======= Date Modified 02 Jun 2009 11:29:34 =======
Hey guys, good luck armendaf for your viva preperation! battle on soldier!!!

well i sent a 3rd email to my sup on sunday night (previous 2 emails asking about my viva were ignored, he ignored this 3rd one aswell) and i also CC'd the admin people and one of the professers at my uni that deals with post graduate studies again, and i've finally got a reply!!

the prof was the only one that replied to my email yesterday, asking me when i handed in my thesis.

so i'm suspecting now he will deal with my sup and ask him what's going on regarding my viva. my sup will probably try to blame me. say that I asked for extra time to prepare for my viva, which is true. and say i'm not prepared (true again) but i still want to know "when" my viva will likely to be and "who" will be my examiners, so i can start reading their work.

anyways feeling abit nervous about whats going to happen next!

in the meantime i will just carry on trying to prepare. i feel like i will never ever be ready. got mountains of papers to read and still gotta read through my thesis again. and i still havent written answers for a list of viva questions i have. i better get cracking on it all, now that the ball of viva organisation has been let loose!! i probably dont have much time left for my viva now.

i'm going on a mini holiday this thursday for a few days to north cornwall with a bunch of friends. so gonna study today and tommorow, then take a few days off, and then next week, really start cramming big time.

a part of me, wants loads of time to prepare for my viva, but another part of me thinks, what the heck - might aswell just get it over and done with and see what my examiners say about my thesis. and take the next step. maybe they might give me a 2nd chance and tell me my thesis needs major corrections and talk me through what i can improve on, instead of just outright failing me.

oh well i guess its better than staying in limbo land forever.

Hey guys, good luck armendaf for your viva preperation! battle on soldier!!!

well i sent a 3rd email to my sup (previous 2 emails asking about my viva were ignored, he ignored this 3rd one aswell) and then CC'd the admin people and one of the professers at my uni that deals with post graduate studies, and he was the only one that replied to my email yesterday, asking me when i handed in my thesis. so i'm suspecting now he will deal with my sup and ask him what's going on regarding my viva. my sup will probably say that I asked for extra time to prepare for my viva, i'm not prepared and probably blame me, which is true, but i still want to know "when" my viva will be and "who" will be my examiners, so i can start reading their work.

anyways feeling abit nervous about whats going to happen next!

in the meantime will just carry on trying to prepare. i feel like i will never ever be ready. got mountains of papers to read and still gotta read through my thesis again. i read through it a couple of months ago, i feel like i've forgotten it all :$

and then another part of me thinks, what the heck - might aswell just get it over and done with and see what my examiners say about my thesis. and take the next step.
i have nightmares (well not literally) that i will fail my viva and go in and not be able to answer any of the questions and just be dumbfounded. i know people say i should know my work. but i feel the amount i know is just very superficial.

That really is awful, what a tragedy :(
How sad for the family to lose their father. :(

i can empathesise on how you must be feeling, when events like these happen, one feels like nothing else matters. :-(

wow thanks for this D2I ! i can DEFINATELY relate to this, i also feel like an imposter, ALL of the time!! i really do, and i feel that during my viva the facade will all be revealed and the examiners will point and me and say "you're an imposter!!!"

my supervisor totally thinks im an indequate phd student, which only adds fuel to my own self doubt. no matter how many times people tell me to think positively and be confident, i just cant muster it. i just dont feel like i know my subject very well, probably like 5% !

its reassuring though that its an actual psychological condition, but in my case, i really am an imposter! lol

thanks also to A116 for the nature paper article! awesome, just printed it out :)

======= Date Modified 26 May 2009 00:31:39 =======
anyone else burning the ol midnight oil?

i want to write a couple of pages of notes before i call it a day.

i'm feeling quite peckish too, but i know if i eat this late, i will be so uncomfortable when i go to bed. i will instead dream about what i am going to have for breakfast tommorow lol. i love food! :p hmm maybe i will have a bowl of all bran fruit cereal, thats marginally healthy and not too heavy. i will eat that after i've written 2 pages of notes :) and then call it a night

edit. okay im quite hungry now, decided to make myself a tuna sandwhich and call it a night. i only wrote 1 page of notes. but i've parked on the downhill so know exactly what i am doing tommorow!

