Hi Alex,

Doing a Ph.D. can be very lonely and heart-wrenching. If your sole intention is to do it because you love Literature (which you said will be your area of specialization), I strongly suggest you entertain a second thought. I also know friends of mine who think that being called Dr. so and so is luxurious and would love to do one just because of that. Poor them! Unless you would like to work in academia and really enjoy finding out stuff (by way of research), doing a Ph.D. will not prove its benefits to you. I am a Management Ph.D. student specializing in business communication. When I do not have so much work (job-wise), I read theories from 9-5. It is very boring. I love it, though. I learn things that I can use to contribute to society's improvement. One of the most demotivating factors is that none of your friends will understand what you are doing. So, you will not have the support system that you once had. In the process, you will lose many of your friends because you are completely coming from two different planets now that you are doing a Ph.D. You have different perspectives about the world than theirs, and you no longer find it fun to hang out with them.

My recommendation, think critically about what you want to do in life and why you want to do it. Then go for it. If you ever decide to do a Ph.D., go for it. Find a Ph.D. community and be part of it. Please make time to go to the gym, take a walk, exercise a little, and enjoy the world as it unfolds before you. All will end just fine.

All the best,
Christian

Hi Sllona,

This sounds very much like me. I am a Ph.D. student in Management. My interest is in business communications, and I research how individual behaviors affect our ability to communicate effectively in business settings, but most importantly, what causes those behaviors. My research hinges on the communication accommodation theory and constructivism. On the constructivism side, I focus on understanding the effects of age, gender, and level of expertise on our ability to deliver effective communications in business settings. I would call my sell a behavioral constructivist. I hope to help organizations communicate more effectively as a contribution to the improvement of doing business in Africa.

When I started working on my Ph.D., I really wasn't sure what I wanted to research. I changed topics almost three times. The good thing is that Ph.D. supervisors are really super patient because they have been there too. Also, what helps me is to find other Ph.D. students in a similar area as mine to discuss my discoveries. When I feel low, I watch the graduation video from my university, and I start visualizing how it will look like when I graduate. The most significant accomplishment in Ph.D. research is analyzing what has been done in your field and where you can contribute. Think broadly of an area of your interest and narrow it down to the smallest study-able area of specialization. Then read previous research papers to see what you can do differently than those previous researchers. You will be amazed by how much there is that you can do differently. Sometimes it is the content area they did not cover; sometimes, it is the population they have not considered; sometimes, it is a different time-frame. I have not come across any study that is exactly similar to any other.

Also, try to achieve something every day. It could be reading an additional paragraph, writing one more paragraph, or running a new code. Whatever it is, do something every day. Do not aim to do so much in one sitting. It makes life less enjoyable. When you do some small thing every day before you know, you will have a 350-page within two years, and we will start calling you Dr so and so.

Take courage; everything eventually ends. And it ends well.

Best,

Hi Community,

When I started my Ph.D. in August 2019, I was super excited (I still am). But, little did I know that it is this lonely. It really gets lonely when you start getting into the weeds of theoretical background and literature review. I am here to find encouragement and emotional support (but to offer it too). I specialize in business communications focusing on accommodation behaviors in business communications and the application of constructivism in business communication. My thesis topic is: "Audience Perception on the Effectiveness of a Speaker in a Business Presentation."

I am happy to be here.

Christian