T-2 weeks but already thinking of post-submission

I know my mind should be 110% in thesis writing mode, but i find myself thinking (and worrying a little) about the 2 talks I will be giving in France at the beginning of September. Of course its all about my thesis, and will be great prep for my thesis defence in October, but I still feel a little guilty my head isn’t solely focused on finishing the writing portion.

As soon as I have submitted, I will delve back into the links I have already come across about good presentations, as well as a few new ones. Just today I saw one I quite liked ( only 5 steps to a great presentation, I can do that right!). I am looking forward to working on some science communication, and I know that both of my talks have very different audiences (one is to agronomists in french, and the other is to P sustainability folks (from lots of countries) in english), which means I will need to tailor both the presentations.

Even though I admitted my brain has been wondering off to presentation land a little, I have of course been making progress on the thesis front (thanks to my advisor’s (and other co-authors) thoughtful comments and quick response times). I have finally submitted my framework chapter manuscript! As it had 10 co-authors every step was a little longer, but its finally submitted.

I don’t know why I still find this surprising, but I am bedazzled at how long it takes to add new content to a manuscript when you are not intimately familiar with the literature (and even when you are, you still need to go make sure you are properly citing). A friendly reviewer suggested I add some more content on social capital and innovation in my barriers and facilitators chapter. I already had some citations in there, but I wanted to broaden a little. It took me a week, I read a lot, and in the end probably only added 10-12 sentences and 7 citations. It got done though!

I have also reviewed all the “extra” bits of the thesis (introduction chapter, connecting statements, and conclusion chapter), which are key in making sure the external and internal reviewer see how it all fits together. I am focusing on some of the formatting of the overall thesis over the weekend, and will hopefully be ready and refreshed for a next round of revisions on my last chapter (which I do hope to submit for publication before submitting my thesis), and my extra bits.

It seems unreal that this document might actually exist in a few days!