======= Date Modified 25 May 2009 23:45:11 =======
======= Date Modified 25 May 2009 23:42:55 =======
"whereever you are , it is the place to start. the effort you expend today DOES make a difference"

I also kept a log diary, where i would write down how many words i had written, or figures i made, or what not, just a record of what i did, and it would encourage me to do the same the next day. its a nice feeling to feel you did something, cause then when the evening comes, and you wanna relax and watch tv or whatever you like to do, you feel like you "earned it"

also i once read in a dale carnegie book (the man was a genius) that before you go to bed, make a list or just one thing, that you will do tommorow, and organise your notes so that when you come to your desk first thing in the morning, you know EXACTLY what you need to do, that way you wont procrastinate. i actually do this, and the next day when i know exactly what i need to do, i dont procrastinate and i just get on with it.

so your aim today is to choose to do ONE thing connected to your thesis that you will do tommorow. write it on a post it and stick it to your monitor, so tommorow morning, you know exactly what you are doing.

i would also advice you to choose one of your chapters for your thesis, and focus on that. the one you think will be the easiest to write, and start work on that. and just work on it bit by bit everyday, and dont worry about the other chapters for now.

the way i did it, i chose one of my results chapters, and i got my paper that was on the results, and then i copied out stuff from my paper (and flagged it for changing it slightly later), and pulled out all my graphs and data tables, and started working on my figures and tables for the chapter. and i named the document "chapter 3 zero draft" and i wasnt worried about grammer, or anything like that. i just got stuff written down, even if it sounded lame, incorrect, or childish.

after you get a zero draft down, you will feel better, as its "something" down on paper, and you can improve on it.

also the flower technique of writing really helped me out aswell.
check out this website for details.
https://webspace.utexas.edu/cherwitz/www/ie/b_flowers.html

i had it printed and stuck to my wall.

ps sorry for the long post!!! :$

======= Date Modified 25 May 2009 23:41:06 =======
cont...(oh thank the Lord that i did copy my message - before hitting submit! as a backup, cause i reached message limit!)

{quote cont..}

Tell yourself this is not supposed to be the best thing you’ve ever done. Tell yourself that you can write a “B” assignment. A completed assignment that is adequate is better than the best thing you’ve ever done that exists only in your head." {unquote}

in the beggining, when i first started to write my thesis, i was frozen with fear! i kept jumping out of my seat every chance i got.

the following stuff helped me.

having a timer, set to 15 minutes, and literally forcing myself to type, it could be utter nonsense, or just crap, but i was not allowed to stop until i wrote on X subject for 15 minutes. this is known as free writing. and you might suprise yourself!

also i was told that its okay to just copy out notes from papers, and not worrying at this stage about writing it in your own words, but just make sure you have it highlighted that its "verbatim" notes, you dont wanna get done for plagerism. but sometimes you just want to copy out a sentence, and you might use it somewhere but not sure where. i use "red font" for stuff that is copied. and in paragraphs i put the source. i was told by a fellow member, that psychologically, even just writing out notes verbatim, is helpful,

"psychologists were arguing that the best way to write first, was to first write loads and loads of rubbish, be it copies and pasted stuff, or stuff from the top of your head and then edit it down. apparently people who write like that are loads more productive than those who plan meticulously and try to write perfectly first time "

another technique, is to say to yourself, i have to write 3-4 pages of writing everyday, once i have done, i can reward myself with X activity or treat.

the one thing that really helps me , is to set myself really really small tasks. like "read paper" and make notes, even if im just copying verbatim the important points i need to include in my thesis or whatever.

I have the following post its on my wall still to remind me: especially cause like you, it would drive me NUTS when my friends and family would ask how the phd is going and would say, you still doing it???

"burn the boats! when ancient greek armies travelled across the sea to do battle, the first thing they would do after landing was to burn the boats. leaving them stranded. with no way to make it home besides victory, the resolve of the soliders were strengthened. when success and failure are the only options , you have no choice but to follow through"

"everyday is more important, thank how much time you have spent, or how many pages you produce, or the quality "

"one day plus another has an accumulative effect"

Hi Danzig, it really is scary how similar you sound to me last year!!!

aww you followed my story ? that's so sweet. thank you so much for your kind words, I really appreciate it. :) very kind of you!

that's really great you got a preliminary outline! you're already on your way then :) and great stuff you can use the papers. that will definately impress the examiners, that part of your work has already been peer reviewed, and how can they argue with that! its good for the old confidence aswell.

