Hello all,

I thought I would post here to help me get through what seems like a brick wall at the moment. I am trying to make progress everyday with my PhD. I am disciplined with myself everyday, planning my day, logging my hours to make sure I am putting in enough time. I am one year and 4 months into my PhD and I feel like the brick wall is higher than ever before in this project. My supervisor mentioned that he doesn't know if this PhD will be a success or not? Has anybody else's supervisor told them this. Naturally I am also questioning if I can really pull this off..

I make sure everyday I keep positive and motivated and keep the work rate up... along with lots of praying too!

Any words of advice or feedback others who have/do feel the same way on there PhD's?

Thanks

I had those thoughts all on my own, though my supervisors were positive. But I'd had to leave one (full-time science) PhD before, due to progressive neurological disease developing, so was very sceptical about being able to be successful the second time (part-time, humanities).

But it's not something that's helpful for a supervisor to say. Is your supervisor experienced as a supervisor? How do they treat other students?

But, to be honest, you need to focus on yourself, and not compare yourself with others. When I hit brick walls, as happened all the time, I would pick myself up by producing a massive to-do list of small achievable tasks. Don't set unrealistic things like "write chapter 2". Break everything down into small tasks you can get on with. Then pick the easiest looking one (or least unappealing one, as was usually the case for me!), and do that. Then tick it off. The emphasis is not so much on the number of hours you put in, but making steady progress on tasks to be done.

Also it's very very common in the second year or thereabouts of a full-time PhD to hit the mid-term blues or doldrums. Very very common. You're not at all unusual. The challenge is to keep going, however hard it might be.

Good luck!

======= Date Modified 24 Jan 2011 17:17:16 =======
Yes, for me I have considered the choice of leaving the PhD (as I am sure most others do also), but its not immediate in my nature to quit so I guess that's what keeps me going on with this.

My supervisor is reasonably experienced however has around 3/4 PhD's student's to his name. Also the research I am doing is slightly further away from his direct field of study. I do also have some support from others in industry in terms of knowledge and advice, but do not have a university second supervisor. My supervisor seems to treat all students with the same level of support.

I keep a journal/diary everyday and add to do list's everyday and tick them off as you suggested. I find this does help. I often heard about these second year blues, but thought I would do my best to avoid it... It seems now that avoiding it is more of a challenge than I originally thought.

The other point for me is that I orginally did a PhD to try and make a positive difference in the world and very often this does not feel like the case. Also I feel that the PhD does not bring my true potential out everyday and I am not the kind of person to waste any precious time in my life.

I do think it sounds like you're in the 'rabbit hole of despair' or the 'pit of despond', as my Graduate Development Team like to term the second year dip. On the plus side, that means you'll come out of it again, so keep plodding on - sounds like you're doing all the right things.

And I wonder if it's worth mentioning to your supervisor that you didn't find the comment particularly motivating and whether they meant more or less by it...

Good luck.

Is your PhD part of a larger project and if so, maybe that's more what your supervisor was thinking when he made that less than helpful comment? Possibly he was thinking of the bigger picture as it applied to him and didn't factor how rotten it was likely to make you feel. Even if you're working on your own he may have been thinking that your PhD might not be the breakthrough he had hoped for but this by no means that the PhD as it relates to you will fail. It certainly sounds as if you are entitled to ask him to clarify what he meant.

Re: hitting that brickwall - yes, lots of us have stood at the bottom of that, but it can be scaled!! Although you sound very disciplined, and of course this is to your credit, maybe for the moment allow yourself some moments of non-discipline? Go for a walk to clear your head, swim, jog - whatever - but allow yourself to enjoy being your own boss for a while. Quality over quantity - maybe putting in those rigid hours is actually working against you at this juncture of your PhD?

That comment by your supervisor was most unfair. If he did mean it, he is honour bound to tell you. If he was only musing, as it applied to a bigger picture, he should have considered how such a comment would impact on a person in their second year.

Good luck climbing that wall:-)

Thank-you all for your kind words and feedback. I wish you all the best in your research and hope it will all turn out for the best in end. WIth thought and prayer.