PhD - help!

[Holibobby]

I have been working on my PhD for coming upto 6 years part time, feels like a very long slog. I have a love-hate relationship with my thesis depending on what I am working on. I have just started my data collection so I will be interviewing participants all of Jan and Feb! I originally agreed with supervisors I would send them a draft in June this year, however, they've told me it would be more realistic to send a full draft in September! However, now I'm not even sure that is going to be enough time!

I have some chapters written but I keep changing the focus of the PhD and most recently I've changed the focus in a way which will mean I need to re-write so much! So it feels like I am going to be analysing 4 chapters aswell as writing up in 8/9 months. I work 16 hours in a part time role at the university, and I am a single parent. DD is with her dad two-three evenings a week and a full day on a saturday! I can't really work around her as like to ensure that we have quality time together especially of an evening after school.

I need help! How do I get this bloody thing written! Has anybody else done this succesfully? Most of my peers are younger without kids so I don't really have the chance to ask anyone in real life. Anybody have any words of wisdom?

Stop changing focus. Just pick something with your supervisor and do it. Do the chapter and move to the next one. Don't linger too long.

I used to tell myself: It can't be perfect but it can be done.

I would see you supervisors and look to firm your planning up with them. Explain the situation. I'm doing a 6 year PhD and I'm aware that it can grow arms and legs because it naturally does change as it progresses. However, it does also need to be bounded and have a central argument this is broadly stuck to. Talk to them, say that you want to get things tied up, write down what each chapter is looking to do and get some firm dates on the calendar.

Yes, I've found that procrastination can take the form of self sabotage sometimes. Some new shiny idea catching your eye.

I’m a bit confused by the timings. You’ve been working for 6 years but haven’t started collecting data yet, and you’re planning on having a full draft by September? How data-driven is your work?

Why do you keep changing focus? Is it because you’re encountering genuine problems or just that you’ve changed your mind? If the latter, I’d really encourage you to try to stick to an approach. It can be tempting to see your PhD as your last word on the subject and think it has to be perfect and as a result it never gets finished. Done is better than perfect, and better to see yours as your first word rather than your last word. I don’t know anyone whose thesis actually fulfilled all their hopes- we can’t all be Wittgenstein. Better to accept it’s imperfect and get it done. You don’t need perfection to pass.

That sounds tough.
tbh I don't think it sounds very realistic to have a full draft by September but you can only do your best, and ask for whatever extension you'll need.

My own experience was that I started off full-time and during that time I got 2 chapters written and did my data collection. I had to stop for a year for personal reasons and then restarted part time combining it with work and dedicating every Saturday 8am to 8pm on getting the bastard thesis done (it was very much a hate hate relationship by the end). It took me 18 months of 12hrs per week to get from the point you plan to be by February to actual submission. Of course it's a "how long is a piece of string" question and your topic may be more amenable to swifter writing-up. Good luck though!

Also, how engaged are your supervisors? I’d expect them to help you get through this and give you some support on sticking to a focus, finding the boundary of your work etc. Have they been a bit hands off? It’s ok to ask for more support.

I did my PhD as a mature adult with two DCs, one of whom was homeschooled so with me 24/7. I agree that it is not easy.

In particular I found it hard to remain focused but in the end I set aside weekend days when I would just work for 20 hour stretches while my DM had the DCs stay over. During the week, it would be every evening after dinner until late - I got used to surviving on very little sleep.

Six years to get to the data collection stage does sound horrendous. Obviously changing focus is a big issue and something you need to sort out. Collecting data was for me the most enjoyable aspect and the whole thing moved much more quickly after that.

If you are struggling with literature reviews, methods, etc then I suggest, providing you have clear idea of where you are now going, you get on with data collection and then go back and review everything else once you have your results as your purpose may then be much clearer to you. I had to re-write my methods chapter after the event as things changed during the process when I saw opportunities or flaws in my logic, etc. I found writing up the results and discussion much more motivating and the whole thing sort of fell into place eventually!

To the person who said 12 hours a week - just how! Mine felt more like 120 hours a week!

I did my PhD part time over 8 years. The thesis at the end is mediocre in my view, but I passed easily. I definitely did a lot more than what's needed to graduate, because I wanted an academic job.
However, given the current state of universities, it would be near impossible to find an academic job in the next few years. And I don't think any other prospective employer is going to read your thesis chapter by chapter. So don't aim for perfection; just do whatever it takes to finish it off.

Try to avoid rewriting anything, stick with your original plan. Imagine it’s a run of the mill work assignment that you have to submit and not something you are emotionally invested in.

ok, so after 6 years (=3 years full time?? unless you've had breaks of course) you should really have your question clarified, done your lit review, and got your plan for data collection.

You are about to do data collection - make sure you have your ethics approval etc etc in place as required. You need to FOCUS. Get it done. It does not have to be perfect, it has to be good enough.

Your uni should have a study support team/Researcher Development Team/Grad School/similar who can provide advice, perhaps some PGR workshops you can attend on writing your thesis/chapters? on how to get over your 2nd year slump?? Please be aware of your submission deadline, the process for that, and the timeline, and work towards that. Your supervisor should give you feedback on your writing, there may be other writing groups you can join. Keep plugging away at it, and find where you can get support and guidance.

There are loads of online resources on how to project manage - that is what you are doing. Get a timeline sorted, chunk up your tasks, and then you can feel like you are making progress. Yes it's extra hard as you have caring responsibilities, but if you are organised you can do it. Get all the help which is available to you.

Good luck!

I’ve basically done the majority of data collection and started to analyse the data. However supervisors have said I need to also conduct some interviews to show to the examiner that I’ve utilised different methods - which involves around 20 online interviews (and also helps explain previous patterns in the data) So my whole Jan and Feb will be used for these interviews and I’m coding as I go along.

Ideally if I started to get up before DD I could work 5-7am and I’ve got 3 full days of focus per week (9-3), 2 evenings to myself per week and a full day Saturday so thinking I just need to plug away and ensure this time is super productive.

When people say it doesn’t have to be perfect it just has to be done - are you alluding to it just needed a strong focus , and answering a particular research question and contributing in some way to the field?

Absolutely, it just needs to be strong enough to be defended in the viva.

I did my PhD part-time while working full time and looking after children.

Whatever your current focus, stick with it rigidly now, even if you think a change might work. Do the necessary extra work to bring it up to scratch in every spare second you can find, even if it means asking someone to look after your daughter for the odd extra day at weekends. A couple of months of intense work will put you on track with data collection, revisions and writing up, and she will probably not even remember this period as she gets older. You’ll have plenty of time with her once you have submitted.

Thank you @LoserWinner I think that's a battle I have everyday with myself - when I'm not with my daughter and I'm working on my PhD I feel guilt. But it's only for a limited period! And I've got this far just need to make it over the finish line!

@Holibobby My kids survived with no ill effects for my last year when I resorted to childcare, holiday clubs and grandparents to free up writing time. I asked them about it recently and they didn’t really even remember it as anything out of the ordinary. They are rather proud of the fact now that their taking it in their stride helped me achieve my PhD. So no need to feel guilty - and think of the example you are setting your daughter, that a working woman can achieve a brilliant qualification with a few personal compromises.