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....