I have decided to keep a blog so I can see how much I'm working on my thesis, and how much I'm procrastinating.

What ways do you all have to see how you are doing?

Hi Ethereal, I am thinking of using a blog to chart progress. So far just pen and paper but I think it would be better to put this online. It would be easier to see than my scrawly notes! I find it is so easy to drift and think that there is nothing to show for my time, an online blog might help with that as daily progress or where more progress is needed could be more visible.

I would blog my progress - but I know it would just become yet another distraction. I'd start procrastinating about writing about my procrastination on my blog (if you get my drift...).

I track my progress based on my wordcount, and panic levels.

i think it's a great idea!

i have an online writing journal, in this forum, that i write in everyday at the END of the day. that way i am not "wasting" time talking about what i've done during working hours. i.e it's not another form of procrastination.

it really does help and monitor what you have and have not been doing.

go for it!!

you can even join mine if you like. it was originally jojo's idea, she has her own. and BB writes in mine.

I did it, but set one up on a blogging website thingy. I think it will help me to see if I'm actually getting anywhere.

At the moment I'm really struggling because I'm spending so much time doing pointless essays to jump through hoops. I'm only in the first year of a part time PhD (well, MPhil til I'm upgraded) but I intend to write up as I go along. So far I've not had time because of work and these stupid hoops!! ...

... I work in a demanding job, which takes up a lot of my week. I am often sent places at short notice and my priorities change by the hour. The skills are obviously useful for manageing a PhD, but I resent speng the time I do have to do the PhD doing these stupid things. I'm hoping by blogging I can get a better sense of achievement which will keep me focused and motivated.

I'm part-time too, and all through the PhD I've kept a month-by-month summary of what I've accomplished. It's in the form of an Excel spreadsheet with 3 columns: Main activities (my main focus in the month), Major written reports submitted (covers draft chapters/papers sent to my supervisor or journal editors), and Other activities (covers anything, including training sessions). It helps me keep track of progress, both over the short-term and the much longer-term of a part-time PhD. I do need to remember to fill it in though. Once I forgot for 6 months and struggled to remember what I'd done!

Hey there

I started a blog a few weeks ago (www.trialsandtribsofaphd.blogspot.com) and definitely find it really useful. I started it because I had my first chapter to write and then my transfer meeting which were both really stressful. At the mo all my uni PhD friends are overseas so i have few people to talk to about my worries and so thought, well, I used to have a diary so why not have a blog? It really helped me sort my thoughts out - I am someone who needs to externalise thoughts to make sense of things so it really works for me. At the mo I am 'on holiday' as I passed my meeting so it's full of nonsense (!!) but also I put things on about PhD advice and such like that I like to talk and know about. If you like to talk a lot and feel organised by writing stuff out I would say go for it!

We should create a blogging community of PhDers so we can all read baout each other's pain and offer support!

that's a good idea! because it is inspiring and comforting to see what other phd students are going through and accomplishing..

Yeah, I like using a blog to keep track of my ideas and my progress. Like Lara, I usually write in it last thing at night - kind of 'empty the head' time. I've been writing in mine for over 3 years now (since I started my part-time PhD) and it's really helped, especially in terms of getting to grips with the ups and the downs. I can really sympathise with Ethereal having felt the same at the start of my studies... juggling job and study is hard and doing 'essays' to learn is annoying. I guess I was lucky as I was able to use my work for these... I found in the early days, I used word counts to monitor progress as well but nearing the end, don't worry about that so much, nor about writing in the blog (except when I have something to share or to get off my chest)... *grin* You do get problems with blogs though, like when I lost mine at the end of year one as my ISP went out of business (luckily I had kept an offline copy)!

www.explosivelearning.com

That makes me feel better that Bakuvia said, not to worry about word counts to monitor progress, thanks for that bit of advice

a blog community! cool! I love reading other PhD blogs though find them hard to find. We could link and chat to each other in posts, it would be nice ;)