Throughout high school and undergraduate university courses, we get told about the importance of planning before we start to write essays or reports. I used to think that we were just told this for the fun of it, kind of in the same way that you are told to read ALL the instructions before using new technology… but for the […]
I actually cannot believe that I have written a few paragraphs (very, very, very rough paragraphs) for my discussion chapter. The final chapter of the PhD thesis. The last frontier. While you will most likely just want to dive straight into the discussion chapter and finish it as quickly as you can, I have a few tips before you get […]
The introduction chapters are a weird part of the thesis process. I thought I would write them throughout my three years – in between doing all the research for my studies… that is definitely not how it worked out. Instead, while in the middle of data analysis, writing up studies, and drafting studies, I started writing the two large introduction […]
Scrambling to finalise a draft to send out to your supervisor(s) can be hectic, as there are often so many minor details we forget to address until the very last minute. These are my tips and reminders for this very scenario: Hand edit. For my final draft I always hand edit. I don’t know why, but I find old fashioned […]
Writing discussions is perhaps my least favourite part of the scientific writing process. Actually, it is probably a tie between the discussion and the abstract. I love reading discussions but when it comes to writing my own, I get terrible writer’s block. Writing my discussion for study 2 has been particularly tedious due to having to re-run all my statistics […]
We are all guilty of naming documents ‘chfbhfgb’ when we just want to get out the office after spending 12 hours straight there. Or just saving everything as ‘New’ ‘Newer’ ‘Newest’. The time to kick these habits was when we started our PhD, but that ship has sailed, so the next best time is when you are in the last […]
Part of operation GTFO is writing introductory chapters, and part of writing introductory chapters is writing about complicated theories and ideas, which can be a very tedious task. I have been trying to write my theories of perception of risk and theories of fears sections of chapter 2, on and off, for a few weeks now. But I have developed […]
It is time for the next blog in the ‘operation gtfo’ series. When you are nearing the end of your thesis you need to start writing those pesky introduction chapters. We often put these off for as long as we can because a) we have lots of other things that need to be done and b) we don’t want the […]
While many PhD theses are different, depending on location and area of research, most require at least one introductory chapter. This introductory chapter sets the scene for the thesis by introducing the thesis area and discussing relevant previous research. My thesis is going to have two introduction chapters, the first providing background information about sharks, the conservation challenges shark species […]
I have always been a believer in appreciating the small things this wonderful world has to offer, and since everything that happened last year I have started to take time to reflect, a lot and often. Lately one of the things I have reflected on is that I have made some really small changes that have really helped increase my happiness (if only slightly some days). So this is my little list: Showering at night– Having a shower when I get home from work is one of the best stress releases. Not watching the news– I very rarely watch the news now. I was finding it really draining, and since doing research on the media, I was also finding it frustrating. I get the news I need to through my phone, I don’t need to watch it before and/or after work. Dancing while cooking- Instead of watching TV while I cook, I listen to music and dance around. Take Frog for a walk– As Frog’s training is paying off, I am now able to easily take him for a walk, so I do that most days when I get home (unless I work late). My Nespresso machine- I finally purchased a Nespresso machine, and I must say it has changed my mornings. Waking up and getting to have a delicious coffee in my own home is the best way to entice me out of bed.