got a teaching job at this point, never finished his corrections and never got the PhD …. He just lost his mojo!

Congratulations Dr Leskovac! Was in a similar position and have also now passed mine ‘subject to corrections’. Long, hard slog - well done.