Calling all PS thesis-tacklers, researchers, and students!

[Bia]

I won''t have to start anything until this winter...after Christmas!!! But I am rooting for all my girls anyway because I don''t wish I was in their shoes!!!

Now get to work!!!

 

[FireGoddess]

As someone who has also been there, I definitely agree that dividing the tasks is a good idea. I also found that bribery helped me immensely.

I would buy myself a CD after I completed a certain number of pages. Only classical music...nothing I could sing with and get distracted by. By the time I could hum the entire Vivaldi CD, it was capable of distracting me and that made it time to get a new one.

I have to add some arguments to the discussion of a manuscript I''m trying to submit...so I feel your pain too!!

 

[pjean]

It''s funny, I was just thinking how much we needed this kind of thread. I''m also in the PhD trenches. I''m trying to finish a seemingly endless PhD in neurobiology. For a variety of reasons too complicated and whiny to go into now, I''m going to be pretty short of actual data. My thesis committee and I are engaged in the delicate end-game negotiations about exactly how much more I''m going to have to do.

I have a meeting on the 23rd of June at which I hope to be given the all clear. More realistically, depending on how many things I can get working between now and then, I''ll be given a short list of things I have to do. Still, maybe just another month or so of experiments should see me done. Then I''ll try to write like the wind, and defend in September or so.

Then the writing. Sigh... I have a first draft of figures and figure legends for the first data chapter (which will have the bulk of my data). My goal for this week is to send those to my advisor. (He hasn''t said a word to me in 2 weeks, so I''m thinking email is my friend here.)

So, to sum up: I need to have a hugely productive week with experiments, I need to polish the figures and legends a few more times, and then I need to hit "send". This weekend, I''ll start writing the methods section for that chapter.

 

[pjean]

Now for the cheering part:

Delster, it sounds like you have the most actual writing to do. How you ever managed to get started, I will never know. But you are started! And you''re half way through the Tome! Yay!

mercoledi, are you also in the Biology field? ''cause that "get the figures perfect, then we''ll talk" thing sounds pretty familiar.

Gwendolyn, I hate having to write when I''m groggy. It feels like so little progress for so much effort. I hope you get better sleep tonight.

equestrienne, how exciting that you''ll be starting! Do you have to turn chapters in for grant money, or other deadlines?

mimzy, that sounds like a whirlwind timetable. I''m familiar! It can be done. Sleep is for the weak!

Uh, oh. I haven''t made it through the whole thread yet, and my break time is up. Off to the bench.

 

[Mannequin]

Date: 5/27/2008 11:18:23 AM
Author: Delster

equestrienne what are you studying?

Delster, I am a teacher working on a masters in curriculum and instruction. I have NO CLUE what my thesis will even be about yet, but will likely do something within the realm of student motivation or assessment.

 

[Mannequin]

Date: 5/27/2008 3:00:37 PM
Author: pjean

equestrienne, how exciting that you''ll be starting! Do you have to turn chapters in for grant money, or other deadlines?

Pj, I am not sure if I am going to be able to get grant money for my work, but I will have deadlines throughout the class taht covers the first three chapters.

 

[Mannequin]

Gwen, Delster, Mercoledi, Kcoursolle, AmberGretchen, mimzy -
GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU ON YOUR WORK!

I will keep everyone posted on my own status as I begin things in a few weeks. I also have to do enod of the school year stuff in my middle school as well as prepare for and make a move to my BF''s house an hour away, so I''ll be ready to buckle down and focus in a few weeks here.

 

[JSM]

Good luck to everyone!

I''m post comprehensive exam but still at least a year away from writing my thesis - so I''ll just wish you all the best of luck!

Here''s hoping my PhD doesn''t take me 8 years... lol.

 

[hlpkaixin3344]

omg this is the thread I need... I''m wrapping up experiments for my dissertation (phD in sciences/engineering) right now ... I have a job lined up that starts in July so it''s crunch time, and I NEED to start compiling the MASS of data I have over the years.. AND I''m OBVIOUSLY procrastinating because I''M POSTING HERE!!!

anyway I have about 1/4ish of it done (an already published paper) but I need to wrap up 2/4 of it... experiments are done but need to compile data... and 1/4 of it is last minute crap in the lab to finish before I literally run out of time...

luckily it doesn''t matter if I file tomorrow or december, as long as I file by december, cuz that is the cutoff for a Fall degree!!!!!!! but I need to just finish it and get it out of the way. really I do!

ACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[flopkins]

hm... okay that was weird... it says I''m an anonymous user!!!! does it show me now?!!

 

[Po10472]

YAY!!!

This topic is excellent - thanks DEL. I can now justify my reason for being on here as it is ''work-related''.

