Hello all! I hope you are all well and really hope you can help me! I am now in the second year of a four year, funded PhD... last year I completed an MRes and worked on my PhD but this is the first year I have to be completely concentrating on my PhD ideas - I am a social science peep. Anyway, I have my MPhil/PhD transfer in May and have to write my first chapter for it. I did an incomplete draft and then went on holiday, came back all refreshed and ready to work and... nothing! I cannot sit still! this has been going on for 3 weeks and am really worried. I am so daunted and don't know where to start - this chapter is so big and important. Also, I think I work best under tight deadlines and May is ages away - I am concerned that I shall waste this time and end up hugely stressed in a month's time! I am silly I know but does anyone suffer this? I love my work - I just can't face it! please help! x

This post made me smile - it is just the same as I experienced in my first week last year! In fact I feel quite the same this year I have to confess! the first month or so is so hectic with new seminars and people, social events, emails for conferences, supervisors laying down groundrules and expectations... madness! i felt just the same so don't worry at all - at least you have worked out already to say no to some stuff - that is definitely the key. And not to feel guilty if you can't attend some evenings or whatever, just go with the flow...

Hello and congrats on your placement! I would defo agree with Sylvester to chill for now and enjoy yourself and start reading about a week before. You aren't expected to know everything when you start and when you do it will be quite hectic in your brain for a while! I had completed an MA in my topic then took a year out to apply for PhD places and do some work so was really rusty when I came back to the field but has all been ok. I am also a year in and loving it! Good luck!

Hello! congrats on your PhD place... I am nearly at the end of year one and still don't feel like a PhD student and am always in awe of those who are submitting, as if I am back at the beginning of 'big school'! From conversations I have had it doesn't really seem like anyone really feels the part, but you get more adept at acting it out (eg, doing the research) and pretending! We are all just muddling along!

It is great that you like your topic, and if you have just started don't be surprised if it changes a LOT, and methods etc will definitely go over your head until you have done lots of reading and got to grips with it all. It all takes time - which is why we have three years and not 1. Hope this helps!

Hello
I am doing a social science PhD and don't believe you can be objective or need to be objective even; however, i always use the 3rd person because it reads in a more sophisticated way. Maybe if you are making a point about your personal involvement in the work and are taking quite a strong post modern approach then using 'I' could make a statement, but I would always err with caution and use third person.

I did set myself strict work hours, like 9-5 weekdays and then 9-4 on Fri, with weekends off. It worked for one brilliant week and then I had to work a weekend and so slept in on monday and all went topsy turvy again! is so complicated - I am only in my first year tho. I really hope next year I wil be more disciplined with my time... hmm...

This is really interesting... I have had ad hoc time off to go to weddings or if I have had a hangover (!) but had have just 4 scheduled days off for holiday, and one full weekend, since September! This sept tho I intend to take 14 days off before the new term... tho how I will do this if I am at home I don't know. I will feel really guilty and stressed so may have to camp in a field nearby... It isn't fair tho I agree - in fact I have 8 weeks a year to take as I am funded but that I am funded means I feel obligated to work work work!

What to do...

It is madness.

Hello Kollantai

I got a studentship (ESRC 1 + 3) last year and understand what you are going through! I am asssuming that your place at the university is official? (sometimes it all happens at once!) You should have a PG admin contact who will let you know what you should know and when? I heard that I was being considered for the award in about April and then heard officially in July. Have you asked anyone at the uni about it? They should have had the courtesy to let you know either way. One thing I would say - never overestimate the organsation at a uni! Supervisors, department heads - anyone who makes a decision that will affect your life - their heads are in the clouds most of the time and a bit of a nudge is usually needed to get a straight answer!

As for the MRes - mine started in Sept and carried on till Sept - does your uni not have the term dates online? they should do - or again ask the PG uni secretary. (Secretaries are amazing - use them!) hope this helps.

Will you actually use your 'Dr' title when you qualify tho? No one in my department uses it so I wonder if there is some modesty etiquette that means when you have it it is coolest to not actually use it! I was thinking I would probably use it when dealing with the 'outside world' eg. booking swish hotel rooms, flights and dealing with banks etc, rather than professionally... Would you all be out and proud Drs?!!

PS: I also think that as a woman it will be fantastic to be Dr and help get respect from snobs...

Hello!

I am only in the first year of my PhD so am not sure how qualified I am to give advice... However, I have been in similar situations - overqualified and in admin jobs so know how you feel. What is important is to ask yourself what you really want from life. If it is academia then it is important to realise that you aren't being arrogant or too picky - you are a specialist and have worked incredibly hard to get as qualified as you are. Don't worry about what wil happen when you ahev children as you can't predict that! have you tried to broaden your horizons a bit with the jobs you are applying for? Doing a bit of networking is always good too - conferences, ringing old mates/supervisors - touting yourself about... Generally though, you must do what would make you happy in the long-term, not quick fix solutions, as when you do have a family they will want a happy mum!

Best, Jayney

Hello! I am in my 9th month and new to this board too! I discovered it after a couple of weeks of being increasingly fretful and unproductive and everyone has been so helpful! I too don't have much to show for it although I am trying. What are you studying and where?

hey all
I am fully funded for mine and am so incredibly grateful. i worked for some of my first term but it was really hard to get into any routine on my uni work and I felt like i wasn't sure where my priorities were. Without wanting to seem like I am complaining, the downside of being funded is, i feel, increased pressure because I have been awarded this priviledge which comes out as self-doubt and a lack of confidence. I sincerely believe that if I wasn't funded I would feel more in control over my work and less concerned about any choices I make. Swings and roundabouts eh?!

I have taken the weekend off totally - not even opened the door to my study (a miracle) - and feel a bit guilty but better than I have done for months! i am quite a workaholic in the sense that i feel guilty when i am not working and would rather be sat around but with my computer on and ready to go, than not at all. I am starting to learn that this is not healthy! I worry about being slack, seeing as I work for myself essentially, or about regretting not putting in 20 hour days at this stage somewhere down the line! is all irrational but when you in the middle of the fretting my word it is comsuming... Thanks for your help and for being so welcoming all!

Thank you for your replies! I am so glad I am not alone. mostly I find it fine but then something will throw me and I get really scared of it all! I do have some colleagues who seem to never tire of working or are already writing papers etc and it is rather intimidating. Actually, I have taken the weekend off my work and am feeling much happier. How do you guys manage the stressful times? I think I will be on here - a LOT!!

Hello all! I am new... and need some help/advice! I am funded (yay!) and am completing my MRes to go onto the first year of the PhD proper - however, this year I have been doing the PhD too. I am at the dissertation stage now and feel I am going mad. I love my PhD topic and doing it but at the moment I feel really low and overwhelmed and just want it to go away! is this normal?! I worry I shan't be able to complete it or that it will drive me mad. Help!