I really wish that I was better at languages. I'd love to be able to speak Spanish well, and Italian and German and Arabic and know some Latin - but I don't seem that have that part of the brain that allows me to remember languages - but I can remember song lyrics for all the pop songs of my youth
:p

Hi All,
Thanks for the congrats. It is a bit exciting, and fingers crossed, having the papers in my thesis actually published will make it easier to pass.

I'm doing ok working and writing. I wouldn't say that it's going fabulously - I'm really torn between the new job, which I love and is really inspiring and I feel like I can actually make a difference, and finishing my PhD, which at the moment is feeling a little like a weight around my neck. I know that I just have to persevere, and try to be nice to people when they ask when it'll be finished because I know that they are just interested (and not trying to kick me when I'm feeling down).

I also feel like I'm not spending enough time doing wife type things, so I'm struggling with that a bit too.

But this afternoon I'm off to a baby shower, so it will be all family and tiny clothes - a nice big distraction from the thesis
(up)

Hi Everyone!
Patience you get my sympathies too! I have had many battles with SPSS, but at least you are finding the errors now, and not when the analysis is done and conclusions drawn. You just need to get through the dreaded 'SPSS phase' of the PhD. Everything looks much better on the other side!
I have had a victory this week with a paper accepted (yay!), but with 2 still to go, I think I will have to wait a little longer to celebrate.

Hi everyone!
Looks like everyone is plodding along nicely! I’m just coming to end of my third week of full time work and trying to finish writing up. It is so incredibly difficulty. I think that I am finding enough time to work on everything, but I feel pretty guilty most of the time that I’m not doing something else (work/phd/spend time with husband/clean the house). For now the guilt is making me want to finish asap, so I hope I can stick with this feeling, and not become too discouraged.
I just got some feedback from one sup about my most recent paper, and in the notes that she sent me she says that the “paper has the potential to be interesting, but in its current form focus is unclear”, which is fine, and really this is what I expected, but she then goes on to say that I should “clarify the issues I [she] have raised, whilst reorganising the presentation” but she didn’t give me any real feedback or suggestions about the presentation of the result s, and no feedback other than editorial comments throughout the document. So I’m feeling a little frustrate about it at the moment. Sigh
On a brighter note work is amazing! The workplace is great, the work is interesting and inspiring and the people are really friendly.
This weekend I will either go back to this paper and try to make the suggested changes or I might move onto the next (and final) paper while I wait for sup 2’s comments.
Ady, I am really intrigued about your use of boxes. I use a few boxes along the way for quotes, but I really like the idea of having a more consistent theme with the boxes. I might have to have a think about that – sounds like a fantastic idea.
Pink – I spend a looong time on my first drafts. At least 4 weeks for most of them, but closer to 6 or 8 for others. But, I am not an excellent writer first off. I need to do a lot of drafting to get my ideas right, and I often ‘essay plan’ a few times to get my thoughts in order.
Wishing everyone a productive end of the week!
F (sprout) (mince) (turkey)

Hi All,

Looks like everyone is having a pretty good week - fantastic to see!
I've had a massive week. The new job is ace, I absolutely love it, I'm just a little sad that I still haven't finished my PhD, and that I have to do both. I was really nervous that the new job were going to tell me that I couldn't work for them because they had expected me to submit over the Christmas break, but happily they were really accepting and ok that it isn't yet in (but still pretty keen for me to finish it).

I  have achieved this weeks goal of sending the next paper to sups. I have absolutely no idea what they will think, and am really bracing myself for the worst - I have such a bad relationship with them at the moment that every email makes me anxious :-( Thankfully, it is not normally as bad as I think it is going to be, so fingers crossed that it is not a complete disaster.

I also got the proofs back for a paper that was accepted, and annoyingly all of the page numbers had dropped off so I spent about a day going through the paper word for word checking that it was all perfect before it goes to press (found 3 typos), and adding all of the pg numbers to the refs.

