For those with a PhD!!

[Jazzicatz]

How did you get motivated to start writing up? I am 2.5 years in have done all my data collection and am now ready to write up, but just cannot get motivated, how did you do it???

Well I still haven't done anything in the way of writing... for me, it's not so a problem of knowing what to write, it's finding the time. I'm still doing lab work, and it's very hard to fit writing in around that, I find.

How does everyone make time - do you need to set aside whole days where you disconnect your email & phone and just write??

whiteflame - I find it is harder finding time to write. I know a lot of people advise writing in even very short bursts but I really like to have a few hours at a time. I am sometimes so disconnected from the project after being mummy I can't just dip into the writing for say 30 mins. I can though, easily dip in and out of the analysis and math modelling which is more easily broken up into small, discrete tasks. Doesn't move the lit reviews along thoguh and I fear I may get sucked into doing endless analysis just because it's easier.

I'm finding half-days, or 3 hours slots are best. But it's hard to get 3 unbroken hours without teaching & prep, some errand related to my life such as moving house etc, meals etc. I try to work from 7 pm after an early dinner on days that I've had dd all day, as long as dh is around to take over.

I'm trying to work today - but i can hear dd wailing downstairs with dh and it's pretty distracting..may have to give in and go and see what's up........

hi acinonyx. I'm also trying to work today. ds is asleep at the mo, and dh is planning on having him this afternoon. I might send them off out somewhere so the house is quite.

I find the longer the slot I can get the better. I had 8 hours straight at the library the other day (this is very rare!) and it was great to have all that time in one lump. Otherwise I'm usually at home grabbing 2-3 hours here or there in between ds/work/cooking/washing etc etc. I try to get 1 day a week to myself - with dh on 'duty' but unless I get out the house it is continually interrupted.

My sis came to have ds for me a couple of weeks ago and asked me how long I usually have in the library - "an hour or two?". I said at least 6 if I can get it. I find it's so difficult explaining to people who don't understand what a PhD is how/why it takes so long to work. It drives me mad and I've pretty much given up trying now.

I'm gutted this week... my deadline is looming closer - 10 days - and work have let me down big time (no-one's fault, just a whole series of frustrating circumstances) and I now have a massive load of additional work this week to do . I could cry. It's not like I can rearrange my supervision or fit another in in a couple of months, I have to go to Norway for goodness sake!! Sometimes I just feel like giving up now. It feels like everything is stacked against me doing this PhD.

Right, ought to go and make use of the time now...

Just thought I'd quicky update... Welcome slalomsuki!
Peasholme - maybe you could start a new thread asking for viva advice? More people might spot it

slalomsuki - 2 years in and about to move from the Mphil to the Phd stage in June

peasholme - submitted last week. Needing viva advice!

jazzicatz - 3.5 years in.

acinonyx - has just started writing up and is aiming for a chapter a month. 1st deadline 30th May. HAS to submit by xmas!!

yurt1 - working on 2nd PhD !

penpoteca - 5years in. Writing up a chapter (approx 15,000 wds) for 28th May. Has 10,000... some of which make sense! . Overall wants it done by December 09/Jan 10

sunnylabsmum - chapters 1,2&3 done. Finishing final chapter and 'titivating' chapter 4 by the end of May 08. Wants it all revised and in her bag when she comes to the uk 12th August. Worst case senario she has until 1st Sept.

madmumnika - In year 6. Hopes to submit Dec as Sept is looking unlikely. Has 3 chapters 60% written.

whiteflame - 2.5 years in.

Well dh has taken dd out - they'll get lunch out and go to the park. Sounds nice

Penpot - you've got some of your chapter done so you won't be going empty handed. I'm sure you'll have enough to get some useful feedback which is the main thing. You'd probaby have revisions to do anyway even if you felt it was completely finished. So just keep going and do as much as you can.

It does feel like an obstacle course - trying to do this thesis.

looks like i'll have to set aside some big chunks of time to get started then...

thanks acinonyx, i don't really get on with writing in short chunks either, and was beginning to wonder if I was doing something wrong, so good to know other people work like me too!!

i know what you mean about getting sick of explaining the amount of time you need penpoteca, people are always horrified that i work at the weekend!!

