Thank you all for the words of support. I really do appreciate it and best of luck to everyone in the final stages! x

Many thanks, Glowworm, and yes, I need to distract myself now! Will do something completely away from my laptop lol Best of luck with submitting and I'm sure it will go smoothly for you both :-) xo

Thanks so much, TreeofLife :-) I appreciate that and I'm sorry if I sound whiny to others.

It's just such a strange process.. my weird feelings right now could certainly be attributed to 'loss'...I hadn't thought of this! Thank you and best of luck in your final stage. Also, hating thesis is SO normal too! :-D

Hey all,
I've just recently submitted my corrected PhD hard copy, which was a great feeling. I don't want to whinge but have had a really weird feeling about it all ever since (I guess it will pass)...can anyone identify with this strange post-viva submission feeling of worry?

Don't get me wrong: it was definitely a great feeling, holding the smooth cover and seeing my name in shiny silvery gold [in that brief window of opportunity before handing it over!] but I must confess, I'm feeling quite anxious now about it... in particular, I keep worrying that I've "missed something"/did something wrong/left in a grave error, etc...is this normal?

Why can't I just feel like this is "over" and move on?! (It was very recently that I handed it in, like days ago). I'm annoyed at myself too for even having this feeling when I should be celebrating with my family, etc!

So I think I made the awful mistake of opening it up and having a quick glance through the thesis, and it was then that I noticed a very minor thing in the formatting on one page (actually, it was a missing blank page to separate a section).
Am I just being crazy or do other people do this and feel like a failure for not making the copy perfect at this stage? Despite going through it all so many times in the correcting process, I just feel disappointed or something that I didn't get it "perfect" when given the opportunity. Sorry to whinge. I just need to talk it out, I guess!

Hi there, I think what you are feeling is very normal re: final corrections (also, the other responses here show the empathy I now feel!). I've just recently submitted my final hard copy a few weeks ago and my feelings were quite similar... it's so hard emotionally to go back and look at the thesis again after going through the viva. But remember this: you got through it! You've achieved so much already and just have one final leg to go :-) I know it's easier said than done though so I really do feel your pain but you've come this far and are nearly there. Just remind yourself from time to time that you've passed!

Also, a tip: I looked at my viva report, summarised the main point in VERY brief bullet points on 1 and a half sheets, printed this off (kept it close by) and then I just ticked them off (psychologically, I felt this really helped motivate me).

I also used a separate table with three columns titled as follows: corrections, page numbers, and revisions made. That way you can keep track of everything on the bullet point list, which you use systematically to tackle everything. Best of luck and congrats!