Ever since I turned in my thesis, I've had a really hard time getting back to work. I finished it on a Friday so I felt like I had earned the following weekend off. Then the next week was Thanksgiving, so I only had Mon and Tues at work, during which I did very little. I rationalized that I should give myself the week to think about things other than my thesis (like post-docs), and then return from Thanksgiving with fresh eyes. But then I didn't really do much last week either. I was distracted by some prep stuff for my probable post-doc, which felt difficult so it took longer than it should have. But now that's done so I have no excuses to get on with the defense prep.
Ecogeoman is annoyed and nervous that I don't seem more nervous. Right now I just don't feel that anxious. I feel like I did my best on my thesis, and there isn't much more I can do now to prepare for my defense. I mean, it should represent the last 6.5 years, not the final 6.5 days, right?
But I really should do something. I have to give a 10-20 min presentation at the start of the (closed) defense that should cover the highlights of my work without going chapter by chapter. I've got a start on that, but I still don't have a clear vision of how I want to structure the talk. Blurgh.
So, today I'm going to read my thesis. While reading, I'm going to make a note of papers that I need to skim to refresh my memory. I'm going to list questions I think I might be asked. And then I'm going to put away my thesis and let myself ruminate on it so tomorrow I can attack the presentation with the big picture in mind. Later, I'm going to read up on the one statistical technique I used that I'm not 100% confident about.
This is exactly how I felt before other major tests, like the SAT in high school and prelims in grad school. I think that I'm probably a lot more stressed than I'm letting myself acknowledge, and that the actual stress level won't be evident until after the defense when it goes away. Next weekend can't come fast enough!
8 comments:
ah.. the "post handing in thesis" feeling. It's a bit anti climatic (at least it was for me). I ended up doing NOTHING for a week. Just sleeping and watching telly. Awesome.
THen I scurried and got nervous and stressed about the presentation... but smewhow I felt like I knew my shit. Anyway though, it is good to make the presentation good in time since it does take some time to make the slides. Good luck! and hope you can enjoy it a lot!
Just one more week! Of course you know your stuff! Just try to get a good night of sleep before your defense. Good luck!
you rock, you're almost there!
Good luck! I can imagine that it's weird in this in-between phase.
I think i went through something similar. In my case, I already had quite a few slides in "almost ready" condition due to the numerous talks I had already given and I guess I felt like after putting together the thesis, I had a good grasp on the big picture. Plus,I'll take any excuse to procrastinate.
Yep. Enjoy it! (Listen to me, the one who was fretting about not fretting enough just a week ago.)
You've got it in the bag now. Do something nice for yourself in the meantime and just ride the calm until it happens. Good luck (as if you'll need it) - thinking of you!
Just the other day someone asked me if I was very nervous for my defence, and just like you, I was worrying at the time that I wasn't nervous so much ...
Your preparation sounds good, and I am sure it will be a brilliant defence!
In fact, after my one hour defence was over, I felt a huge anticlimax. I defended years of work in just an hour?!
Nina:
an hour? Good grief, I underwent more than 4 hours of pure torture! I'm still blocking it out, I can't stand the memory.
Good luck EGF!
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