After a couple of months of feeling that I would never get on top of things, I’m starting to feel like all my tasks are possibly surmountable. For the past fortnight or so I have a renewed sense of capability. I’ve been spending many hours online collecting data, and have almost completed sorting data from previous sample periods. It’s still a long way from getting any real writing done, but at least I can see that it can be done.

I think I can thank a couple of events for this new feeling of power. The first is that I’ve been asked to lecture a course that I’ve been a tutor for a couple of years back. While it’s more work to do, it appears manageable as it fits into the day that I’m at RMIT anyway, and I really don’t have a lot of preparation needed, as I’ve already worked on the course material before. It’s also given me a chance to leave other things behind and concentrate on media scholarship.

The second is that I’m involved in two projects which will lead to publication. The first is a joint effort with scholars in Oz and NZ preparing a series of articles on media and religious authority. The second is a book project on theologies of communication. The best things about these projects is that chapters from my thesis can be used, so I’m killing a whole flock of birds. I’ve also been invited to sit on a couple of panels at the next AoIR, if they’re accepted by the conference, so I should be ending this postgrad course with a few bangs.

The third is that I’m finally conquering an old affliction that keeps resurfacing – the dreaded procrastinitus virus. I’ve been known to be able to sit in front of a computer and stare at it for hours before typing a single letter. Now I’m getting to the point where I can do a few thesis tasks while waiting for a meeting to start at work, or waiting for the pizza guy to arrive. An expert told me that the trick is to manage time in twenty-minute slots, and see how much you can get done in that time.

And I’m also starting to get an early-morning body clock. 5am wake-ups mean I can get a whole load of research done before the kids want breakfast and the phone starts ringing. The down-side is that I fall asleep before the kids do in the evening, so my slumber is interrupted by "Dad! AJ has knocked the keyboard over" or "I want an icy pole!" Fortunately my children will grow up to be smarter than me, and are already learning that grumpy dad is a temporary character, and that in the mornings he’s playful self.

Why am I telling you all this? Because you have nothing better to do? Nah, just saying it as some friends have wondered where I’ve been and if I’m still doing the PhD thing. Just letting you know I’m still alive and still a postgrad. Just have nothing much to say. But it’s coming.