Thanks Lara. My main strategy is to focus on the core literature. I pretty much know that backwards, despite the memory problems. But ask me something outside that and it could be another story. This is going to be an issue for the viva. I've warned my supervisor and other people about it. But the university will have to take steps to deal with it, to level the playing field. It may help that my literature review + intro is relatively short at just 6500 words. I didn't try to cover everything that could be relevant, but the core material, and I've tried to do that really well.

The memory problems also mean that I can easily forget what I've done which is potentially a far more serious problem. Again it will be have to taken into account in the viva, with possibly medical evidence warning the examiners about this.

To be honest the memory problems are perhaps the least of my problems though. I'm severely disabled, with a progressive MS-like illness. I've had practical problems because of this throughout the PhD, despite studying part-time. It's just that the memory problems will be an issue in the viva, so have to be addressed.

WOW BilboBaggins, you truly are an inspiration - working so hard and studying on your phd despite your disability. that is really admirable. I wish you all the best!(up)

======= Date Modified 09 Sep 2009 01:29:34 =======
my confession for today.

i read 1 paper of my external examiner, and read a bunch of background information so that i could understand the paper abit.

I just finished compiling my final list of viva questions, down from 113 , to 63 questions, :-) even added a bunch of new ones (about 30 or so). grouped together similar questions -that are phrased slightly differently - but essentially asking the same thing

i'm so glad i got it done tonight!!! i wasnt in the mood to do it. but forced myself.

tommorow i'm going to start writing answers to the questions. if i dont know how to answer a question. i will just make a few random notes (the motto - don't get it right, get it written!!!) and come back to it later on.

okay have made myself a deadline. i have 10 days and 63 questions. i want to leave the last week before my viva, to practice and go over the questions and answers.

so that means i have to tackle 6 questions a day.

i'm clocking out now.

hope you all had a good day.

======= Date Modified 10 Sep 2009 03:13:02 =======
I'm clocking in.
My goals for today are to answer 6 viva questions:

1. Describe the rationale of your research project.
2. What are the highlights of your thesis, where exactly are they ? in which chapters?
3. What are the key findings of your thesis?
3a. Summarise your key findings
3b. What is the most important finding in your project?
3c. What do your results mean?
4. How would your system cope with bigger examples, does it scale up?
5. Have you solved the fields problem that you claim to have solved?
6. What is original in your thesis?

anyone reading this , feel free to copy down these potential viva questions - to help you prepare for your viva when your time comes (up)

It's been a few days since my first post, so it shows why I have been so bad at declaring my goals! Anyway I am all set to get started again. Thanks to flutter for good advise about writing early. I wish I had started writing my thesis at the beginning of my third year rather than only really beginning now, but hopefully over the next few months I will be well on the way to that zero draft. Thanks to Lara also for welcome to the forum. I can see there is a lot of inspirational people on this forum writing down their writing goals and getting through it all no matter what. Taking flutters's advise I would like to begin by working on finishing small pieces of written work in my methodology chapter. I hope to draft up some sub-sections that could eventually be used in my first draft.
I haven't had the most productive start to the week. I read a book on writing at the week-end. I love to read about writing just not so keen on doing the writing! Monday was a total loss and with being at the university yesterday only had the evening to work on my supervision preparation.I got that finished late this morning. Anyway its now 8pm and because its so late in the evening I am only going to get a transcript ready for coding by tomorrow.
Lara you are a real source of inspiration, I can't imagine getting to the stage when I have handed in my thesis. It's a real milestone and you are working well towards your goals for the viva. Best of luck over the next couple of days and will be rooting for you.

======= Date Modified 09 Sep 2009 23:36:05 =======

Thank you so much, that really means so much to me!! and couldnt come at a better time! perfect timing, as i've been procrastinating ALL day and havent even started on answering any of the questions. i know why i'm procrastinating cause of fear. but your post has really put a smile on my face and given me the much needed boost. THANK YOU!
(up)

and dont worry what you should or shouldnt have done. thats all in the past. all you have is TODAY. start from today. and forget the past. you will get there!! i have faith in you

EDIT - as i said before, i've been procrasting all day in answering viva questions. so i read bolkers chapter on freewriting. and i implemented her method. i got my whiteboard , and just started writing random key words that might help to answer the question. after about 6 minutes or so. i sat down, and gave myself a goal - to sit there and write for 10 minutes, and/or write at least 1 page of freewriting.

once i started writing, things began to flow. i didnt think whether it was correct, or grammer or anything, i just kept writing whatever was coming in my head. and lo behold at around 9 minute mark, i had reached 1 page of typed words. at around 7 minutes, i got stuck, but since i still had 3 minutes, i thought i will just write something more.

it really works people. if you're procrastinating, and really dont know what to write, or are scared. just tell yourself to make mud pies. write anything messily, write only for 10minutes, or tell yourself to just write a page, and then you can take a break.

i feel better now. i was feeling very anxious and thinking, i have no idea how to answer this question, or any answer i came up with, i thought, thats stupid and incorrect. but now i have something to improve on. and maybe its not correct, but you cant correct something thats not there.

going to take a break now, as i promised myself. be back later :p

Hi all, this is just a quick start of the day post to name my goals for today. I really want to respond to everyone's posts over the last day (when I do my other work) but I'll do so at the end of today as I need to make my first hour productive.