I''ve just finished the semester, like yesterday and going to have a few weeks off, cos i''m like a burst cushion, before starting my literature review for my dissertation. Its due in, January but I also have a wee 6000 word log to complete for October and working full-time too, doesn''t give me hellish much time. So this is perfect timing, I can get tips and support along the way.

why do we put ourselves thro this?

 

[Ms.Dreamy]

A great thread - but a little bit too late for me - handed my thesis in last week. But I guess this feeling is even worse because everything is done and you have to wait and wait and wait for the feedback of the prof.

I WISH YOU GUYS ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR THESIS!!!

 

[Delster]

Woohoo more recruits!!!

FireGoddess, jsm, and equestrienne that you for the well wishes and advice

pjean how goes that hugely productive week?

I hear you on the absentee superviser and I feel your pain.

flopkins I've seen that happen to other people too, I think it's just a fluke thing. Can definitely see your Wallace avatar on your second post! I think in your case the 'divide and conquer' advice definitely sounds like it might be helpful! I don't like the sound of that MASS of data looming over you. Oy. I have an image of you know, sitting in a lab surrounded by equipment and piles and piles of paperwork, and you look just like Wallace

po welcome aboard! Enjoy these few weeks off, you've earned them. I have no idea either why we put ourselves through this. What was I thinking when I signed up for this???

ms.dreamy congratulations!!!! Yay!!! You are where we all want to be! And thank you for the encouragement

OK so all told I had an appalling day yesterday. I was tired and cranky all morning and only got a few hundred words written. Then in the afternoon I got what I call a heartsink phonecall - one from someone with a world record in moaning, who loves to yell at me about things that are not my fault or within my power to fix - and I'm not in a position to refuse to talk to this person. I got another few hundred words done and then just fell apart and that was it. I gave up and went and knit for a while to soothe my head a bit. But I guess the unresolved agitation set off my insomnia, and then I have this wee wound from some tests I had to have done and wouldn't you know it, it started to pain me like nobody's business, and the worry-wart part of my brain went into overdrive and I lashed out at poor BF and then didn't get any sleep either.

The wee wound is still sore this morning. I'm sure it must be all in my head.

On the positive side, the knitting is looking fabulous. I got two thirds of the waist shaping done on my little tank top and I'm very happy with it. I love knitting things in the round 'cos you can try them on as you go!!!

And being positive workwise, well today's it's a new day and a new start and there's no point beating myself up about last night, right? I did get about 800 words done yesterday so it wasn't a total loss. If I got 2000 done today I'd meet my personal target. And then I get to read more interesting material tomorrow! New material that I haven't looked at in a long time! In an area that underwent an enormous progress leap recently! Exciting!

OK off to work....

 

[Ms.Dreamy]

Date: 5/28/2008 6:39:11 AM
Author: Delster

ms.dreamy congratulations!!!! Yay!!! You are where we all want to be! And thank you for the encouragement

Thanks, Delster! Well, as I said: the waiting-part of it is like hell too

All the best to you guys!

 

[gwendolyn]

pjean, thank you so much! I did get better sleep last night! Feeling rested and hopeful about what I can get done today!

Ok, so here''s what''s going on today: I am getting work done. A LOT of work done. Yesterday was bad--verrrry bad. We won''t say how bad, but it was bad.

But today! Today is a new day and I am well rested and ready to get some writing done! So, off I scamper to do so, and will check in to let you know if it''s going as well as I hope when I need a break.

Hope everyone is having a great day so far!

 

[pjean]

Delster and Gwendolyn: yesterday? What''s that? I don''t know anything about this "yesterday" thing you''re talking about. Never happened, so you can''t possibly beat yourself up about it. TODAY now, that''s the thing.

flopkins, you sound like a prime candidate for the "divide and conquer" strategy. Mass of data + pressing deadlines = procrastination and a need for an immediate nap, as far as I''m concerned.

What''s the first priority?

Po, the break sounds like a very good idea. And of course PS is work related. If we work, we get money, and money can be used to buy shiny things. (Ok, I may be reaching, here.)

Ms.Dreamy, congrats! A whole thesis, all at once, all together, handed in. Amazing! I was beginning to think it wasn''t possible. Fingers crossed that you won''t have much to revise.

jsm: ah, the 8 year PhD. It''s never too early to give your committee a tentative schedule to help avoid it.

My productive week is going pretty well so far, actually. I didn''t work at home yesterday evening, but I made good progress on experiments, and I did get some revisions made to figures. Now, to do the same today!

 

[Ms.Dreamy]

Date: 5/28/2008 9:22:25 AM
Author: pjean

Ms.Dreamy, congrats! A whole thesis, all at once, all together, handed in. Amazing! I was beginning to think it wasn''t possible. Fingers crossed that you won''t have much to revise.


