Hi Everyone,

I'm having a bit of a low point at the moment in my PhD - I'm losing confidence day by day and im not sure how to stop this. One of the main issues i think is how my supervisor sees me and my work. Although everyone else seems to think i work enough and do a lot, she has expressed concerns about my organisation skills and ability to 'get on with it'.

In an attempt to make things better i would like to become more organised in my work (i am a science PhD student). Are there any tips anyone can offer for being more organised?

I have already set up an outlook calender linked with her where i note down what i do in the day and i seem to be constanting making lists and mindmaps of work to do but was wondering if there was anything else which could spur me on and hopefully prove to her i can 'get on with it'?

Thanks for your help,
Lorna xxx

"I have already set up an outlook calender linked with her where I note down what I do in the day"

Did she ask you to do that?

Dr Jeckyll,

She suggested filling in an outlook calender instead of a lab-book (as my experiments are very physiology based i dont really use a lab book in the same way as, say, a geneticist - instead i have my calender where i write important notes and i have a notebook i carry with me always to jot things down). I suggested we share a calender so she could imeadietly know what i was doing that day if she wanted to.

Lorna xxx

Just keep doing your experiments like you do and keep detailed notes. I am disorganised too, but somehow I manage. You can't imagine the look of my supervisor when I let him know of all the things that went wrong on my fieldwork. Somewhere between pitty (how can DrJeckyll possibly be that stupid) and rage (will I get fired if I punch a student in the face?).

Just ignore any kind of criticism that doesn't help improve yourself. I came in terms that some things will go wrong, some data will get lost and the most important of all is to keep in control of the process and keep going. Everyday I try to do my best.

Organisation tips: keep notes of everything (people forget, brain-damaged people forget more)
work on a timer so you don't procrastinate
always make a structure before you start writing

Thanks Dr Jeckyll, that advice is really useful... I think the lack of confidence makes me procrastinate more than, for example, when i started my PhD... I have to remember this year is the final push to finish!

Lornaxxx

Lorna,
Your post made me cringe for you -- surely it is less productive for your thesis to be wondering how to prove you're being productive? For every minute you spend writing Gantt charts and mind maps and the like, is another minute you're not spending on the science. Ironically you're not getting on with it, if "it" is the research.

Have you tried asking her what she means by "getting on with it"?

Hi Asha,

I think because the results dont come through as fast as they could or i get held up or do something wrong my supervisor looks for a way it might have gone wrong - maybe it shows some kind of trust in my intelligance that she automatically thinks it is me not being organised enough, not that i get it wrong so many times so it takes longer....

Lorna xxx