Hi

I handed in my thesis last week and I bounced around the office for half an hour and then crashed. Its been over a week and a half and I still feel like I have no energy, motivation or enthusiasm for anything.
I'm currently doing a six month placement in a small company and my boss is getting a little fed up of my complete lack of enthusiasm, its not that I'm not doing the work I'm supposed to do, I'm just not as enthusiastic as normal.
Anyway the question in all this is does anyone know how long this feeling usually lasts? I know I've got no good reason to be this fed up but I just can't seem to shake this feeling.

Hi Lucyanne,

I assume it is normal to feel burn out after a PhD.... I imagine that you probably need to earn some £££ to pay the bills, sometimes people finish and they are in debt depending on the funding they received.... BUT why don't you go on holidays for a couple of weeks somewhere warm, lie on the beach drinking fancy cocktails with little umbrellas ?

On the same time try to sleep - eat - exercise properly and take the weekends off.

You need to start listening to your body, last summer I overdid it with work and got ill. Not fun. I was also feeling extremely tired for a while but kept working because I thought I was "lazy".

Hi Lucyanne,

I just wanted to reassure you that it is perfectly normal to feel weird after handing in your thesis! I was so excited about the thought of handing mine in, but when I got back in my car to drive home I burst into tears and cried all the way! I couldn't even explain why I was upset, I think it was a strange combination of relief, release of stress, and panic about what the heck I was going to do now! I had a week or so off, and then started my full time job. So I think a week or so of feeling this way is quite normal. After that, my new job distracted me for a bit, and then it was back to working on my thesis in preparation for my viva.
Have you celebrated handing in your thesis? I think it is quite important to 'mark the occasion', as it is a major achievement to get to this point, and although you feel a bit in limbo as you haven't yet passed, I still think you need some closure (horrible American word, sorry!) to that stage of your life, and taking some time to reflect on the achievement can help you feel ready to move onto the next stage.
Do you have a viva date yet? Starting viva prep might help to shake the lack of motivation off and get back into things.
Failing that, I agree with Dr Jeckyll - a holiday (even a day or two away) might be just what you need, to get away from it all and just forget about your PhD and work for a bit, and recharge your batteries.

Good luck with the viva!
Smoobles