My productive week is going pretty well so far, actually. I didn''t work at home yesterday evening, but I made good progress on experiments, and I did get some revisions made to figures. Now, to do the same today!

Thanks, pjean! All the best for your thesis too!

 

[gwendolyn]

Hehehe, thanks, pjean! How are things going for you today?

Things have gone well today! I made the progress today that I had wanted to make yesterday. I think my brain is about fried, so I am not sure how much more I can write today, but I am planning on getting up early tomorrow morning before my supervision (eek!) so that maybe maaaaaybe I can finish before my supervision. Otherwise, I'll do my best to finish by tomorrow evening, since I'm emailing my sup the chapter anyway.

Overall it was a good day!

haha I am such a dork, I am clapping for myself

 

[Delster]

Yay good for you gwen!!! Send some of that productivity juice over here will ya please?

So yesterday I almost made my target, fell short by about 500 words. But that''s OK. Printed it off anyway and gave it to BF as promised and the poor bugger actually tried to read it. Bless his heart, he''s a sweetie. He even said he thought it seemed very good. He hasn''t a notion but I''ll take the praise where I can get it!

Muddling on today. My weekend has been scuppered entirely, I don''t think I''m gonna get any work done. It''s a bank holiday weekend and my family have made lots of plans, so I have to go home tomorrow which will be a four hour drive. I''ll have to do it in the daytime (bank holiday traffic

) in order to make it in time for the wee social event planned for tomorrow night. So pretty much all day tomorrow after noon is a lost cause. Then all day Saturday is taken up with another outing, and all day Sunday we are supposed to go visit some family (another all day affair). I''ll drive back here on Monday, another four hours in the car. But the plan then is to stay put here until we go to NY in three weeks and hopefully I''ll be super productive those three weeks

To meet my target for this week (which was supposed to end on Monday, see?) I would have to write 7,000 words today. Um, yeah. And I wanted to send it to supervisor on Tuesday morning. Going to have to work something else out here in terms of targets.

Anyway. I feel positive and productive today. I''ll get something decent done today and a wee bit tomorrow morning before I head off, and then I''ll cut myself some slack over the weekend. Doesn''t seem like work is gonna be possible so no point beating myself up.

 

[bee*]

You''ll definitely get lots done today Delster-I know that you can do it!

 

[Delster]

Thanks bee! Yep, I''m gonna kick some thesis you-know-what today! Woohoo!

 

[gwendolyn]

Hahah, Del, I know what you mean with the meeting the goals and stuff--when you said "I''d have to write 7000 words today--uh, yeah" I laughed out loud. That was me yesterday, but instead of 7000 I had 4000. Didn''t happen! Although it could''ve if I''d just slept on the keyboard or something...

How''s it going today? Any better?

I haven''t done any writing today but it''s still been a good day. Here''s why! (With bullet points a la my findings chapter):

*got called for my first job interview this morning--interview should be next week! WOOHOO!!!!
*had a supervision and got feedback on my methodology chapter which needs some work but overall was good
*my supervisor told me I could email my Findings chapter (initially due by my own schedule today) anytime before Wednesday!
*went to a seminar with a lovely Irish professor of inclusive education and had a very enjoyable and educational experience

So, now I am going to do some reading and then write a bit more! Good day!

 

[Delster]

Gwen! You are super-thesis-woman!!! YAY!!!

Hey I was thinking, is there any way you could give private music lessons kind of, um, under the table? Might get you some extra moolah over the Summer maybe?

I better log off here soon and go do some work

 

[AmberGretchen]

Wow you guys are doing so much better than I am this week! I''m just barely keeping my head above water in terms of keeping up with my experiments this week, so haven''t gotten as much statistical analysis done as I wanted. Plus, another task has been thrown into the mix - I have a phone interview for a summer program I really want to get in to (just found out I am a finalist, which is very exciting, as its very competitive), but that means I have a lot of studying to do for the interview, because its in a field that isn''t directly related to my PhD at all, so I''m trying to focus on that as well. Wish me luck with that interview studying this morning, then its off to the lab to set for some experiments

Flopkins - good to see you here, and congrats on finishing soon! What job do you have lined up, if you don''t mind sharing? I''m so happy for you that you are wrapping up though

Gwen - awesome on a productive day and an upcoming job interview.

Del - I feel you on the non-productive upcoming weekend. We are pretty much scheduled for entire days both days this weekend (fun stuff, mind you), so I won''t be getting anything done this weekend, but I''m hoping to make it up in the early part of next week...

 

[gwendolyn]

AmberGretchen, congratulations on making it into the final round of interviews for that summer position!! How exciting! I am sure you will do great.