Oooh - the perfect thread! Can I join please? Im Amy - forgotten how many years in (as keep having babies and mat leave) but currently trying to write up. Am also at that stage where I have ground to a halt now I need to actually write something.

I need to submit next summer and am currently 24 weeks pregnant with a toddler and job in tow...and rather delusional!

xxx

Welcome addictedtoharibo Come and join us! You sound like you've got quite a task ahead of you. Hope that you find some support on here. I think you're our 1st PhD'er that's pregnant. I'm currently trying to resist number 2 (am v broody) until I'm submitted (many moons away) or at least nearly submitted

addictedtoharibo - Amy has forgotten how many years in (as she keeps having babies and mat leave) but currently trying to write up. Needs to submit next summer, currently 24 weeks pregnant with a toddler and job in tow!

slalomsuki - 2 years in and about to move from the Mphil to the Phd stage in June

peasholme - submitted last week. Needing viva advice!

jazzicatz - 3.5 years in.

acinonyx - has just started writing up and is aiming for a chapter a month. 1st deadline 30th May. HAS to submit by xmas!!

yurt1 - working on 2nd PhD !

penpoteca - 5years in. Writing up a chapter (approx 15,000 wds) for 28th May. Has 10,000... some of which make sense! . Overall wants it done by December 09/Jan 10

sunnylabsmum - chapters 1,2&3 done. Finishing final chapter and 'titivating' chapter 4 by the end of May 08. Wants it all revised and in her bag when she comes to the uk 12th August. Worst case senario she has until 1st Sept.

madmumnika - In year 6. Hopes to submit Dec as Sept is looking unlikely. Has 3 chapters 60% written.

whiteflame - 2.5 years in.

Hi Addicted - that makes me feel weak just thinking about it - writing up with a newborn and toddler. The more delusional the better for you I think!

How is the Chapter penpot? No hope of my making May 30th. We're moving house (deep groan) on June 6th so my last stand is to deliver a (very) draft am June 4th. I have got a bit bogged down with some number-crunching which has turned up some odd bits and bobs.

Ii'm having touble visualising my actually finishing this thing. Will it really happen one day..........?

Hi everyone!

Well today emailed drafts of chapters 4 and 5 to my professor....dread receiving back her email. Technically thats it written, but I have so many amendments and changes to the first three chapters left to do. Its come in at 46K words, so plenty of movement for the amendments and to come within the 40-50K limit. Feel really mixed emotions at the moment. relief/worry/fear/loss.

Am off to celebrate with fish and chip lunch with DD when I collect her from school for the start of half term- the sun is shining here in Cyprus and we will be able to enjoy living for a while.

I have just ordered a book on Amazon about Viva's. Don't know if its a bit premature but is apparantly guides you on how to phrase your thesis so you get the right sort of questions at the viva. Will let you know my thoughts when it arrives!!

Take care everyone and happy studying!!

Just had interview from hell - didn't get the job.

Plenty of time to get on with the PhD then

Sorry to hear that Jazzicat - what was the job for?

Acinonyx - people keep passing their vivas in my dept so it seems that yes people do actually pass (and survive) these things - seems surreal doesnt it.

Penpot - I am kidding myself with the fact that maternity leave means suspension which pushes my submission date further back so it appears that I have more time. In reality I think I am acutally suspended for a reason eg a newborn might take up the odd hour or so (sure i remember that babies are really easy and sleep all the time though right...?)

My phd is all about breastfeeding and attitudes during pregnancy and postnatal period so I am, err, getting into the mind of the participant. Or something like that.

In reality I cant actually think about it or my brain goes into a blind panic, shuts down and I hear a "la la la la" voice in my head...

Am I the only one who started writing from day one then? I could never understand why people leave it until as late as possible.

I think it depends on what you mean by written or writing up. I have written plenty - as in words on the page, summaries of literature, results and more results and redrafts of results etc

But what I have been told by many is that what you write in the first place is often nothing like what you hand in. I think it may depend on your subject area though.