So this week I have to finishing marking essays (really should do that today).
Make a start on the revisions for the final paper. I think it will take me 2 weeks to revise and to be in a position to send back to sups.

Happy weekend all!(mince)

Great post Ady! I will defiantly be setting some alerts!

The other thing I was thing of to get your bases of previous research covered is to look at some of the reviews (systematic or Cochran) in your field. They often included hundreds of studies and so are a great place to start.

Good Luck!

Hi all,

I agree with the worrying about progress, but I guess at the end of the day, you just have to be happy with the days work and hope that it will be ok.

I'm going to start setting goals for myself to try and keep me on track. So by the end of this week I want to have a draft of the next paper to send to sups. I have been writing this paper for ever (collected the data about 15 months ago) and have really struggled with how it should all come together. I am trying to write my papers differently from each other so that my thesis reads a little more interesting and I also have the opportunity to practise different styles of writing, so with this paper I am combining the results and discussion, and it is killing me! It is so hard, but yesterday I had a mini breakthrough where I pulled all of the paragraphs apart and did a new essay plan, and finally it is starting to make sense.

But throwing a spanner in the works is that I start full time work tomorrow. I havent really worked ft before and it is starting to freak me out a bit. And, making it worse it is a job that I really wanted and will be great for my career. At least wednesday is a public holiday here, so it will be a nice week to ease my self into work
8-)

Great Idea! I'm in.

I really wanted to submit before Christmas, but it didn't happen, so I hoping to submit before May (fingers crossed), but after the disappointment of not submitting before Christmas I'm reluctant to put a time on it. I'm in Australia, my finding has already run out, so from Monday I will be working fulltime, and at the moment I don't really have a final deadline due to a combination of part time, full time enrolment, so I don't have deadline pressures as such.

I am doing my thesis by publication, so I have 2 papers accepted, 1 under review and 1 that need to be send back to a journal after coming back with revisions and one that needs to be finished.

I also have chapters that go in-between my papers. Sups have looked at these and want me to put more theory in the introduction chapters and flesh out the linking chapters a little more. The discussion is still a nightmare.

I've moved on from my 'oh my god, this will never be finished' moment that I had over the new year break and have moved back into the I'm sure it can be done zone.

2011 is the year!

I'm sure that you can do it (up)

Perhaps you could make a list of things that you need to do and just try to do a little at a time. This way you wont spend too long sitting each time. Work in short bursts and try to keep them productive, even if it is only half an hour at a time.

It is possible, but as Bilbo has said, it will depend how much research time you will have to put in. It will also depend on your supervisors and what their expectations of you as their research student are. I am in Australia and know a few people who have managed to complete in 2.5 years, and they worked like crazy and ended with no social life - so I guess that's the trade off.

I would also check the Ausstudy rules. As far as I am aware there is no Ausstudy for PhD students, you would be better off looking into a scholarship for funding if you don't want to work.

The other thing, is that in my experience, a PhD is not easy, it takes time, lots of thought, lots of time mulling over ideas and thinking about what you are actually contributing to your area of research. But in saying that, anything is possible.

So many things, but to start with:

- read fiction
- renovate the house
- learn spanish
- spend more time with my husband

Congratulations! That is awesome news!

My sup keeps pushing my date of submission back. I gave her a full draft about three weeks ago, she still hasn't looked at it. She just told me that she will be taking 4 weeks off over Christmas/new years, and so I will not be able to submit until at least the end of Jan. My scholarship runs out at the end of the year, so I will, it seems be living on air and paying the mortgage with monopoly money. It is all making me a bit tired at the moment.:-(
I thought that I could see the light at the end, but it seems to just go on and on.

My guess is that a B- would be something between 75-80%. But you should check with your university, as they can vary.

Hi Shells,

The meaning of letter grades cha change university to univsrsity. But, I've found that usually
A+ = 90-100%
A = 80-90% = High Distinction
B = 70-80% = Distinction
C = 60-70% = Credit
P = 50% = Pass

Hope this helps.