Hit by PhD Blues
Hey all, I have been visiting this site quite often but I have never posted anything. I just wanted to share my concerns with someone, so here I am.
Spoiler alert: this is a depressing post.
I am a PhD student in 2nd year of research and I think I am hit by the ‘second year blues’. There is absolutely no other way to put it right: I am bored with my research! I feel like my life is wrapped up in this box of academic books and I am fed up of everything.
This is unusual for me, as I used to love exploring, studying, researching. You can say that I am a book worm and I love my research, but now? I am not too sure about anything! I can’t find it in me to work for even a few hours a week. All I do is eat a lot and watch TV shows. My friends are PhD scholars and they are too busy with their own stuff to help me out. So, yeah it seems like I am isolated! I am in serious need of some motivation or my academic marks will be highly affected by this tantrum of my brain.
I was just wondering if anyone could help me out, or share their experiences. Much thanks.
Tia
Posted in: PhD Thesis
Mats Voesenek 7:04 am on March 18, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Well, it’s nothing new if you are feeling ‘second year blues’. The only advice I can come up with is Attend Workshops, Seminar or Conferences! Maybe if you meet other researchers and interact with them, you will feel motivated! We all experience isolation and lack of motivation in this world of academic research. So, you are not alone.
Don’t worry, it’ll all come out in the wash!
Maya Verma 10:33 am on March 22, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I can totally relate with that, although I started feeling demotivated in the first year itself. The thing is that our field is quite hectic, with lots of tensions. It’s full of rejections and complications and I got so worried that I was unable to work. At that point I didn’t know that the stress of work is the reason behind my ‘blues’. I didn’t work, I didn’t go out much, I was a lazy person and just fooled around, you know? My supervisor kept asking for updates and I always had some reasons to explain and ignore. This lack of determination made everything worse, the work got piled on and I started stressing out more. Even after that, I couldn’t concentrate. Things got really shitty, my supervisor called me up and literally threatened me that he’d get me out of the program! And as I didn’t work at all, I had no idea how to get on with my research, how to start. I had made my supervisor so angry that there was no point in asking for his help. In desperation, I started looking for an agency that would do my work. I got in contact with a guy named Brijesh and his company called Dolly Projects who took 30 thousand rupees from me to develop an algorithm and implement it on Matlab. Initially, it was a relief, as the work was off my back. But then, it turns out that the guy is as stupid as anybody can get. We came up with an algorithm together, all he had to do was write the code and implement and he couldn’t do that properly. Well, he has done something, but it’s not correct. Every time, I run the code, I get different results and simulations. I am pretty much stuck again, all the money wasted, he wouldn’t refund it. Anyway, I am starting to do it myself now, be it wrong, at least I have shown something to my supervisor.
Conclusion: Only you can help yourself!
Tia Ross 5:55 am on March 23, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
That’s one hell of a story Maya, and not with a pleasant ending. I don’t want to go through that. Sure, I thought about hiring someone too but that’s not ethical, is it?
Maya Verma 5:43 am on March 30, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I don’t care if it’s ethical or not, as long as it keeps the tension at bay. It’s all about perspective. Any ways, I am not suggesting that you should do the same.