WELCOME Bulbs!! :) so nice to have you join us! please jump right in and start declaring your daily goals and what you achieved at the end of the day.

You're welcome Flutter! :) i look foward to reading your accountability on the days that are your thesis days

======= Date Modified 05 Sep 2009 14:24:25 =======
okay i couldnt help myself but i googled my two examiners, and i am freaking out. they are so knowledgeable and i just feel like so inadequate. i am freaking out lol. i'm feeling a mixture of - i'm gonna waste their time, i am not going to be able to engage myself into the intellecual conversations, i dont know how to defend my thesis. i dont have enough knowledge.... i'm panicking and i'm really scared. :$
okay i really gotta get a hold on myself and get a grip and just breathe. okay i'm gonna take it step by step.

first tackle the grant and make notes. and then worry about the examiner's papers - will deal with that later on today.

okay i'm gonna do the ol' 15 minute trick. and then grab some lunch.

okay feeling a tiny bit better now. i just gotta focus on my studies and really revise and make an effort to understand what i read now. even if it takes longer - i gotta get it stuck in my head. i once read, there is no point studying for hours on end, if nothing stays in your head and you dont really understand it. its not quantity now i gotta go for, but quality. i really have to start making essential succinct notes, instead of pages and pages of notes, that i wont be able to retain. now is the time to just learn the nitty gritty and summarised basic - take home messages.

======= Date Modified 05 Sep 2009 16:32:04 =======
Lara, I know how you feel, sometimes I just felt sick before my viva, as if I knew nothing, and my hair started falling out again, like it it did before I submitted my first complete draft.... it's horrible!!! And because the whole PhD is a personal choice it all seems quite peculiar... I don't know what to say really, except that the examiners will know loads, that's why they're examiners and we're students, but I found the prospect rather daunting. You know what you wrote though, and why - even if you think you don't, it's probably in your head somewhere, for you to draw on if you need it. You can't know everything, but you can know your own thesis, its flaws and its highlights (ie the original contribution to knowledge, the papers you've written etc) so if I was you, I'd focus on those things, it should boost your confidence in what you've done. Do try not to panic too much though, but it's easier said than done as I know only too well.

I might sound a bit weird here, but I found Aloha's reference to Viva las Vegas rather helpful when I was waiting to go into the viva, it's quite a perky song to play before something potentially not very pleasant happens! Better than The Final Countdown! Other people suggested It's Now or Never...

Then afterwards you can join the corrections procrastinators!! I don't seem to have any sense of urgency any more with these corrections, I spend far too much time on Youtube playing early Animals stuff...:$ :-x Aaaah well, maybe I'll force myself to finish off one tiny bit more before dinner..... one day it will all *really* be finished. :-)

Hi Lara, thanks for your nice words, it's made me blush!! :$ I think I just say what anyone else would really.... Nice about the stars though, it must have happened recently, I didn't know anyone still used them! :-)

I didn't do any more corrections in the end yesterday, couldn't make myself do it, for no particular reason other than lack of enthusiasm. I had a horrible dream last night that woke me up and still made me upset when I woke up in the morning later on, so maybe that was a bit of PhD anxiety creeping in. Which means... I MUST get on with it!!! :-s

======= Date Modified 07 Sep 2009 05:26:55 =======
oops - my internet is so slow today I accidentally posted twice. See above :-)

Oh dear, you know you’re in trouble when you start procrastinating on setting daily writing goals! :$

I had intended to sit down this morning and diligently set some writing goals. It’s 2pm and I’m now, finally, ready to do so. That’s not to say that I haven’t done any work this morning but I realise that setting goals is a major part of getting writing done. For me anyway. If I don’t set goals I tend to lose my focus frequently throughout the day which is a fast route downward spiral to (structured) procrastination. I haven’t set daily writing goals for some time and I think my lack of writing progress has a lot to do with this!

