Are you sure you want to quit? Can you remember the reasons why you wanted to do the PhD and the interest you had for your topic back when you started? Or have you really had enough and want to do something else with your life?

Maybe you should go and see a counsellor at uni, it sounds like you're depressed and could do with some professional help. Hating the stairs on your way to the office is not good at all! Avoiding people, 'sneaking' around, all sound like signs of depression to me. If you feel like that, no wonder you can't work. So maybe have a talk with a counsellor, get the crying out here, work out the underlying problems.

You also do need to discuss this with your supervisors soon. While crying in front of them isn't great, this won't be the first time a PhD student has been upset around them! They sound like good supervisors, especially the second one, and so will want to help you. Do talk to them! It will be hard, but you'll feel better afterwards. Not having a plan and not knowing what to do just creates more anxiety and depression, so you need to take some action. Good luck, and take care of yourself!

Hi Agniparbon

It's hard for you and it's hard for all of us! And I think a PhD gets harder the longer you do it - the more we learn, on how to write, how to think critically, how to reason better, the more work we realise we need to do. Your post is a bit vague - what particular problems are you experiencing? Has something in particular happened to shake your confidence? Are you not getting enough supervision or support?

So, realise that it does get harder - but this shows that you're learning! If you're finding it hard to conentrate and to work effectively, what are the underlying reasons for this? Are you feeling overwhelmed by the work? We know the solution to this - start with just a little bit of work and keep going. Break large projects down into little tasks. Have 'to do' lists.

And don't be too hard on yourself! You are smart enough, you obviously have produced good work to get where you are. Sorry to not offer really concrete advice - feel free to tell us more and we all might be able to help you better.

Well done Bilbo, over half way is fantastic! You're getting there! Hope you wake refreshed and well.

Hey Bilbo

You were diagnosed over the phone? That's terrible!! Hope you're feeling ok and the editing goes well. I'm here for the next few hours too, beavering away, so you're not alone! And hope you have a good rest once you're able to.

Hey AL

Am going OK with studying, writing a chapter, which is going slowly but am making progress every day, so that's good. Once this chapter's finished, will have written the first draft of my 5 case study chapters, so that's something!

And yes, a 9-5 job would be nice - although you'll still be studying for a while, so could be a way off? And even after we finish, will be journal articles to write, so the work continues!

Take it easy with your cold, take lots of nice herbal things and don't stress. Have a good rest and talk to ya later.

Hi Bilbo and AL

Congratulations Alpacalover!!!! Well done!! That's great!! You certainly are in demand at the moment, which is well deserved and really good for you!!

And hi Bilbo, sorry to hear you were sick, glad you're doing better and thesis is coming along.

AL, don't worry about your supervisor -they probably have expectations of you staying on in academia, being their protege, and can't understand why anyone would want to leave! I have the same reservations about short term contract work, so that's great you've got a secure job. Who knows where it will lead? You'll still be in education, and yeh, your PhD might not be crucial for it, but it could lead on to other things. It sounds like you're doing what's best for you, which is great.

Starting a new job is really tiring, so make sure you don't take on too much to atart with - pace yourself with your thesis. Concentrate on the job for a bit, then work on the thesis when you've enough energy. But it sounds like you've got a plan in place, so that's fab.

Hi there

You need to stop thinking about this as the biggest, most important piece of writing you'll ever do - with that pressure, no wonder you've not been able to produce the lit review!! This is just another chapter. And just putting it off and putting it off will make you feel bad too.

But you do need to start. Just think about it as reviewing one article - that's all. Have you done the lit search yet and found the articles? If you haven't, start doing this. Now this isn't hard, and it's not writing, so that's OK. Once you've found a few articles, just read one. Is there someone in your field you who find really inspirational? Start with their work first. Just read the article, then make a few notes. That's all. And like I've said to others, then read another one, then another and keep making notes. Don't worry about the flow, the gaps, the missing bits or anything else, just write. I'm drafting a chapter at the moment, and it's full of bits in bold that I need to get back to, bullet points, half paragraphs, odd questions to follow up, and that's fine. Each day it gets a little longer and then I'll start smoothing it out. So don't worry what your writing looks like.

As one academic told me, 'not everything you write will be beautiful". That's almost become my mantra.