However, I'd just like to say BilboBaggins, you are an inspiration! And it reminds me that I have absolutely no excuses for not getting my work done :$ Keep your courage up and we'll be here on those days when you're not feeling so great to offer a little support :-)

Before reporting on my goals for today I should say that I'm seriously lagging. It took me a whole day of research on Tuesday to produce *600* words. My thesis is on really new stuff (no-one else has written on it in my country) so I'm finding the research really tough as I'm trawling through scant resources for scraps of information that I can piece together. But there's me whingeing again! I just need to work faster, be more selective in what I spend my energy on etc. and GET IT DONE.

Goals for today
* MUST finish religion section
* Tidy/edit gardening section
* Tidy first 3500 words in chapter

======= Date Modified 10 Sep 2009 03:03:18 =======
Thanks Flutterflutter for the kind words. Much appreciated.

I'm really curious about your topic though. Religion and gardening sections? What could you be writing about?!

I have a sort of similar problem with my research. What I'm investigating is only rarely recorded in the historical evidence. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, and then trying to make sense of things. I do not have an abundance of research material to work with. It's meant that my thesis has ended up a bit shorter than I'd like, but I've been told that's ok.

======= Date Modified 12 Sep 2009 00:30:46 =======
======= Date Modified 10 Sep 2009 14:26:42 =======
======= Date Modified 10 Sep 2009 03:48:38 =======
Hi Flutter and Bilbo, great job you two! ---

I'm gonna update my list as and when I complete it. as the phrase goes, what gets RECORDED gets DONE. this list /thread, is the ONLY thing that's motivating me to get freewriting/mud pie writing done for these 6 questions that i've been procrastinating ALL Day and avoiding doing. woohoo i cant believe i'm nearly done. and a few hours ago, i was feeling noway can i do this. feel the fear- do it anyway! what really helped me was to STOP thinking about getting it RIGHT and correct, but to just write SOMETHING, anything. that really helped!

My goals for today are to answer 6 viva questions:
1. Describe the rationale of your research project. [freewriting DONE- 345 words (1page)]
2. What are the highlights of your thesis, where exactly are they ? in which chapters? [freewriting DONE - 1 and half pages -528 words] 10minutes.
3. What are the key findings of your thesis? [freewriting DONE - 293 words] (total 15 minutes for all parts of question 3)
3a. Summarise your key findings [freewriting DONE -94 words]
3b. What is the most important finding in your project? [freewriting DONE - 104 words]
3c. What do your results mean? [freewriting DONE -91 words]
4. How would your system cope with bigger examples, does it scale up? [freewriting DONE - 278 words (5 minutes)]
5. Have you solved the fields problem that you claim to have solved? [freewriting DONE - 135 words - 3 minutes]
6. What is original in your thesis? [freewriting DONE - 189 words - 5 minutes]

Total words of freewriting = 2057

final EDIT - woohoo i finished! so glad i forced myself and just focused on getting *something* down instead of worrying if it was correct. i'm off to bed now. and can sleep soundily.
see you tommorow folks! thanks for listening.:-)

======= Date Modified 10 Sep 2009 20:34:18 =======
Hi Folks! I'm clocking in for today. will update as i complete each question. i've made an excel sheet to track my progress as i answer each question, and then i can just easily copy paste in here. :)
good luck everyone on your studies for today (up)
My goals are to freewrite answers for the following 6 viva questions:

EDIT : 20.30 - I have met my goals for today and finished my freewriting versions of the 6 questions below :-)

7 What is its position in relation to the current state of knowledge in your area? [ freewriting DONE / 226 words / ]
7a What is the position of your contribution as to the most recent developments in your area? [ freewriting DONE/ 388 words / ]
7b. How do your findings relate to the critical literature in this field of studies? [ freewriting DONE/ 69 words ]
7c. What is the contribution of your thesis to scholarly knowledge? [ freewriting DONE/ 205 words ]
8 What are you most proud of and why? [ freewriting DONE/ 141 words ]
8a. Did your study turn out as expected? [ freewriting DONE/ 59 words ]
8b. On a general level, what , for you, were the most interesting things to come out of your thesis? [ freewriting DONE/ 23 words ]
9 What is your thesis about? [ freewriting DONE/ 44 words ]
9a. In 1 sentence what is your thesis? [ freewriting DONE/ 38 words ]
9b. You cover several areas in your thesis, what is the whole thing about? [ freewriting DONE/ 64 words ]
10 Explain in your own words what you have done? [ freewriting DONE/ 341 words ]
11 Why did you choose this topic? Do this project? Where did the idea come from [ freewriting DONE/ 332 words ]
12 Has your view of your research topic changed during the course of the research? [ freewriting DONE/ 98 words ]

total words written today - 2,028 words.

