Thesis/Dissertation/Essay summer accountability group!

[tostaky]

Really struggling to finish my doctoral thesis… perhaps others also need a bit of hand held?

Doing IPA. Submitted a draft result section in May and got good feedback- stupidly decided to re-jiggle everything and now im feeling very stuck and like nothing makes any sense anymore…
Need to rewrite my intro and lit search sections
Need to write my discussion and my conclusion

i would like to submit a final draft early September - come and join me!!

I'm writing up my thesis. Currently doing the results chapter for one of my sets of interviews. It's slow going!

I have 15,000 words to write, hopefully by the end of this month. It’s terrible, like getting blood out of a stone. Google tells me it’s 577 per day and it feels unmanageable tbh. Plus research, references. Basically starting from scratch. Can I do it? Who knows, but I’m not going to allow it to fuck up my September and October again. I want to enjoy those months without this millstone hanging around me.

Hi both! Glad i am not on my own.
unfortunately after a good start yesterday i have done nothing today (blaming my heavy periods). I could probably have worked this afternoon as ive been feeling better… will try to do one hour now.

i am doing qualitative and i find everything is so subjective…

@tostaky are you aiming for a specific number of words?

My thesis is “only” 10,000 words. The same doctorate at a different uni is 30,000 words not sure exactly why so much difference…
Today in one hour and a bit i managed to draft a subtheme and go over all my interviews to make sure i have all the material to builld my paragraph.
in a way having so few words makes it a bit tricky… i have 3,000 words max for my results section, 3 themes. So that subtheme ive just done is meant to be around 300 words including quotes (IPA)…. Which is super hard!! I have written 900 words for it. I will edit tomorrow

@WriteTheBloodyWords which part of your diseertation are you focusing on at the moment?

which part of your dissertation are you focusing on at the moment?

It’s actually four separate things, and I’m sorry to say I’m not focusing on anything 🙄. I’ve completely lost interest in anything at the moment.

Maybe if I commit to coming back here tomorrow evening I’ll feel the pressure to do something? I can use this place as a daily list of what I’ve done and the shame of having nothing to say might give me a kick up the backside?

Yes please do! I am also planning to update what i have done/not done daily
Lets do this!!

10,000 - that's going to be a challenge to include everything in there! I feel your pain

I'm not writing to any target but the small section that i'm working on at the minute is almost 7,000 words already and its just the results from one of my studies and thats the smaller study of the two.

Whats your topic?

I'm trying to finish my 12k word msc dissertation whilst working 100h weeks as a Dr and about to change jobs to a 1h commute so somewhat regretting into but its paid for so need to do it now. Happy to body double if helps?

Hi @Destiny123and Welcome!
@AquaViper you’ve got two studies? Is it mixed methods? Hats off to you!
yesterday i had a busy day with kids and work but i still managed about one hour of obsessing about a paragraph… i wrote no words, im only thinking about how best to structure this particular sub-theme… i see it as progress even though i have nothing to show on paper…
i wont be doing much today though as i am travelling very uncomfortably.

Happy writing everyone :)

Yes I have two studies, both qual but with different aims. One is with healthcare professionals, one is with patients. I'm currently writing up the results of the staff interviews.

Do you find it demoralising when you spend ages thinking but have nothing to show for it? I've started writing bullet point lists to show my thinking and then I turn them into paragraphs later on if I like how the thinking turned out!

@AquaViper i do write down notes/bullet points but what i meant is that i did not write anything on my word document…. So thats why i consider it “progress” a page of good notes/ideas but nothing on my word document
My topic is mental health related, analysing interviews of service users from a larger study.

So pleased beyond belief to have found this thread. It's such a lonely journey!

Writing up my MSc Qualitative Study but have enough interview data to write several PhDs, I fear....!

Body doubling is a bonafide strategy.... I am in! 😁

Edited to add: it sounds like you have your hands full. What happened to the European working time directive?! 😬 Hope you are surviving. X

It still exists, but as long as there's 1 day break it makes it legal (72h is the cap in 7days) and its averaged over an 8wk cycle lol

From Sept I should be off every Mon and Tues (admin day) as condensed hours if that helps

Hi all, how are you doing?
i am afraid i have made very little progress. This morning i made a spreadsheet of all the yoga classes i would like to go to in an ideal world… talk about procrastination!!!!
i dont understand why the mental block…
i am trying to write up one sub-theme today. I could do one tomorrow as well and one on Thursday. If i manage this, that would be more than what i have done in the past three months...
Finding it hard to have empathy for myself right now…

I had a terrible week last week and did absolutely nothing. Then I had a physically and emotionally exhausting weekend so took monday off, I went in to uni today though. I only got a small amount done but at least it was something! Small amounts still count I have to keep telling myself

I’ve done fuck all sadly. Too nervous, too frozen, too…..dunno. Just petrified of the whole thing.

Here is Scary Lady. I wish she would come and sit next to me and shout at me. Do you think she would do that for me? I’ve got camomile tea if she wants it? I can go to the shops and buy her whatever she wants as long as she shouts at me.

(She’s a talented scriptwriter, but writing is writing at some point I think?)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbIe3sDmZRn/?igsh=MXBwY2R6YzBmNGhnOQ==

Somehow comforting to hear i am not the only one struggling…
i have my bullet points on paper for my sub theme. Problem is (and tbis is where i disengage):
Title of theme
titke of sub theme
introductory sentence: idea 1 and idea 2

Then a maddening loop: perhaps there might be an idea 3 as well - or maybe i need to rework the title of sub theme. But if i do that how does it impact the other sub-themes of that theme and am i certain that this theme is actually what i want to say? Ok calm down, just focus on that sub-theme. Ok idea 1. Right. No, i defo need to change the title of the sub theme… No, stop thinking anout title! Focus!! First introductory sentence… does it really represent the participants experience? Should i put idea 2 first? Actually is idea 3 better and kind of encapsulated idea 1 and 2? Ok calm down, think about the Nizza paper (excellence in IPA) and how they structure the different ideas of their sub-themes, lets do that… ok. What is the story i want to tell here? How do i build the narrative? Which one is going to be my “in-depth” quote? This one? Looks catchy, but does it really capture the essence of that theme? That one? But does it… etc… etc…
and then i end up doing nothing….
i feel like i need someone to talk to, to guide me and reassure me… i feel like it is too hard to do it all alone… thats when i get stuck and procrastinate… *scream in frustration”
Will another glass of water help????

I need scary lady to come and sit with me and say: it will be ok, just write your shit paragraph now and then next week you can edit it. Dont worry about the Nizza paper (it haunts me!) you dont have to be excellent, good enough is ok….

Have you tried something like making some sort of summary of your key themes before writing out the detail. Like making a single slide to sum up each sub theme or a mind map highlighting the key points, then you can use that as your headings for your writing?

Theres a website called goblin tools that can be helpful for breaking tasks down into simple things (think originally for ND but works for all).

For all your tasks if u just determine the "very next action" it helps start things off.

Can you body double on teams with someone fir motivation I find it very helpful? There's a free body doubling website that allows you to book a few slots for free too

I'll be free and trying to do writing wed thur fri next week if they help?