Thanks for the cheers about my day! It honestly doesn't feel all that productive since I didn't do any writing but I have to remember that there ARE other things in life besides this paper.

And I am so excited about the job interview! Thank you so much for the congrats!



Del, hahah, how do you propose we do that? Internet music lessons via Pricescope! We will start a new trend here on the forum!

Which instrument would you like to learn first?

 

[Delster]

Gwen, hon, I meant you could give lessons to the charming chislers of Cambridge! (Now how's that for alliteration?

)

Did we talk about instruments before? I play piano (passably), violin (appallingly), and flute (even more appallingly). I can play about three chords on a guitar and I just know I'd have a whale of a time if someone would just let me at a drum kit!

Amber you will rock the interview! Congratulations!

Now go study study study!

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 5/29/2008 12:24:30 PM
Author: Delster
Gwen, hon, I meant you could give lessons to the charming chislers of Cambridge! (Now how''s that for alliteration?

)

Ah! Yeah, that makes more sense (sorry, I flake out sometimes

). I don''t have any instruments here. At home, I always had schools with an array of percussion instruments where I could teach my lessons, but here I know no one, so it''s not an option. I could look into renting a place from a music store if they would let me use their instruments (sometimes done at home), but I don''t have the networking to get students while I''m here. But I will keep it in mind next year if I am at a school with a music program--I miss teaching privately. Most fun job ever!

Did we talk about instruments before? I play piano (passably), violin (appallingly), and flute (even more appallingly). I can play about three chords on a guitar and I just know I''d have a whale of a time if someone would just let me at a drum kit!

I think we did! I think there was a "what instrument do you play" thread at some point..maybe....?

 

[pjean]

Oof. It''s 1:30 and I don''t even have a things to do list for today, let alone any progress. I hate Thursdays. I see a therapist in the morning, and then there''s a seminar at noon, and somehow that time in between flits by. Must... not... break... productive... streak...

Delster, my PI isn''t physically absent, he just isn''t speaking to me. At all. Including "good morning" or "excuse me". Yes, he is 4 years old. Why do you ask?

I would definitely endorse revising your targets to make them achievable - don''t make the mistake I make frequently, and keep trying to make up for the day before. Never works, and I end up feeling like crap. I do it so often that I now reconize the face my FI makes when he hears me talk that way. Set a reasonable target for the day, that''s all you can do.

Gwendolyn: wow! It sounds like you''ve been doing amazing things! Positive feedback from authority figures on actual thesis text is a landmark I only dream of right now. I hope it motivates you for your Feedback chapter!

AmberGretchen: I definitely hear you on the tension between analysis/writing and experiments. Let me know when you find the magical solution to that problem. My advisor seems to think that people should deal with it by writing "on your own time", but since I''m at the lab during most of my own time, I''m not sure how he thinks that works. (But see above - he hasn''t said much of anything recently!)

Ok. Off to make progress. And a list!

 

[AmberGretchen]

pjean - your advisor sounds kind of like a nightmare

I''m so sorry you''re having to deal with that. Mine is actually a sweet guy, and he really means well, but he does sometimes miss the point when we''re talking, and he can be uneven in terms of his expectations, so I kind of have to be on guard for that. But I can''t imagine him not speaking to me when he was upset with me. I hope you are able to get back on track - I honestly think you are dealing with two of the toughest things in a science PhD - one is balancing writing/analysis with experiments, and the other is balancing all the other stuff we''re expected to or have to do - seminars, classes, trying to do some career development/preparation, etc...with being a full time (and then some in most cases) graduate student.

 

[Delster]

Date: 5/29/2008 2:39:55 PM
Author: pjean
Delster, my PI isn''t physically absent, he just isn''t speaking to me. At all. Including ''good morning'' or ''excuse me''. Yes, he is 4 years old. Why do you ask?

I would definitely endorse revising your targets to make them achievable - don''t make the mistake I make frequently, and keep trying to make up for the day before. Never works, and I end up feeling like crap. I do it so often that I now reconize the face my FI makes when he hears me talk that way. Set a reasonable target for the day, that''s all you can do.

Ay me, all I''ll say is why does it seem everyone has a horror superviser story?

I guess there''s a reason every PhD advice book has a chapter on ''managing your superviser'' eh?

Anyway I think (short!) lists are great places to start! What does your superviser mean by ''on your own time''? How does he differentiate between what is ''your time'' and what is ''not your time''? It''s an unfamiliar phenomenon for me as in my field we are literally left entirely to our own devices.

I had a slow evening but I''ll get up early tomorrow and try and put in a solid few hours'' work before I hit the road for the weekend. And I won''t beat myself up all weekend about work. I''ll get there. One foot in front of the other