How I did it: I'm mother of two, full-time worker, working away from home, studying away from home. We've all sacrificed a lot to get me this qualification. I took on a funded studentship which meant I had to study away from home. I have had to accept some personal limitations: although I get great feedback from supervisor and other professors, I've still to publish. Comparing my end position to others without the same responsibilities would be stupid: it's amazing what we've achieved as a family. So I've worked extremely hard, taken opportunities along the way, accepted physical and emotional limitations on how quickly I could complete and refused to let others set the agenda, I have pursued high quality thinking. I've been headhunted by a prestigious university - now I need to publish those articles!

Lessons & tips: Just keep bashing away at it. The hardest parts for me were starting up again, after a period of illness for me, then kids. Keep writing a bit every day.
Talk to people. Talk to the right people. It's amazing how quickly you can sort your thoughts with a bit of imput, although that doesn't necessarily mean taking what they say on board. There are a lot of poor thinkers  around, even in the best academic circles. There are also a lot of different, differently useful ways of thinking about the world - all you need for a PhD is a clear vision of how you are seeing the world, a partial justification of that position, a bit of research and some evidence of reflection on outcomes. It's only a PhD.

Resources: Ditch word and get a DTP software.
A good diary.
Don't go for any old research position. Find a supervisor who is interested in what you're about to research, and a good teacher. My supervisor was just the best - a great teacher, a personal support, and so tenacious. She opened up my thinking, let me explore, then pushed me into getting to the point.

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Aug 18, 04:41AM PDT | 2 comments | 4 cheers