If I look back to stuff I wrote three years ago its rubbish compared to what I write now (which will probably be rubbish compared to final thesis... which may still be rubbish lol). I tend to do lots in draft form and to have bits and pieces of things done but as I do more research my focus and research question changes slightly meaning everything else needs changing. You also learn better ways of doing things, writing them up, different styles etc.

Not saying its the same for everyone - just my experience. I have thousands and thousands of words but only a couple of chapters that are even half finished. I am just hoping that now all the research is done and I have a vague feeling of things clicking into place that it will be quicker to do than it has been so far!

Congrats sunnylabsmum, that must be a great feeling!!

Depends what you mean by writing Joash.. I've been writing bits and pieces all along. But I'm very pleased that I didn't start writing large chunks of my thesis at the beginning - I had to change universities recently, and the new university's guidelines are different to those of the old one. So (weirdly) the laziness paid off

This hasn't been a good week for writing, my computer's hard drive spontaneously packed it in. Luckily I have most stuff well backed up, but have lost a fair bit of my endnote library... nightmare...

Jazz - let's look on the bright side -perhaps it's for the best. Overlapping a job with submission would be rough.

Well done Sunny!

I have some writing but not a huge amount. I did a book chapter which corresponds to part of my lit review but needs updating now (and each chapter will have an independent lit review like seperate papers). Some bits of methodology from grant proposals. My project has morphed over time as well. I can't stand to keep rewriting too many times - if I had been writing a lot and now had to rewite it all I'd go mad.

I am weaving the ongoing analysis into each chapter as I go and that could not have been done until now. Even now, the chpaters are not set in stone - I'll make a final decision as I come to each one.

I went to a great conference last week (that's the bit of research I really like).

Came back upbeat with ideas for papers.

Now just need to write the damn things.

Hope the revisions weren't too great sunny- but writing the first draft is the hardest bit (imo).

well had an emailback from my professor saying well done, but I'm on holiday until June 3rd. I am too (never told her that!) so feel better.

Thanks for the advice about 1st draft being the hardest. I have been writing bits of it for ages, ever since i passed defence, and my tutor even went through my defence document paragraph by paragraph telling me where each bit should sit in the final thesis. So in one swoop I'd done 8K words!! However, the re-writing is a pain isn;t it.

Unfortunately I can't start to look at jobs as we are not UK based until next summer.

Sorry about the interview Jazz

Well sun and DD beckon
Take care everyone

Sorry about your interview Jazz, but like you said at least you can now "just" concentrate on your PhD.....

Sunny - well done! Must have been a relief to have such a positive response from your prof Enjoy your break

wellll I think I am finally (dare I say it) getting into the writing groove. Decided rather than focusing on one chapter at a time I'd instead transfer all my copious handwritten ramblings from my notebooks onto screen, which has inevitably involved expanding the notes and making the read more sensibly.... and now I'm finding a little bit of each chapter is being produced... Still have a loooong way to go but it feels good to be writing (& I am trying not to distract myself with yet more data analysis as I always find more I could do but if I carry on like that I'll be here until I retire...). As one of my (wiser) supervisors says this is not your life's work, it is "just" a means to an end....

Interestingly I have looked at a couple of other PhD theses recently written by friends and find the word count around the 50-60k mark, which is less than I thought I'd have to churn out and is making me feel a bit better (especially as my supervisors keep emphasising the word "succinct")!! But my PhD is quite ecology-based which can lead to lots of waffling.... Must reign myself in -grin]!

Managed to re-submit 2nd draft of a paper just in nick of time (it was accepted with major revision) so hoping now it'll make it into press. Not planning to write any more papers til the thesis is done as it can be distracting although know it's good to have some of the thesis published...

Right, back to it I guess (DP's taken DCs to MILs for the day, due back in an hour & DD will be due a breastfeed!!)

Welcome Amy/Addictedtoharibo! I've had 2 DCs since I started my PhD and hoped originally to have finished writing up while on maternity leave with DD but it wasn't as easy as I'd hoped as things weren't so straightforward with her- so I'm still writing up. I've never been given any extra time for having had kids so must investigate if I could 'back-date' extensions.... I think if you have good support from your DH and any friends/relatives you may find you can get working as early as 4 months after your LO is born. Good luck!

