My confirmation report is due next Wednesday and that is a bit surreal. At the same time I know that I should not overthink it. They just need to know that I wasn’t born yesterday, that I HAVE in fact done some reading, I do in fact know some stuff and that my project is possible.

It’s currently about 1750 words over the limit and I need to add a few bits and pieces, mostly in the method section I think. I am desperate for some guidance from my supervisors but not sure how likely that is. I have managed to have a brief chat with Stuart on Microsoft Teams. That was good because he gave me a couple of specific things that I can work on over the weekend.

I have managed to do a few bits and pieces relating to other projects. I wrote a solid two paragraphs for the social innovation discussion piece and I submitted the ethics application for the TAFE project. I needed a break from working on my confirmation report and doing those small tasks really made me feel like I had accomplished something. So maybe I AM using my time wisely?

I went to a NAEEA meeting today for the Wellbeing SIG and I was surprised to find that Susan Hopkins was presenting about the autoethnography that I was a part of! There was my name on the very first slide! A nice surprise indeed and very glad I went.

So maybe there is a lesson here about preparing for confirmation. I would still advise PhD students to take control of their timelines and put their foot down in some cases. But also just relax a little, plod along and switch to other productive tasks when needing a break.