Blimey Phdbug- you finished in 2.5 years working just two days a week on it?!! That's crazy, you must have made the most of those two days lol! What broad area are you in- did you have loads if data collection to do? I reckon I could do 2.5 years if I cut out publications and conferences but that would be 6 days per week still! You will be ready for a holiday when you're all done! KB

Just to put some perspective on this.. It definitely depends on your area of research. Data collection for a science PhD can take 2.5 years in itself... you have to find time to write around your experiments. There is no way I could do any other job - my Phd (ie data collection) is a daily (ALL day) affair.

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I took 3 years and 2 months on the PhD, but suspended for 8 months at the start of my 2nd year to write a Lit Review with my sup, so it feels closer to 4 years. However the Lit Review was for a national strategy, was accepted as policy by the national government of the country involved, and we made the whole thing into a book, published by Wiley earlier this year. I feel as if I've done 2 PhDs - one of which wasn't even really on my subject.

However, I came into this as an old grumpy professional writer, so I know a fair bit about writing. The secret is the same as decorating a room - it takes longer to tidy up afterwards than slap the paint on the wall! What I mean by that is that the edits/revisions/checks/proofing and presentation always take longer than just getting the day's writing done. I write best in the afternoon, so every day I edited the previous afternoon's work in the morning, and wrote in the afternoons. Doing it that way meant that I got fired up each day by tidying the previous afternoon's work, first.

I started writing at the end of my first month at Uni, and started with my Lit Review, using Scopus and RefWorks. My Lit Review and Intro turned out to be huge - 45,000 words - and the Intro was like a secondary Lit Review. I'd finished the first draft of those by the end of my first year. I had to select and edit a lot at the end. All in all I wrote 200,000 words but edited out 120,000 (almost) and have kept the cuts in a separate file to use in other work.

Writing every day (or writing hard for 2 or 3 days a week), is the answer as someone said, and 500 words a day is very easy to accomplish. Breaking it down into manageable chunks is really helpful.

Finally, each of my chapters went through 10 drafts, but this had to be, as I'm working in a very fast-moving niche research area with at least 3k papers a year published in it. So I had to keep reading and writing and adjusting.

It's very possible to write a PhD in 3 years, but rather harder if you're working in a team and have to depend on the pace of the project generally. And Melsie, my research area kind of overlaps with yours!

Hi everyone... ok now im scared :s im reading everyone exceeded the 3 yr mark except for Phdbug .. its in your name ur have a bug :p anyway..... im still 6 months into my phd im doing sciences although i already have the data ready ..just need analysis... should i be able to finish within 3 years? im on a 3 yr contract and therefore cant prolong my phd time :s

Sorry Phdbug, didn't mean to- just so impressed by how quickly you got all your data collection done! Best, KB

So, PhDBug, indulge me: do you live with your parents, with your shopping, cooking and laundry services all laid on? Or do you have a very supportive partner who provides all of the above? Do you have kids, or responsibility for caring for an older family member? Have you had to do the school run 10 times per week? Have you had to deal with 4-5months per year of school holidays? As mine's fully-funded, I was able to hit the ground running, meeting all of my deadlines early....until the rest of my life came crashing into the picture.

Hey!! if I submit before October 31st, I'll get in under the 3year wire ;-) My funding runs out then and there is nothing that concentrates the mind like a lack of funds!

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Hi, PhDBug -  I really admire you - you must of worked really hard to get finished in that time and work to fund your studies at the same time - you should be proud of yourself ;-)

I am in a similar situation to Artista - I m 6 months in - I have three children - run a home (cook, clean, sort childcare/school runs/work with children running around, walk the dog etc) and work part time (about 1 day a week).

I hope to finish within the three years, but I realise I have other commitments to juggle along side the PhD - however, I did know this before I started and it is something I have to work around.

We all have different commitments and have to do the best we can with our individual situations - I say good luck to us all - lets hope we are all successful!!!!!

Sorry for your loss PhDBug :-(

Okay- was just worried I had made you uncomfortable or something! So sorry to hear your news- I really feel for you. My grandad doesn't have long left and it's hard enough with him being over in Ireland, let alone 1000 miles away, so I really sympathise. I hope you are okay and getting some support with whoever you are close to. Best wishes, look after yourself. KB

Thanks KB. I wish your grandpa health and peace.

I'm really sorry to hear about your loss. If it's any consolation the pain numbs as time goes by, but of course you will always miss her. I hope you get support from those close to you, and do look after yourself.

Hi Phdbug,

I'm genuinely sorry to hear your sad news. I remember losing my grandfather 20 years ago whilst I was at uni, and it was devastating.

As for the thread, I'm simply trying to understand the context of your staggering achievement, and the information that you have volunteered (regarding no partner or parental responsibilities) provides this contextualisation. I expect I'm still adjusting to having gone overnight from being a stay at home mum with 3 kids, to a research scholar, - when no-one else in the family appears willing or able to make the associated adjustments that this change brings. In my experience, the euphoria of landing a fully funded place has been tempered by the realisation that this will not be achievable within 3 years, - hence my curiosity about your circumstances.

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