Hello everyone, it takes me so long to get ready for my work. I got up late today as the night before I only had three hours sleep. I love it when you haven't had much sleep the night before and you fall into a really deep sleep! Anyway I am feeling refreshed again even though this morning was one of the mornings when I had to get a cup of tea to waken up. [takes me ages to open up my eyes and defrost!]. Anyway goal before I get something to eat is to read a chapter from another thesis to see what in am in for and how doable this really is. In the afternoon I will do what I declared I would do on Wednesday evening but didn't. I will finish the day by reading the chapter on qualitative writing and make notes from all the chapters I have read. I like Lara's idea of saying things are DONE. That's motivating to see DONE many times on your posting. Have a good day everyone.

======= Date Modified 12 Sep 2009 00:40:35 =======

good luck bulbs lol at defrosting haha
aww thanks so much!! thats so nice :) glad you like the DONE idea! you're right- i find it so satisfying and sometimes its the only thing that motivates me to do something, just so i can tick it off hehehe.
have a good day!

======= Date Modified 12 Sep 2009 00:39:10 =======
My goal for today is to do freewriting for the following 10 viva questions, even if its just keywords answers.

EDIT: final update: clocking out:

yipeee i finished my goals for today. for the past few hours or so, literally glued my tushy to the chair, and kept having drill sergent in my head saying,:-s you aint moving or taking a break, until you get the rest of the questions done! even though was painful lol and didnt feel like it, i finished the rest of the questions. and now i feel happy :) and now the rest of the night is mine, although feeling abit sleepy, so probably will end up falling asleep. but happy i reached my goal. even though i hated it and just wanted to bolt lol. sometimes when all techniques fail to overcome procrastination. the good ol glue bum on chair, and you aint moving until you get it done, works, even though you would rather chill and do anything but task at hand. feeling sleepy now , was planning on watching a dvd, but will instead go to bed and read a book...

goodnight folks!

13 Why have you chosen to organise your research into these stages/chapters? [ DONE . 290 words ]
14 Why is the problem you have investigated worth investigating? [ DONE . 198 words ]
15 Is it possible to draw a general rule from your single observation? [ DONE . 120 words ]
16 How have you evaluated your work? [ DONE . 176 words ]
17 How do you know that your findings are correct? [ DONE . 277 words ]
17 a. Why should we trust the analysis you present in table X? [ DONE . 45 words ]
17 b. Why should we accept your interpretation of? [ DONE . 98 words ]
17 c. You say ..was the result of..could it have been the opposite? [ DONE . 55 words ]
18 What have you done to be awarded a PhD? [ DONE . 173 ]
19 Why did you choose this method to analyse your topic ? [ DONE . 134 ]
20 Describe your methodological approach [ DONE. 123 ]
21 What have you learned by carrying out your PhD? [ DONE . 203 ]
22 What would you do differently today if you were to start again? [ DONE . 204 ]

Total words of freewriting = 2096 words

Hey guys, I have been lurking around on this thread now, it's brilliant! I haven't had any need to join in I suppose as I am only a year in, but at the moment I'm stuck into writing my first paper and after that I want to write a little every day (well thats the plan!), so I have found the thread really useful so far.

Bulbs, I totally know what you mean about reading books on how to write and not actually getting down to it lol! I love reading them, they really motivate me. I'm reading Bolkers book now which fantastic. I tried to freewrite today and its pretty hard! She advises between 3 and 6 pages a day? That's a lot! I only managed to come up with 2 pages of pure text.. anyway I do get that her main point is to set your own goals, just as long as you do write every day.

I'm going on my holiday next week and in the meantime trying to get a draft of this paper ontop of my PhD work so that means working all weekend:-( But hoping to join in this thread now that it will motivate me to write every day (even though will probably be a tiny entry:p)

======= Date Modified 12 Sep 2009 22:29:35 =======
======= Date Modified 12 Sep 2009 19:37:35 =======
Welcome Emmie! glad you like the thread! and you're right you just have to find your own natural number of pages. that's great you have started free writing! well done you!! Good luck with your paper and i look forward to seeing your posts :)
---
Late start for me, had abit of a day out today.

My goals are freewrite/key word answers for the following 10 viva questions.

*************EDIT***************
I achieved my goals for today! yipeeeee. Clocking out now :-)

23 What are the alternatives to your approach? [ DONE . 131 words ]
24 What do you gain by your approach? [ DONE . 111 words ]
25 Why didn’t you do it this way? [ DONE . 41 words ]
26 What problems did you encounter during your project? [ DONE . 171 words ]
27 What do you know about the history of this particular aspect of your research? [ DONE . 211 words ]
28 What are the recent major developments in this topic? [ DONE . 55 words ]
29 Which are the most important papers concerning this aspect of your research? [ DONE . 85 words ]
30 Why have you tackled this problem in this way? [ DONE . 54 words ]
31. a. If you were continuing your project, what would you do next? [ DONE . 60 words ]
31 b. What further experiments you could have done if you had more time? [ DONE . 72 words ]
32 What do you expect the next steps in your area to be? [ DONE . 98 words ]

Total words of freewriting = 1089 words