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Showing posts from October, 2012

Celebrating Mooroolbark

Lovely to have a small commission (unpaid) to sidetrack the PhD: Celebrating Mooroolbark . Normally I submit to magazines and journals and hope they accept my work but this is the first time I have taken time out from research for some time to undertaken work that has been commissioned. Asked to write a section of this book using newspaper articles diligently collected and collated by the Mooroolbark Historical Society to a tight deadline was a challenge! Submitted by October 1st. Book Launch 25th & 26th October - definitely cutting it fine! Of course, I lived in Mooroolbark, taught at Red Earth Cluster Schools and attended a number of Red Earth Festivals with the girls so it wasn't as if I was writing about an unfamiliar topic. A pleasure to write, as some-one else had done the 'backbreaking' research in the archives and presented me with two large folders. A first book for MHS and I am sure not the last!

How to complete a PhD, work full-time and still have a family life...

Well.. after my last despondent post every-one may feel correct in assuming I wasn't managing any of the above. But PhD writer's block doesn't equate with time management issues. When I my PhD began my good friend R2 (that makes me R1 as in Scrabble) suggested 20 hours a week was the requirement for part-time PhD so that's what I do. I kept a log for a while to make sure I was on track but as with all similar procrastination activities the excel spreadsheet sits dormant on the desktop. Here's my grand plan. Not particularly innovative.  Small chunks. Bit by bit. Nibble away. Concentrated effort at times of low work pressure; full-time for 50% of holidays and whatever-whenever for the rest. At least 5-6 hours on the weekend if full-time work is full-on. Bite size bits....research via TROVE, reading an article, writing a paragraph, interviewing by phone... can all be done in chunks. A hour here. An hour there. Chunk by chunk it is coming together. 30000 words and 6