My champion's throne is lovely and comfy. Now where's my crown?

Tee hee hee, winning again! ;-)

Perhaps winning will cheer me up from the PhD hell...

Congratulations! Hope you have a lovely time there - at least it will be something to keep your mind off work! :)

So bug, what's next on your culinary agenda?

You should really try to give yourself a break. I know it may seem couterproductive as you'll spend less time working, but the time that you DO spend working will probably be a lot more fruitful as a result.

I always find that getting some fresh air helps me feel more alert and clears my head, especially after lunch when I seem to get a huge concentration dip. Even if you just go out and walk round the block, it's better than nothing.

Try to take a break from work - go and do something mundane like housework, phone a friend...anything to give your brain a break from work. You may find that you're subconsciously thinking about work without realising it, and might stumble across the answer to a problem that's been bothering you.

And try to eat healthily too if possible - maybe going to cook a nice meal for yourself would be another good way to take a break! :-)

PS, bug, can I have a star? Pretty please? I feel very jealous of all of you with nice shiny stars. And I promise I'll do some work now ;)

You can tell that we're all working incredibly hard this morning! Perhaps I could add some recipes to my thesis... :-)

Oh I love cooking! Great to come home after a horrible day at my desk and russle up something tasty! I always have a few staples in the cupboard - pasta, rice, risotto rice (Arborio or similar), tins of chopped tomatoes. One of my favourite dishes to cook is a chicken dish with rice and veg - it's great because it's all done in one pan (so minimal washing up!), and you can leave it to cook and go and do something else. Can also be eaten the next day (although watch that it's thoroughly reheated).

1 chicken breast per person/serving, diced (or buy ready diced)
tin of chopped tomatoes
various chopped veg - I use red pepper, tomato, carrot, peas
stock cube
rice (about 1.5oz per person)

Method: put chicken in non-stick pan and stir until browned. Add tin of chopped tomatoes (maybe not the whole tin if only making one portion), chopped veg, stock cube, rice and boiling water - you don't want too much liquid (you can always add more later), but the rice will absorb quite a lot of it. Stir, bring to the boil, then turn heat down and simmer for about 30 mins or so until rice is tender. (I usually stick the pan in the oven instead of leaving it on the hob, but this only works if the pan is oven-proof (a casserole-type thing) and doesn't have a handle!). Whichever way you do it, stir after about 15-20 mins and add more water if necessary.

I often add some sort of spice too if you like that sort of thing. A bit of onion or garlic would be good too.

Another easy thing is any type of risotto - I do one with tinned tomatoes, pepper, peas...there are so many variations. Only downside is that you need to keep an eye on it to make sure all the liquid doesn't get absorbed, otherwise you end up with a burnt mess!

Hi Lilbobeep. Although I don't finish 'til next year, I understand your concerns, and often find myself worrying about how much I still have to do. Rather than making yourself stressed about the amount of work you have left, have you tried just thinking about one day/week at a time? Set yourself targets, e.g. 'by the end of today I'm going to have finished ...' and 'by the end of this week I'll have finished ...'. This will give you a sense of achievement every time you complete something. Maybe you could also write a list of everything you have to do, and score off each item as it's completed? You'd see yourself making progress and getting through the work.
Also, if you're writing, try not to worry about the details at first - just write roughly, so that you have a basic structure. This should also give you a sense of achievement as you'll be able to see something coming together on the page. You can worry about the fine details later. You'll be surprised about how much you can write in a short space of time!!

All the best, I'm sure you can do it!!