And obviously you can write, since you've done other chapters, so just write a little bit for the lit review, then keep going. I also enjoyed doing the lit review - if you like your subject, then this will be intrinsically interesting.

But try not to feel guilty, just make a start, and do a bit each day. Good luck! And come back to here and let us knw how you're getting on.

Hi there

I spend ALL my time working from home. If your research can be done at home, it is possible to successfully work from home. Having said that tho, I would like more time on campus as working from home can be really, really isolating. I don't have much choice - am writing up and live 3 hours away from my uni, so has to be done at home. You're not trying to avoid your uni and colleagues tho are you? If this is the main reason you want to work from home, then it's not a good one. If you want to do this as there are less distractions than at uni, that's fine, but maybe you need to have a think about exactly why you don't want to be on campus.

I'd love to have the company of some colleagues, the energy of campus, and be able to go to seminars!

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Hi Dave

Don't start panicking yet - you've got 3 years to panic!;-) It can seem really daunting, but just take it little by little. I assume you did a proposal to get accepted into the PhD program? Didn't you have to do a time line for this? If you didn't, you need to get a plan in place. First year, classes and reading, developing detailed proposal, doing a lit review, second year field work, third year writing up (and going nuts). Just do a rough plan to start with.

And really, your supervisor should be telling you what they want you to work on. Have you met with them?

And I think that most of us started with the literature review, reading around the subject, developing the question/hypothesis. So, start with gathering and reading key articles in your area, make some notes, try and identify gaps, then eventually start writing what you've found. But your supervisor should be giving you guidance at this stage.

That's the way it goes I'm afraid - things take longer than planned, work become more complicated, research changes. Then there's the blind alleys to go down which waste time, the mistakes and the rewrites! All part of the process...I can't tell you how to structure your year, but you need to make another plan. If you have some idea of milestones and what you're working towards, that will help you keep on track. So, plan the next 2 years, then break down the tasks for the next academic year, then do monthly targets and so on. It seems few people get done in 3 years - this is a slow process and it takes as long as it takes!

OK, update from me - just to make myself feel better really. Approached my sup about being first author and got a very polite 'no' - her project, so she gets top billing. Ah well, that's OK. Now I know - first author status isn't dependent on the amount of work you do, it really does depend on who's the originator of the research.

And about this stupid article - started making changes, took me all w'end to rewrite the first 10 pages, and there's another 35 to go. As I was rewriting, adding in ever more as the editor wanted, I realised that the article would end up being about 5,000 words over the word count - another problem. So, have put it to the side for the moment, will need to talk to this editor, and ultimately, can see me not finishing this. Which makes me feel like a failure, as have written an article, but it won't end up being published. :-( Crap.

Look Bug, you can't give up!! :-s

Put the paper aside for a couple of days, and then get back into it. If I'm willing to go thru the torturous, torturous process of completely rewriting an article that had already been accepted with no further changes, so can you!! You love writing, whereas me, it's just a means to an end. It's taken me all weekend to rewrite the first 9 pages, I've got another 36 to go but will do it!!

If this was a 'real' job, you wouldn't have the option of not rewriting, you'd just have to do it until your boss was happy. Same here. And in academia, I'm adraid we're going to have to rewrite until we're sick to death of it!!

My supervisor is also very handy with a red pen, and I don't handle criticism all that well either, but after I've made the changes, the papers/chapters are always much, much better. That's their job, that's why they're so brilliant, becuse of these criticical faculties. We're learning as we go, and hopefully improving all the time.

So, pick it up again in a couple of days, and just get back into it!

Bonzo's right - you are capable! You wouldn't have gotten in if you weren't! Have a look at other threads posted this week - there's a lot of people starting their PhD or Masters, and feeling overwhelmed. You're not alone. It's a bit of a shock starting a PhD, but you'll get used to it!! Don't worry about the others and don't compare yourself to them - that's not helpful and it will make you feel worse. You're on a steep learning curve, but you can do it! Little by little and you'll get there!

And a 20p lit review in a few weeks is a lot of work, but just start. Your supervisor probably wants to make sure that you have a goal to work towards and are starting out focused - better than just reading endlessly. So, go for a walk, breathe, have a nice cup of tea, log in to an academic database and start a lit search. Then read 1 article. Then note the main points of the article. Then do another one, and keep going. You might find that you enjoy it!

And come back here for support or to let us know how you're getting on. It will be alright!