Being a bit negative here, but perhaps it depends on the university or department as well. For my part, it's no fun at all, for various reasons. But that will increase the likelihood of a complete buzz once it's all over, simply because it was so tough.

for my part I've stopped lying to myself and accepted this truth. Once one accepts this truth it is easier to be motivated enough to finish it off, i.e. to submit a bloody thesis

let's be honest, we all hate it. Every part of it. We probably just tell ourselves that there is something good about it in order to avoid going mental.

That's probably because you don't want to accept the responses which are out there, i.e. the fact that it's not happening unless you're rich and famous anyway. It does NOT represent an alternative to a traditional Ph.D pathway!

Addition to 1.: *this list is not meant to be exhaustive and does include pets

1. Dump your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/partner.

2. Rent a van for a day, drive to a large grocery store and buy food, water, drinks, toilet roll, toothpaste and so on which could last for about 4-5 months.

3. Cancel your TV license, sell your TV and take phone calls from family or friends only once a day at a specified period. The rest of the day, unplug your phone.

4. Be prepared for loneliness but tell yourself that the nightmare will be over sooner if you follow this strategy.

5. Write, at least 8 hours a day. Aim should be 1000 words per day, but not set in stone.

6. Don't worry about quality, re-draft once a week for 8 hours.

7. Check your email only once a day.

8. Visit this forum only once a day.

9. Meet your advisor at least once a month and provide an update of your draft chapters.

Enjoy

Given a supportive supervisor who will read and comment on all your draft version and all data collected, it is possible if you are mentally strong, make sure your body is healthy, exercise minimum twice a week, you eat properly and you follow these steps:

sj04 - you misunderstood the question. It's about PhD theses and work done in the doctoral context, rather than jobs search.

Check the British Library, Eugie.

A Ph.D takes time. Usually three to four years minimum, full time. Part time more like five to six years minimum. It's nothing like Master studies. Be clear about it. I've told ya

Please go and play somewhere else xx3xxx

Quite frankly, the best solution is to do both. Year out and then Masters. It's better for your body and spirit. Please correct if I'm wrong. Happy Chinese New Year.

"One of the methods for dealing with talkers was to say 'Sorry, but I can't concentrate on my lecture when other people are talking, so can you either stop your conversation or do it somewhere else?'"

Sounds like a waste of energy. Ever thought about a simple "shut up" in an unexcited calm voice?

Pardon?

sorry to disagree here, but generalisations might not be very helpful in this context. I think it depends on a variety of factors such as, for instance, the field, institution, department, Ph.D progress, "having sth. to say" and so on.

and with regard to stolen ideas, I think it is the purpose of the literature review to identify the gap in the existing body of knowledge and therefore the possible existence of similar work. At conferences in the second or third year it is often too late to substantially re-design the entire research as data is often collected etc.

But, it can't harm to present at conferences and/or to publish as long as the pHd progress doesn't suffer. Similarly, IMO one can not say that it is impossible to find jobs without publications.

Don't know if I agree with the last statement. Surely, many students fall into the trap of thinking about too many publications too early on and then struggle to complete the PhD thesis. Perhaps writing the latter is intellectually inferior to the whole publication game but it nevertheless takes time and effort which should not be underestimated. For this reason some share the view that it might be better, in individual circumstances, to complete the thesis first and then fully focus on publications. But that is debatable as everything regarding the Ph.D process and experience generally is. In the end, a PhD is as important for jobs in academia as publications so it's not of much use to have three top journal articles but not a job due to the lack of the entry ticket to academia colloquially known as Ph.D.