Hey everybody

I'd like to ask you something, that's making me really confused, 'cause I've got OCD & perfectionism, & right now I'm working on finishing my Master's thesis (which I've been working on since 5 years ) & I'm putting myself a deadline this December, when I turn 30 years old.

In the past months I've been doing my field-research part of my Master's thesis.

Before starting, I had decided to apply my questionnaire on 3 groups: 100 youth, 100 elders, & a 100 activists (BTW, my thesis is about political culture).

It took me around 2 & a half months to finish my field-survey with non-activists. I finished 200 people. I went to sport clubs, cafes, hospitals, government agencies, & religious centers, in 6 different places in Cairo & Giza.

But then came the hard boring part: the activists!!!

It's been 3 months now, & I only finished 71 activists, & still got 29 to finish!!!

I chose the sample through snowballing: meaning that when I meet one of the activists, I would ask him to recommend other activists for me & so on. Of course, I had to make a gazillion phone-calls & facebook messages to arrange meetings with every one at his own suitable time & place, & it also takes me a lot of time to search & ask everyone I know to mention any other activists he knows, so I would arrange meetings with them each as well, some don't answer, some answer but then get lazy & don't show up for our meeting... OOOOOOFFFFFFF That's why it's been taking so much time, & it's so boring to just wait for other people to answer you or to find a suitable time to meet you!

Until now, from the total 71 that I finished: (62%) are Muslim Males - (27%) are Muslim Females - (4%) are Christian Males - (3%) are Christian Females.

I asked my professors if I could just end the interviews at that number, & they said it's ok. But I don't feel ok, I want, I HAVE THE URGE to complete searching for & interviewing the remaining 29 activists, to complete my first-intended number of 100. This would be PERFECT, I don't know if this is the perfectionism bugging me, my mind tells me that completing interviewing a 100 activists would be a historic feat, & that if I don't complete them I'll regret it for the rest of my life...

I put myself a limit to get my Master's certificate on this December, & if I leave out 2 or 3 months for the finalizing bureaucratic procedures (my professors revising the thesis, finishing the adjustments that they'll give me, discussing my final version, making the final appointed adjustments...etc.), then I've got 2 or 3 months to make the statistical analysis, write it down, make the content analysis for the interviews talk, & write the intro/concl/concepts etc. & wrapping up the thesis. Would there be enough time if I still wait until I finish interviewing another 29 activists & finishing my intended dream-goal of interviewing a 100 activists?! Or is this my perfectionist-OCD getting in my way of finishing my thesis on the deadline I put for myself?!

I'm so confused & depressed