Hi guys,

Random question for all you mytomatoes.com users.

How many tomatoes do you roughly get done in a day? On a good day I get about ten done, but that's on a good day and I'm not really sure how productive that is!

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See I SAY I ask my boyfriend to read my work, but it's always followed by a "erm, how long is it? Top Gear's on." This usually ends up with me insisting that it is only five pages, boyfriend agreeing to read it, him finding out it is actually twenty pages, and then pretending to read it whilst he is really watching the likes of Jeremy Clarkson. What a helpful boyfriend I have!

Also, just to add, could you maybe leave it a few days and then look at it again, maybe on Friday? Then you'd have the weekend to revise anything. I understand that you have a short time-scale, but looking at it everyday it's no wonder you're finding it hard to get a clear head on it!

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Could you maybe give it to have a look through someone who isn't in academia? I always give my assignments to my boyfriend to read through, because although he has done a BA, it was in a completely different discipline to me and he's now just in a normal job. I find that when things aren't clear, he picks up on them straight away. Also, when I waffle on and use far too many words to expplain something, he'll tell me. I think when you're so absorbed in your work it's easy presume that everything is clear and nothing needs to be cut out or changed- this is always how I feel, but then giving my work to my boyfriend always shows that it isn't the case!

Hope this helps,

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EV, you are definitely not alone! I'm doing my MA, not my PhD yet, but I feel exactly the same! I've had the odd few days over Christmas to do work but that just didn't happen, a spontaneous trip to the Lake District this weekend didn't help, and now I just can't seem to get back into it.

I'm just trying to ease myself back into working mode and hopefully my motivation will come back soon!

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Question from the boyfriend:

With a sample of 40 people, with 360 scores, in a paired sample t-test, is a t score of 14.8 quite normal?

I have absolutely no idea what that means, and it appears that neither does he! Any insight would be much appreciated!

Thanks guys, button

My goals:

-To work my bum off and have completed my MA
-To have started the crazy world of doing a PhD!

Hi Matt,

Please don't worry- you are not alone. I'm also doing a 1+3, doing my MA at the moment, but I'm in the social sciences so I don't have any lab work or anything, just lots of assignments. I've been having a lot of ups and downs recently, I think because it's just so intense and there's a lot to learn.

I'm also known to be a perfectionist, so I have the same issue as you, as I never know when to stop. But I do now understand that you HAVE to set a limit. You have to understand when your mind needs a rest, and when you need to think about something other than your course. I know, it's incredibly hard, but usually when you have read the vast majority of important literature in your area, that's enough. For example, I just start reading the most recent journal articles related to what I'm writing an assignment for, then look in their references and find others...that usually means you get to the point where there are older journals that can just be skimmed to see if they're relevant. Basically, what I'm saying is try and set a limit for yourself, you will never ever be able to read every slightly relevant paper, try and accept that. I hope I'm not sounding harsh- I'm exactly the same as you and so I'm trying to be strict with myself!

I'm sure you're further than you think on the project that you're doing- could you maybe make a detailed plan of it? I find making detailed plans really help, because you can see exactly what you need to do, and when. I find the uncertainty of an assignment is the worst part, when you're trying to collect all the relevant literature but you don't know where you're going with it.

I've also got a history of depression...I've been fine for a good couple of years now but I still have my moments and I feel it's getting worse with the intensity of my MA. Would you consider going back on your tablets? Only you can make that decision, but if they helped you then maybe it would be something consider.

And homesickness is a pain in the bum! I've recently moved out of my parents house to move in with my boyfriend, so I now live about 2 hours away from my parents, and although it's not too far away I do miss them, my brother, and my dog! What doesn't help is that they're now selling their house and moving into a 2 bedroom rather than a 3 bedroom house...which means if I ever want to go home, I'll have no bed to sleep in! Could you maybe try a new activity? It really works. I've recently started rock climbing and as well as making new friends, it's such a great release to get away from all the stresses of my MA!

But anyway, just know that you're not the only one feeling like this and there are lots and lots of people to help :-)

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Thanks so much everyone, I need to learn not to take things so personally, but it's difficult!

I've taken your advice and am meeting the person who marked my work tomorrow. I'm not going with the view of demanding the mark be reconsidered, but like you said just going to get more information and feedback about where I went wrong. This has been a major learning experience for me! Will let you all know how it goes tomorrow!

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Hi everyone,

I'm currently looking into how I will analyse my interview data for my diss. I'm going down the IPA route. I know some of you have used IPA, so I was just wondering if you know of any good books/resources that might be helpful? I've found a couple that seem pretty useful but just wondered if I was missing any!

Thanks a lot guys!

Hi Minnie, I kind of know how you feel. I'm also doing an ESRC 1 + 3, just started the MA part this year, and I very rarely do work at uni, if at all. Like you, I get similar comments from others on the MA, asking me why I'm not joining them in the library, or saying "oh there's no point inviting you is there, you won't come and join us anyway".

But at the end of the day, I can only work if I'm on my own at home (which is reaaaaallly quiet as I don't live in student accom), with no one to distract me. So this is what I do.

Maybe it's different for me because I don't live by my uni, I live about a 30 minute drive away. I occasionally go in a bit earlier before lectures to talk to other people about assignments etc, and usually go in one morning a week to work with another girl, for a change of scenery. But I will not sacrifice how I work due to the opinions of other people. So you shouldn't either!

The Phd girl sounds like a right cow, and you really don't have to put up with it. Maybe ignore her when you do go in? Or ask for a quiet word with her and explain how she's making you feel? Alternatively speak to your uni's SU or advice centre, they might be able to help. Just don't stand for it!

Hope this helps!

Natassia, Phdbug and Teek, thanks so much for replying. Your advice is really appreciated! I'e taken into account what you've said and have actually managed to do a bit more tonight- I've realised that between around 3:30-5pm I appear to be really unproductive and feel really tired, so this is obviously the time when I should be taking a break.

Phdbug- I'm really sorry that things aren't going great for you. I'm sure you'll pick yourself up like I've done and things will seem much better soon.

Natassia- don't be scared about writing your first MSc assignment! I felt exactly the same, but I've now nearly written two short MA assignments, and the challenge was quite exciting, as sad as that sounds!

Thanks again for your replies guys!

Hi everyone,

Feeling a bit disheartened at the moment. It's 4:45pm, I turned my computer on at 9am ready to carry on with one of my MA assignments, and all I've done is written 138 words, and a bit of this and that. I realised that it wasn't going to be a good day so I decided to do something productive and go to the gym as well as go for a swim, hoping that when I got back I'd feel much more energised. But that didn't happen. I've probably done even less this afternoon!

I set myself daily targets, and have achieved about half of them today. When I say daily targets, they are mainly short, easy things that I should be able to within half an hour. But today, I just find myself constantly staring into space!

My question is, how do you cope with lack of motivation? Should I try and finish my daily targets (involving going over an assignment and adding things/taking a few things out)? Or should I just admit defeat for the day and hope tomorrow will be better?

Thanks guys :-)

I had a scribe during my exams once as I broke my wrist, therefore writing was impossible! I'm sure you'd be great at it. My scribe was lovely and was never bothered when I constantly asked her to scribble things out that I'd just said!

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