So here are my goals for what’s left of today (about 4 hours left at the library). I’m currently reworking my final research chapter in my dissertation. I have a previous very MESSY draft (c.15,000 words) but unfortunately it is too long, has lots of holes in the research, lots of incomplete notes and doesn’t reflect the revised focus of the chapter. I’ll need to hack, rewrite and add new writing before it begins to look respectable. I should note for anyone who’s taken the time to read my post that the writing process is a MAJOR part of my research – the two are intrinsically linked – and it is the part with which I struggle the most. Oh, how I long for a scientific reporting structure to make my life easier *sigh*

Meta goal: don’t spend too much time doing research to fill in the gaps! (unfortunately I still have to do bits and pieces of extra research but I must remember I don’t have much time left at this stage. I’m meant to be on to my second draft already!). Getting sucked back into doing more research is a bad habit of mine – I have to learn when to stop!
Goal 1) re-draft chapter introduction to reflect new chapter direction
Goal 2) aim to complete writing section on ‘religion in broadcasting’ (involves reviewing/incorporating extra literature, constructing clear story for this section)

I’ll report back on my progress later tonight .

======= Date Modified 07 Sep 2009 15:53:23 =======
======= Date Modified 07 Sep 2009 15:43:01 =======
Hi Ruby., you're welcome :) sorry to hear you had a horrible dream.

Flutter - dont worry - yesterday i didnt do any studying! i always feel like that on sundays. i call them lazy sundays. but today is a brand new day. I totally agree with you. its the saying "what gets measured - gets done". good luck flutter.

lol BB - dark side haha.
---
My goals for today are:

1. look up papers from external examiner Dr. F. (maximum 10 papers): DONE (@15.00)
2. look up papers from internal examiner Dr. S (maximum 10 papers): DONE (@15.42)
4. skim read and make notes from Dr F papers:
2009 a:
2009 b:
2009 c:
2008 a:
2008 b:
2008 c:
2008 d:
2008 e:
2007:
2006:
5. skim read and make notes from Dr S papers

Just a quick end of day post - hope to write more tomorrow.

Phew, well that 400 words for my introduction took the longest time ever to nut out! Even though I know it will be changed somewhat, now I have an introduction and a better sense of what must be incorporated into my chapter redraft :-)

As for the section on religion: Lost my momentum a little in the afternoon but spent a solid block working on religion section. Didn’t finish tho :$ but felt a bit better about moving forward and setting my first proper writing goal in quite some time :-)

Thanks for your thoughts BilboBaggins. Wow, that's quite a jump from Science to Humanities. I ended up writing a history PhD (as a result of the lack of research done in my area) even though I've never done any history at University. It's been a steep learning curve!
Lara - working on a Sunday ... I've reclaimed Sunday as my day of rest, I figure we all deserve one day off right? (that said, I often do work for my supervisor in the afternoons, but it doesn't require a lot of brain power so I figure it doesn't count).
Rubyw - how are you going with your corrections...? I don't know the full story there, does that mean you've submitted and just have to do corrections now?
I think there were a few other people floating around... Bulbs? Keen to hear from everyone lurking in this forum (I don't want to bore everyone with all my posts as I'm trying to post beginning/end of every Mon, Tues, Thurs).

... So, ever have that feeling that you're watching yourself make the same mistakes in your research/writing process, day by day, week by week, knowing that you are doing it, but feeling powerless to stop it? Once again I spent this morning taking notes without writing anything for my chapter. I feel like I'll never be done with this research :-( Oh, and endnote, don't get me started on endnote... I still haven't figured out a way to do referencing quickly - if it's possible!

Anyway, I've finally just started some real *writing* and also have set some goals for today:

1) complete section on religion
2) fix section on gardening
3) go back through first 3,500 words (overview, timeslots) & link back to my new chapter theme
Possibly a little ambitious but I it's best to aim high right?

Oh and my 'Metagoal' is to set my daily goals before I start working (and definitely before 1pm)!

======= Date Modified 08 Sep 2009 15:17:44 =======
Flutter- having a day of rest is a great idea!!

My goals for today are:

1. read and make notes from Dr F papers:
2009 a: DONE
2009 b:
2009 c:
2008 a:
2008 b:
2008 c:
2008 d:
2008 e:
2007:
2006:

2. make a list of potential viva questions (i have a list of about 113, but i think some of them are the same question but rephrased differently, so to prevent me from panicking i have so many questions to answer, i'm going to consolidate them).