======= Date Modified 06 May 2011 15:52:19 =======
Hello All
Any tips for how to cope with the sheer overwhelming panic at the size of your literature review?
I handed something in this week and got feedback that it was too narrow and missing things out. It's also only one third of the topic areas should cover. I'm on a case studentship so in a way it's all nicely planned and I know what I should be doing, but now I feel like I'm never going to do it all in the time allocated. Also I feel like I'm just trying to get to my supvisor's amazing level of intelligence and knowledge and will never do it.

When I sit down I find the enormity of it overwhelming, and end up feeling physically shaky and crying. I feel confident with the actual research side of things but this bit is awful. Supervisor is really putting pressure on me now and I'm finding it hard to focus, and don't know how to make more time as have small kids too. Beginning to question whether I should be doing this at all / feeling thick etc and not sure how to cope. Also don't know who to ask as my fella a) hates seeing me cry and b) hasn't done this before so doesn't know what to say. I am having one of those 'I'd rather work in a cafe' weeks.
HELP!!!, TIA
Daisy

Hey Daisy! Sounds like you're having a rough time right now. To be honest, getting to grips with all of the relevant literature can be one of the hardest and scariest things to do, especially if you're right at the beginning of your PhD. I remember feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start and how much to include. Other people in my team who are just starting their PhDs are also having the same problem.

I think the first step to make sure you're not missing anything is to do a systematic search, and pick out all the papers that look relevant. Then you need to decide what to include. If it's a systematic lit review then you can choose your criteria to only include a manageable amount of literature. Either way it's always hard to decide what your criteria should be/which literature you should include. Remember that you can breal it down into as many sections as you like- it might be helpful to break the literature into smaller areas and work on each area separately to start with. The other thing is that if there really is a huge amount to cover, you can write it up as more than one paper or chapter. My original lit review has now been split up and published as three separate reviews, and will form three chapters of my PhD! So don't worry about having to fit it all into 8000 words or whatever.

Finally, supervisors can be intimidating (mine sure is) and it's easy to feel stupid next to them, that's quite normal. But if you're getting feedback that you're struggling to address then maybe explain to your sup that you're having trouble with the review and see if you can come up with a plan about how to approach it, what might need to be included (or ommitted) etc- sometimes specific questions work best with supervisors as opposed to a general 'help, I can't do this'! You will get there and through to the other side of it- just keep plugging away and try to break it down into smaller tasks. Good luck with it! KB

That sounds like good advice from KB.

In terms of productivity I find the Pomodoro technique really helps http://bit.ly/j4q8uH. You basically do your work in 25 min bursts with 5 minute breaks but it's amazing what you can achieve when you focus for a short period of time.

Don't worry about your supervisor, I gather most of them are like that. The truth is that getting feedback is a good thing, some people have the opposite problem when they can't get in touch with their supervisor which is a SERIOUS problem. Don't take their comments personally but do as much as you can quickly and then when you get stuck send it back to them. Explain that you want to know if you are on the right track. The wait for more feedback and do it again. Believe me, after a few tries at this you will feel alot better. You will know what you have to do and you develop a thick skin to your supervisors comments!

Chin up, we'd all rather work in a cafe a lot of the time, you're not on your own :-)

I was told as an undergrad the way to do lit reviews was to think of it as an upturned triangle so you start big and write the the things you think are relevant to your topic in the general sense and then work your way down by narrowing your focus at each level and you will see how it all links together and breaks down into smaller studies.  By the time you reach the bottom you'll have reached your conclusion and the main points of your study!   I've used this technique since and it's worked for me as I get positive feedback. I've also learned from my PhD that when people start of general and then narrow their focus it helps to relate the focused ideas to the general field again at the end so you can place your work into context. 

Focus on smaller studies and it won't seem so bad and by the end of it you'll be able to join it all together! You'll probably end up with a mammoth study at the end that you didn't think you'd have at the start. 
;-)