======= Date Modified 06 26 2009 12:26:01 =======
Hi everyone,

I've just started my PhD, coming back to academia after working for 5 years. It's been a bit of shock, and at the end of my first semester, I'm still feeling lost... I've been trying to have regular hours and work on a schedule, and for the most part, it hasn't been too bad. But this week has just been a total loss - I'm distracted with finding an apartment, and have been doing the bare minimum. And I feel very guilty :-( Do you guys work everyday? Do you always have this nagging feeling that you should be working when you're not? I guess I haven't been helped by not having a supervisor this semester, so I'm suffering a little from lack of guidance. And the pile of books/articles is just getting bigger and bigger? How can you ever read everything?!

Sorry that this is such a negative post - I'm generally a happy person! Just a little bit overwhelmed... I wanted to say hi, anyway, and hope to get to you know all better over the coming years :-)


k.

Hi Kezia

Don't worry, I think everyone feels a bit lost at the start, and the reading still overwhelms me three years in! But you're reading list gets narrowed down once your research question is clearer, and you start to get the reassurance of ocassionally reading something that actually sounds familiar :-) It does worry me that you have no supervisor though - how did you come to start your PhD without one? I'd definitely feel a bit at sea in that situation.

The guilt is a student staple I'm afraid, even with the best intentions and schedules it's hard to feel as if you're ever truly "off duty" it's the downside to the flexibility you gain. Just work when you can, and if you can set some basic targets that might help, then you have a definite sense of whether you're progressing. There's always the sense that you could do more so don't beat yourself up over spending time flat-hunting etc - even students have to live somewhere!

Thank you - I appreciate the advice! My supervisor is sorted out now, so things should be a bit more organized from now on... Thanks again.

Kez - like what Teek said, the "guilt" will be there for a long time. You just have to accept it but realise that you need to sort out other elements in your life. The Sunday hangover (as in now ... urrgggghhh!), teaching part-time, holidays (take at least a two week block in summer) are all times when you will have that current problem of the PhD zinging about the brain. Ya just have to shut it out and accept it. I suppose the best way to do that is actually get stuff written down to keep a track and sort out the clutter.
In the same way, this will help with the other issue of dealing with the tsunami of papers on your topic. Get writing! It is never too early to start writing and the idea will take shape from that. Even a document outlining the key findings of the literature. There is a feeling in the first year "ah sure I'll write it later". No - read it, record it and try to place that work in the context of other work. Writing also helps with the other problem of documenting important papers. Trust me - no matter how stand out a paper is you will forget. If you do find a good paper, check its citations (in scholar.google.com). That will give you the related work.
Last bit - have a defined goal for the end of first year. Identify a conference you would like to present at (www.conferencesalert.com).
You probably ask yourself "what have I left myself in for?" every so often. Don't worry - we all have and still do! It is a hard slog but so long as you treat it as work and also remember that there are other aspects of your life, you will get there.
Good luck and keep on trucking ... I need a berroca ... not well!

Thanks Bonzo, that helps a lot. I hope you're feeling better :-)

Kezia - small tip!
Use mindmaps to get the ideas to fruition. If you can, then incorporate this into having a mind-map of all your various sections. Freemind is a good mindmapping tool which allows you to link documents i.e. have a summary stored in the folder of each of your folders (even in subsections). Then, you can link each subsection into the main Freemind Mindmap (stored in the main PhD folder).
Without sounding patronising, a mindmap is basically where ya draw a centre "bubble" of the main topic with all the sub-topics as extensions. Freemind helps this process and because you can link different mindmaps you can have an electronic representation of what you would do on a whiteboard.
Only a tip but more importantly, don't worry about the amount of literature - yes, it is unsurmountable but all you need is a handful of decent papers backing up your research.