i had the EXACT same problem with you, i was DROWNING IN PAPERS!! i kept saying, i have to read 100 papers before i can even start to write. but with a deadline, you really have to tell yourself STOP and focus on the REALLY important papers. and you have to draw the line, as hard as it is. you have to consolidate. if you cant, just put a post it on the papers, that you think MIGHT be important, and flag them to read later for your viva prep.
right now, your aim is to write your theis in X amount of time, and so you have to think realistically how much you can read and incorporate, and also remember the more references you put in, the more you will have to know for your viva! so keep some stuff aside, and just leave them for viva prep.

this bit of advice always helped me aswell, your thesis is NOT an enclyopedia, or a reference book, it CANNOT have everything in it. so your first job, is to do a quick pubmed search on the MOST recent review articles related to your subject, read them, make notes, even copying out verbatim is fine.

i know how you feel, because i have literally been there.

so i went back to my diary thread, and found this procrastination website, that really helped me.

i'm quoting myself now, lol

http://davidmaister.com/blog/18/Done-at-Last-Thoughts-on-Procrastination

which a forum member once told us about! but i cant find that thread anymore lol

"But there are deeper reasons for procrastination, and one is depression, which can make concentration difficult. Perfectionism, self-doubt and relentless self-criticism can also accompany depression—if you don’t think that what you will do is very good, or good enough, it’s hard to begin."Wendy Leibowitz

{quote}
"Divide everything you have to do into smaller, easy bites.

Set realistic time goals to complete your bite-size tasks, and then plan to take a break.

Promise yourself that you will only work for ten minutes.

Adopt the mental dump approach: just do something and plan to change it later. You can always revise what you’ve done. Most work needs refinement. Drafting something –anything – helps you to avoid your saying, “I didn’t do anything today.” You did, it just needs further work!

Tell yourself this is not supposed to be the best thing you’ve ever done. Tell yourself that you can write a “B” assignment. A completed assignment tha

lol Ruby!!! haha yah this is where it all started. its funny reading my post now. writing a thesis really does take longer than you think! lol thank goodness they gave me two extensions, i was aiming for sept 1st , ended up submitting october 30th.

my biggest day dream during all of last year, was walking to a binding shop, getting my thesis bound and walking with it in my rucksac on my way to uni to hand it in.

LOL!! that's really funny! i don think i read this :-) thanks dude! and thanks for all your support. i just came back to this thread, to find a particular post about procrastination to help a fellow comrad in need of help. you're message put a big smile on my face!!

athos78- congratulations! that is amazing! you did very well !!

and thanks so much for the advice, that's really good to know, and i totally agree with you, writing takes longer than you think!

i'm at the "preparing for viva" stage, and working through my viva questions, which is taking longer than i thought. but your post has reassured me :)

great advice given by Joyce and Bilobaggins.

i know how you feel, i was like you last year, i was given a deadline in may to submit by september, and i had nothing really written for my thesis. and felt lost and demotivated all the time, till people made me realise the reason i felt like this was cause i was overwelmed by the sheer amount of work i had to get done.

it is scary writing a thesis. but the only way to do it, is to focus on tiny little tasks, one thing at a time. and just get through them.

basically my advice is similar.

sit down with a large piece of paper, and make a spider diagram, of all the things you want to put in your thesis. the chapters etc.

you said you have 2 papers already published thats really fantastic ! can you use the material from the paper as a foundation for some of your thesis chapters?

i too had 2 papers published and used them as a basis for two of my chapters. obviously you need to expand on the papers and elaborate on them. but its a good place to start.


i too did a biology based thesis. and i believe the maximum word limit is 100,000 words. but usually a science thesis is around 60,000 - 80,000 words.

dont worry about the word limit right at this stage! its quality not quantity that counts.

basically you will have your introduction chapter - that introduces your subject. gives all the foundation as to why you did your project.
then comes to materials and methods chapter - where you throw in all your methods in there.

then you will have a few results chapters.

the way i did it, each results chapter, had a paragraph introducing the results. THE RESULTs, and a small disucssion on the results. and then i did a big conclusion discussion chapter trying to tie everything together. (my supervisor still said my thesis was poorly written but heck i gave it my best shot, and HAD to submit it by the deadline or would have failed)

bottom line, just start by working on zero drafts. dont worry about it being perfect, or accurate or correct.