We would like DC3 but I am not even trying until every chapter is written and being reviewed by supervisors, if not submitted!! Also I'm going back to (proper) work in July hopefully (just 2 days/week) so want to give that a fair shot...being self-employed is great at times but right now I'm not earning anything while I supposedly write up....just not enough hours in the day and like many we're losing money through paying for childcare while I write.... It'll be worth it I hope!

Hi everyone - how are we all doing?

My supervisor has asked me to submit a summary of my research to send to my examiners for the Viva - which gives me 6 months to complete eeekkk!

How is everyone doing? I ahve reverted back to my more revealing name of amyb after not seeming to be able to use addictedtoharibo any more...

I have come up with a new strategy...write complete rubbish but just write it. Actually find its helping a lot - maybe not in reality but certainly helping psychologically. Feel 80,000 words odd of complete crap is better than nothing lol.

Am currently getting bigger and bigger and starting to worry I wont fit behind my desk soon (nearly 30 weeks pregnant now...). I came up with the mad idea a few weeks back that I would write up all my results before I had the baby and the more I tell myself it the more I actually believe it!

Obviously not talking about finished product (far far far far from it!) but just having something on paper (that can be heavily criticised or sighed at by supervisor) is making a huuuugee difference. Not quite as huge as my stomach proportions but getting there...

What strategies (psychological or otherwise) is everyone else using right now?

xxx

Hi Amy I started from a similar line in that i thought if I wrote something then at least I would have something to revise. Its also true that the stuff you write when you are on a roll is better than the painful first few lines. I spent ages thinking about that first sentence, and coped out a bit as I found a good quote so started with that!! Strategies to get writing include, planning my study around exercise as I think getting oxygen into my system makes me study more effectively, continually pressing word count and making lists of number of words in each chapter I've done as well as not panicking about how little time I have left, especially as I've only really got 19 study days until DD finishes term!!

I am busy revising 2 chapters from first draft. My tutor is busy emailing me loads about my external examiner so she must be pretty confident that my timescale of handing in by 1 Sep is reasonable, even if I am not so sure.

Good luck with your write up Amy, I recall many moons ago having similar ideas of getting loads done when I was signed off work early....trouble was DD decided to appear 6 weeks before schedule!!

Hows everyone else doing??
Postive vibes to you all

Hi everyone. I had a brief splurge where I begain to make lots of progress, then we got married (it was planned!) so for 2 weeks it was all crazy and no work done at all (despite not actually going away!)... And now I'm a bit in a stuck rutt, finding motivation hard and only get a few short hrs here and there to work. Plus DD is not sleeping well so I am like a zombie (I have lots of excuses eh? )

I have applied for a temporary withdrawal from research to be backdated from January- partly because in spite of having 2 kids during my (part-time) PhD I never realised I could apply for this and thus not pay fees when on maternity leave etc., and also partly because I won't make end of Sept submission and needed to buy more time. I hoping it's all accepted ok and new submission date would be 1 May '09. We'll see.

Right, going to do crappy easy bits of graphs now for next 2 hrs before getting DCs. Childminder is off work from Thurs until Sept so have no idea how I'll get any work done over the summer....arghhhh....praying I can persaude MIL to help out with DCs a bit as haven't got money to put them into nursery....

Sounds like you are making good progree Amy and Sunny.

Congratulations Nika - Good plan (I've already had as much leave as I can get). Did you get a honeymoon? That's a long childcare break - hope you can get some help there.

I've also been sidetracked by moving house, changing dd's daycare, and now my prodigal overseas family are coming for 3 weeks July/August - then we already have one week's holiday booked! Not looking good for the summer work schedule.

I have to say I don't feel very enthusiastic about the whole thing. It's become a chore that I just want to get done DONE DONE.

Well July the 2nd is my date for my mini viva to move from Mphil stage to Phd stage. I am a part time student.

I have to do 30 mins presentation which I should be working on now and then field 30 mins of questions from my two supervisors and an external!! I also had to wriet a 10000 word research proposal.Should be good training for the real thing but I have never done something like this before so am bricking it.

I work full time and have three kids so you can imagine its a lot of pressure, wish me luck.