h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's been just over two months since I handed over to Pastey. It felt strange at first, like something was missing in my life, but within a few minutes it was filled.

Since then I have spoken at a conference in Syndey, which was not as scary as I thought it would be, travelled with Ben in New South Wales and Queensland, gone snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. That was every bit as amazing as you would think, (). I got back and rolled straight into going back to work. I've recruited all the patients I need for my study and I'm busy seeing how they all did at a year. The big big thing that is taking up all of my spare time is writing a thesis which is a really big job, I'm going to spend the next few months coming home from work, turning on my computer and typing. Or just staying at work late. I should get a few papers out of it as well.

Just last week I got a job in Edinburgh, back in the real world of hospitals, for when I've finished my PhD, so I've got until July to finish writing the back to the wards.

Tut tut... you do realise, every moment you spend typing an posting on h2g2 is a few more minutes work not* done on the thesis?
You lot all live such exciting lives... barrier reif... fish... wards... PhD thesis... I went to the pub last night... isn't quite the same is it? err well, when I say 'last night', I mean I went to bed four hours ago, and I've now been up long enough to drain a litre of fresh brewed coffee yeh... healthy lifestyle that's me... like some kind of bleedin hippy sort of new world, born again man, kind of muselly eating sort of ... naa... maybe not more coffee

Always shocked me thtat there wasn't a coffee allowance fund, availible, and provided for those writing up a dissertation or thesis ... cost me a fotrtune doing my Masters just in the number of coffee machiens I burnt out during the r course of writing it up

You're right, every minute I spent on h2g2 is stealing from my PhD. Or even thinking about anything else..... Oh well.

But you do need to do something else once in a while to preserve your sanity. Good luck with it all - it sounds exhausting but exciting!

Well tonight I wrote an ill-advised blog post, and then deleted it!

I have to finish a grant application tomorrow and get it signed by noon, because that's when the Prof Boss is leaving it. Then I can relax and get on with a paper I'm writing, and then another paper, and then I have to finish gathering data.. I have a PhD review in 1 months time and plan on getting a few things finished by then.

I'm impressed, because it sounds like you've made a schedule and are sticking to it.

Well.. I guess so. The lack of deadlines is very very strange. Prof Boss doesn't believe in deadlines, because she says that she's training you to be an independent investigator who works without deadlines and you should be motivated to set your own deadlines. The only deadline I have is 100 000 words by October 2016. Oh and the fact I *want* to get something into this years European Stroke conference,and that it would be interesting to find out this or that.

The odd thing about academia is the acceptance that life is forever an exam period style of work. You know how you work when your exams are in a week's time? But the exams never come, you just always work that hard because that is what you do, and that's what everyone does, and it's enjoyable.

I'd give yourself a few "landmark" deadlines to work up to - because that way, you can also relax a little after you reach them. Keeping up that pace sounds way too harsh!