Thank for your replies, good tips! I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "You will change and adjust the review later on no matter what, but then you will change everything, because that is what happens with a PhD. It doesn't just follow neat and tidy steps-which can be very frustrating for organised planners". I think this will be my biggest frustration/learning curve, my nature is to be very organised....I like to get things done and tick them off on a list, plus I'm really impatient, so waiting for people to get back to me before I can get on with the next stage of a project annnoys me. But slowly I'm already trying to adapt to this way of working, my supervisor is great, but really busy and chaotic, so im adjusting to fit in with her work style. Just knowing that its normal to change the focus and direction of your PhD and "waste" alot of work will help me to accept that its inevitable!

Hi
Hopefully some of you getting towards the end of your PhD will have some tips for me....
I'm 5 months into my PhD in a health related subject. Proposal has been agreed and approved by supervisors, the next step is getting ethical approval as I will be recruiting hospital patients. Im expecting there will likely be a delay in this process, with getting collaborators to sign and approve ethics forms, the committee only meets every 4-6 weeks so if I miss a committee meeting, its another month waiting before I can start recruitment and data collections.
Im keen to get on with the practical side of my PhD and due to my age and finances, I really want to finish within 3 years. I'm very organised and task-orientated, so I hate the idea of wasting time not being productive.So what things can I get on with now that will save time in the write up stages?? Friends who have done PhDs have suggested getting references and papers catalogued now and starting on literature review, methodology chapters........but what if my results mean I go off in a completely different tangent and this is a waste of time.
Any thoughts/advise ??Thanks