Hi, i am a second year phd student and have three more years left of my phd program. The thing is i love my phd topic but my professor wants things fast. All my groupmates are pretty fast but i need time to think about things. I don't have a comfortable relation with my professor. However, working hard i already have some good publication but nowadays i am getting overstressed due to work pressure ( work load is not that much but he wants things quick that puts me into pressure). What should i do? Thanks for the suggestions

Hi Naj18,

I understand what you are going through. Though you shouldn't be comparing yourself with other students, as often they are going through the same issues. Your supervisor sounds "delightful" but if you say the speed not the workload is hurting you can potentially fix it. I find that deadlines can trigger anxiety and there is a lot of help out there for dealing with pressure anxiety. Otherwise, if your supervisor still focuses on speed you could adopt a "good enough" attitude and learn to be comfortable doing just enough to preserve your sanity. I would also say you could talk with your supervisor but that isn't easy sometimes but more importantly have you talked with anyone in your lab/depart meant about this? As talking with someone you know can present some very easy fixes or other people might have learnt to manage your supervisor.