i would recommend a book that was my bible throughout last year. "how to write your thesis in 15 minutes a day" by joan bolker. she really helped me ALOT.

its great that your supervisor is around.

what my supervisor told me to do, was to make a plan for my thesis. with chapter headings, and what each chapter would contain, like section headings. do that first, kinda like a table of contents, and then show your supervisor, if this is correct, and then your job is to simply fill in those section headings. think of writing your thesis, one section (1 paragraph) at a time.

good luck! you can do it! just do abit on your thesis everyday. even if its just working for 15 minutes and writing down key words.
(up)

if that is what you have been told ? that your viva might not be till the following year, that gives me some sort of reassurance, as i am begining to panic, that what if i get into trouble or i fail cause i didnt have a viva organised for me!
i've been contacting my supervisor and post graduate people asking about when my viva is likely to happen but not heard anything yet. a friend of mine made me panic and said what if i fail cause i didnt have a viva in time! i was like freaked out!!

i'm gonna contact the postgraduate office again and call them up, cause i'm begining to worry!!

Hey KC! you're so very welcome!! and please you cannot have the title of the worst phd student ever, cause I currently hold that title!!! hehe :) seriously. i kid you not.

oh i'm just the same, i set alarms, and then turn them off, and sleep in lol. so for the past few days i've given up on setting an alarm, and just waking up "naturally" i tend to go to bed quite late like at 2/3am. so its a vicious cycle really.
but you've inspired me, so i am going to try to wake up earlier tommorow, and hopefully that will help me - i might leave my curtains open that way the sunshine light might "gradually wake me up " or something!

--
sounds like you did really well today. well done on waking up at 8am! that is VERY impressive!
(up)

i agree with the posties below that internet browsing sucks up so much time. so i also tend to keep email checking and other googling to a minimum.

well i've made a new plan today. i say that alot. but this time i'm gonna stick with it. i have loads of viva questions to get through, and kept panicking about how many there are, instead of just going through them one by one. and i remembered a great advice given to me by alot of people on this forum (Which i used during my thesis writing aswell) -

basically in a nutshell, a journey of 10,000 steps starts with one step. and you climb a mountain one step at a time. so instead of worrying about the amount of questions i have to get through, i should just methodically go through each question one at a time, instead of setting unrealistic goals, that just leaves me disheartened. so thats what im gonna do now, like i did for my thesis, work on one question at a time, instead of jumping around like a mad person. i remember during thesis writing, i would work on a chapter at a time. and i would tell myself, i got X amount of time to do it, but things ALWAYS take longer than you think, and i used to panic and think, this is taking too long! but then calmed myself by saying, well i'm gonna have to eventually do it, unless i can stop time, i just have to get on with it, taking it one word at a time, one step at a time. and slowly slowly, things started to get "ticked off"

so make up a list of things you need to do, stick it on your wall, and just methodically work through them. dont get hung up on how long it takes. just work on it properly, and dont take short cuts, cause eventually you will have to get the work done anyways, so why not do it now.

im taking my advice, and have made a list of 20 viva questions ( i got a total of 100) but in order not to scare myself, gonna work on it in "batches". and will stick on my wall, and as i write zero draft rough answers for each question, will tick them off

also i love joan bolkers advice, about not worrying about the perfect answer or writing, just get stuff written down, even if it might be wrong, or crap, as long as its something, some mud to play with.

good luck KC! i'm with ya !!

great advice given by the two posters below! thanks guys. i too am like you, i wake up late and procrastinate most of the day and then feel guilty, and then only manage to do a couple of hours of work each day!

i'm gonna take the advice given below and force myself to wake up earlier. maybe we can do it together! lol before i used to wake up at 12pm!! but slowly slowly, got myself to wake up at 11.30am, then at 11am. and today i woke up at 10.30am. only cause the postman rang the doorbell. i was tired and wanted to go back to sleep, but forced myself to stay awake, so i read a book for awhile to reward myself for waking up early lol..., and then still in bed, i did some studying.

winston churchill used to work until lunchtime from his bed!

okay so tommorow i am going to aim to wake up at 10am! and i will set some papers on my night table so i can start working from my bed.

good luck to you keep_calm. together we might be able to break the owl - to early lark barrier!!! i too am a night owl, but want to start waking up early:p