write my thesis

It’s about 60 pages long. Defense is in mid-October. The thing is completely written, but I need to edit some things still, and add a little to a few sections. My committee keeps giving me more suggestions. I already feel like I’ve changed it a million times. :)

Definately a rewarding experience, but one of the harder things I’ve done. I’ve noticed I perceive anything that seems to take a long time as difficult because I am so impatient about things.

I’m looking forward to being done with it.

the more there is yet to be written

But I can see progress!! :D

This is the major concrete goal on my list. The ‘be confident’ and ‘believe in myself’ and ‘stop sabotaging my chances for success’ goals are all the abstract ones that need to be applied to achieve this big one. When it comes down to it all i have to do is WRITE. Why should that be so difficult? It needn’t be. Surely.

I think the time has come (meaning i’m fast running out of money and time!) to just completely immerse myself in this. Don’t let anything distract me from achieving this goal. I have to do this. I’ve been working on it for three years now – those are three years that cannot be just written off (no pun intended). The time has definately come to apply myself wholly to this goal. No excuses. No distractions.

Ol’ Pavlina bloke would say the first step to achieving this would be to create the correct environment for success. I think this means shedding the distractions. TV and internet are the major culprits. The gym too but I’m paid into that and it is good to work out the body to rest the mind.

So, how might i do this…
1. unplug the tv.
(can i really do that? what would i miss… repeats of friends i’ve seen a million times. the news – well, i can listen to the radio. erm… films.. they are usually repeated. sex and the city repeats. no i don’t think there is anything i’m watching on tv right now that can’t be seen elsewhere. other than ‘the tudors’ and that is a friday night.)
2. cut down on the internet
(necessary internet usage – email. this (?). unnecessary internet usage – must stop looking at the celebrity websites – they aren’t helping at all!! facebook and MSN – can be restricted. CC – i want to keep this up but stick to the logs and bypass the community pages. erm.. tv guide – won’t need it if i’m not watching tv! i’m actually bored of the internet at the moment. probably because i’ve been spending far too much time on it trying to avoid working!!)
3. fix my sleep patterns
(the getting up at 6am thing was working well but i kind of lost it. i think that is because i was going to bed too late. if i’m cutting out the tv then maybe i should try switching it – working at night rather than first thing… or both! lol. why not?)
4. stop shopping
(i need to do this anyway – no money! – and i do use it as a distraction tactic. make do with what i have, i think. empty the freezer. only go to sainsburys when i need fresh stuff.)
5. cleaning
(keep on top of it so it doesn’t become an excuse not to work. wash pots before bed. put washing in the night before. that sort of thing.)
6. making the best use of my time in uni
(have a morning task and an afternoon task. keep at it. no internet distractions. be focused. make use of the library if necessary. remember you are there to work – nothing else. just to work. it is a place of work. so work!)
7. remember – the sooner it is finished the sooner you can earn some real money!

so…
1. unplug the tv
2. no unnecessary internet usage
3. bed by 10pm, read till 11pm, sleep till 6am, tea and rise for 7pm.
4. only buy fresh from sains and only when necessary
5. wash up before bed
6. the uni office is for work and work only
7. the sooner it is finished the sooner you can earn real money!

faculty egos – argh!

I am about to blow my first deadline – can’t get my mind around it yet. This is one of the drawbacks of being a product writer – I cannot write a draft of anything or write in steps, I always sit down and write the final product. I knew this would be a challenge for me from the start, but I guess I never actually took it seriously… need to reassess my timeline now [sigh]

It took about six years for me to finally get around to finishing my thesis… and I just turned in my final draft today!

As luck would have it, the grad school is upstairs from a pizza place… so guess who is celebrating with pizza and a fancy beer?

Yeah, it’s me.

The thesis was a thorn in my side for a long time, and it was a lot of work. I discovered that it was actually fun to learn something so in-depth, though. I wouldn’t recommend waiting as long as I did after coursework is finished to write it, though. I had a hard time remembering how to write a paper!

Good luck to anyone who’s still working on this!

printed articles for my lit review today – will be cramming this week to get it all read,

8/1/08 – Rough draft of lit review and outline of Methods section
8/15/08 – Application for IRB filled out and submitted
9/20/08 – Rough draft of methods section
Start of fall term – Begin data collection (this date will be be changed and confirmed later, but would like to start first round of data collection at this time)
End of fall term – Collect second data set
Start of Winter term – Collect third data set
End of Winter term – Collect fourth data set and analyze data
4/1/09- Rough draft of results and conclusions sections
5/1/09 – Rough draft of final project paper
TBD – Presentation and finalization of project

My committee has my thesis, and I have some small revisions to do (mostly changing the way some things are worded)... but I’m almost done!

There is a life after the thesis and it is super sweet.
I cleaned my computer from all the materials and threw 1 billion xeroxed materials. I have time, I have space, I have my diploma and the sense of accomplishement :)
Meet me on the other side :)