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I'm afraid I'm one of those people who everyone warns against - who just fell into doing the PhD for want of having anything else lined up (and an aversion to corporate culture), but also because it fit conveniently into other life circumstances. I was genuinely personally and academically interested in the topic I chose, but only a few months earlier had vowed not to do a PhD!
I certainly wouldn't recommend this method. Because I applied at the last minute after I changed my mind, one of the main problems was funding. Much of it has been self-funded. But I have remained interested in the central questions, so am not entirely regretting it. And looking forward of course to being a Dr., the third in the family (but the first of philosophy...), fingers crossed. My little sister beat me to it though;-)
Oh, and I 'm still wondering whether to try to get a job in academia or not.

Thanks for the guilt-easing comments about finishing early for the day Rubyw and Armendaf.
Unfortunately, it is now four days on and I haven't made much progress, hence the lack of posts (embarrassment). I seem to have had lots of other things to do, not to mention difficulty getting going in the morning (that old chestnut). Maybe going out every evening hasn't helped :$
I think it's also because I'm getting in a theoretical tangle again, and the revising of Chapter 7 wasn't quite as straightforward as I thought, so maybe taking more time and effort is necessary.
Despite this slow progress, I'm still feeling kinda positive, so can't really complain. Right! Back to work!
Loved the image of the 'paper' bag lady Rubyw!! I empathise...

Hi Phdbug,
I'm social sciences, and my chapters are averaging about 12,000 words. One is 14,000, one 11,000...mostly around 12,000 though. I have 8 chapters and although I haven't finished them yet, expect intro and conclusion chapters to be shorter. Have done lit. reviews in a few chapters, but it will mainly go in the introduction.
Not a very detailed answer, but I hope that helps!

Hi -
I don't know about engineering, but I know a little about lab-based PhDs here in Japan and it's not good. The supervisor-student relationship here seems to be even more exploitative, although these are just anecdotal observations.
I'm humanities, and PhDs from Japan in humanities aren't regarded well. It might be different from science. Some do it though, especially if they are on the MEXT government scholarship, but that is really hard to live off these days...
On the other hand, Japan is a great place to be for a few years!

Hi Rubyw,
Found this thread in the midst of a bout of procrastination...
I think you're right to just concentrate on finishing the thesis.  If you already have a part-time teaching post, that's half the battle! Just keep doing that and writing papers/applications when you finish. Definitely do conferences, even if you have to pay yourself I'd say.
As you know I'm at a similar stage to you.  A few months ago I applied to a post-doc-like position to start next Spring since it was a relatively straightforward application, but of course there's no guarantee I'll get it and I don't have anything else lined up. In fact there's another application deadline at the end of the month, but I just didn't want to take the time out of thesis writing to apply.  I'll probably regret that...
On the other hand, I'm not even certain that I want to go into academia, so not applying for the other position was partly leaving things to fate and avoiding big life decisions!

Well, I'm giving in for the day and going to cycle home for supper. I haven't finished what I was meant to do today - this morning was completely out with a class, but I thought I had allowed for that! Am only half way through revising and cutting the chapter, so I'll plow on tomorrow morning.
It seems that lots of people work late at night on this forum, so I feel a bit pathetic packing it in at 8pm, but I really find that I can't work at home. Anyone else the same?
Have a good day everyone 8-)

======= Date Modified 17 Nov 2008 01:07:22 =======
Thanks Rubyw! I'm not very confident of meeting the December deadline, but hopefully this forum and you guys will help me to stay motivated. Hope you had a productive weekend - I only managed some reading.
Armendaf - chapter 7 is pretty theoretical, about internal structuring of hierarchical networks (of people!) so I'm not looking forward to tackling it.
So today I'm going to read notes, skim articles, look back on previous chapters and draw lots of mental maps to make sure I know what I'm going to say before I start writing/revising tomorrow. By the end of today I'll hopefully have a half-finished chapter consisting of cut and pasted existing sections and an outline of what should go in between.
Then I have tomorrow and Wednesday morning to write!

Well, I failed to finish chapter 6 yesterday:-(, but have just finished it now ;-). Giving myself a little break this afternoon, a spot of window shopping maybe, but I plan to read over what I already have for chapter 7 in some cafe and make notes for when I start revising it tomorrow. Chapter 7 deadline is next Wednesday evening!

Hello
I posted on this thread a couple of months ago, but then buried deep back into my rabbit hole. I'm amazed to find that you've submitted since then Lara! And Armendaf! That's fantastic, congratulations!! (up)
My deadlines keep wooshing by, but it seems like I'm at a similar stage to Rubyw...I am revising my first draft and would like to submit the final draft at the beginning of December. I have the big important chapter 7 left to revise/rewrite, and the concluding and introductions to write too. Might I join you Rubyw in updating my progress in trying to meet that deadline on this thread?
Today I am trying to finish chapter 6, then send it off to Supervisor this evening. Was meant to do this last week and has just been dragging on as I am getting into philosophical tangles in my mind...must repeat the mantra, doesn't have to be perfect!
Right, on my bike to uni then...

lara, thanks for your welcome. i can't believe how much you have done in such a short space of time. i'm really impressed, well done! you should be really proud of yourself. and enjoy the concert!
I don't have any immediate thesis deadlines which means very difficult to motivate...i do have to give a long presentation next week though, so i'll work on that first.
today's target:
half of presentation! off to library now, so hopefully i'll do 2.5 hours before lunch, then the same after. i have just been on holiday (well, back home to see supervisor too) so need to ease myself into daily schedule!

hello from tokyo, from one serious ABDer to kindred spirits! i also came across this famous JB 15 minute book in a library in Tokyo when searching for help last year, but had all but forgotten about it. it was great to be reminded of it by this thread, so I'd love to join in and hopefully post about daily targets etc. if that's ok
anthropologa, i'm also writing up an anthropology phd, so it's nice to be on a thread with a fellow anthropologist.
i have something that vaguely resembles a first draft, and am trying to add/cut/rearrange etc. to get it into shape by the end of september...
looking forward to participating in the forum!