Hi Jessebel!

I'm probably just paraphrasing what the other guys have said already but yeah, I'm in exactly the same position!

I also started in October and have the same kind of issue. I'm technically part of a 'team' but it's basically just 2 other people who are employed by a research company run by my supervisor who are doing completely different things to me. I got offered a place in their office but it all just felt a bit weird (and cold, and dark!) so I'm now in amoungst a load of occupational psychologists which is highly random and to top it off, the two people I share an office with are never here so I effectively have it to myself. I never see the other 'team' members (I'm not sure I even know their names!) and I'm lucky if I talk to anyone at all during the day.

It is something that bothers me some days but I try to look at it positively (fewer distractions, I can play my music in my office, etc) and I remember that I have friends outside of the uni and great housemates so it doesn't matter so much. Also, when I think of where I was in terms of my undergrad 2 months in I realise that we are still so new to this and there is so much time for things to feel more settled and for us to meet people. I've volunteered to be a PhD rep for the department (which so far seems to carry mostly cake-based responsibilities) and started a postgrad soc and it has meant I feel a bit more included in the student community, although it is of couse early days! I'm not sure if these options are open to you but I'd say go for it if you can.

As for the issues with the project, I'm constantly feeling that there are things I should have included in my proposal and that I'm going to leave uni without a load of skills I want/need. I'm going to see how it goes and suggest I include some things in my next study and if that doesn't work out I'm going to try to volunteer as a research assistant somewhere and hope that will fill the gap. Ultimately though, a PhD doesn't restrict you to a topic/methodology for the rest of your life and presumably you have research career ahead of you that will give you the opportunity to look into everything you couldn't now. At least that's what I'm trying to convince myself!

As with most of my posts this was predominantly a 'me too' response rather than an offer of any practical advice but I hope it helped in some way despite that..!

I was wondering the same thing - not having set 'on' and 'off' time makes it difficult to establish when exactly we should be working! I figure that even in the world of employment you have a good few weeks off a year and the advantage of working on your own schedule means that in theory if you're meeting your targets/objectives/deadlines you can have as many holidays as you want! A friend of mine in the department works ridiculously long days and puts herself through hell so she can justify taking a month off here and there to go travelling - it seems to work for her!

The issue with me is that my supervisors aren't too good with letting me know where I should be work-wise so I'm never quite sure if I'm ahead! Time off at Christmas is essential though and I have far too many cats at home to ever get any reading done.

Not sure this really counts as an answer but thought I'd contribute anyway!

Ah thanks for all the replies guys, I'm feeling better, or at least a little bit less guilty. Although I'm also feeling like I need to get a dog and do some more firebox shopping!

Sneaks is right about the breaks, whenever I'm feeling awful about work getting out of my office and not thinking about it at all for a while is normally enough to get me back on track. Think that was my problem today - the rain deterred me from leaving the slightly breezy but dry confines of my office! I have no excuse tomorrow as I have for some reason decided to not only start a postgrad society, but also to provide free homemade lunch for everyone as our first event...I think voluntarily making sandwiches for 20 people is procrastination of the highest level!

WuTownVillain - I haven't read Crime and Punishment but have had the slightly less cultured issue of Six Feet Under...Once I've watched one episode that's me done for the day, as I have to watch the whole damn series!

I'm thinking Thursday will be the magic day though. I have high hopes for my literature review that day...for some reason.

That's exactly what I've been on! I'm having to convince myself that my lack of productivity isn't because I don't have a giant gummy bear. Glad someone else is prematurely getting into the festive spirit...!

As the title suggests, I've had a very unproductive day managing to only open my data set (which made my computer crash) and order a few Christmas presents (mostly for myself). Just wanted to make myself feel a bit better by seeing if anyone else was having a similar issue!

I slept in just under an hour after my alarm went off today...I try to blame the weather but I think it's just procrastination!! And the keyboard/pillow idea is seeming increasingly tempting right now.

As there are so many of us in the same boat here, I think I have devised the perfect solution. WE should be friends! Real life social interaction is far too over rated in my opinion!

Hi Cobweb!

I definitely feel the same! I've always been a very social person and generally find it quite easy to meet people but for some reason, in a PhD setting it just hasn't happened. I think a lack of lectures, group projects etc as well as the majority of PhD students not being local or living in the same proximity just makes it really difficult to meet people as easily as it has been before. In all honesty, even the start of term networking events aren't that great, as the few people I did manage to speak to either weren't starting their course until January or were never to be seen again! And I know what you mean about wanting someone to go for coffee with or something, as spending a whole day not speaking to anyone is really strange, especially when surrounded by undergrads and their 20 lunch buddies!

I don't have much to suggest but just wanted to let you know that you're not alone!

It may sound daft but are there any societies you could join? I know that you might not have too much spare time and a lot are pretty undergrad orientated but if there's a postgrad association or something that could be a good way to find people in a similar position? I'm actually in the process of trying to set one up, although I accept that's a pretty extreme solution...!

Ah thanks for replying - it's good to know that others have been in a similar position and have lived to tell the tale! :-)

Haha...Oh dear, I have all that to look forwad to!

Hi everyone,

Sorry for constantly posting requests for advice but I'm a bit stuck again!

I'm in my first year of my PhD and am self funded due to my funding falling through at the last minute and me having no back-up plan. I can't afford to self fund next year as well (or even this year for that matter) and so am sending off a proposal for an ESRC CASE studentship later on this week. My supervisor has been giving me the firm impression that this is basically my only option and although I have a fighting chance at getting it, it's obviously in no way guaranteed, especially as he said exactly the same thing when I applied for ESRC the first time round. I am therefore getting slightly worried and as I'm not especially attached to my current uni, I was contemplating applying for second year entry somewhere else that might be able to fund me in some way. I don't find out about the ESRC studentship until April so I'll have to apply to unis in the next few months just in case.

Has anyone else done anything similar? I'm not sure if it's entirely possible, or even whether I'm eligible for any other funding bodies due it being for my second year rather than my first. I'm also concerned about applying for certain forms of funding that would require a lot of work on things I'm not interested in (a risk even with the ESRC CASE studentship).

Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Hi Sangana,

I'm afraid I don't much (or anything!) about remote sensing but thought I'd offer some general advice instead! When I was trying to work out my PhD topic I found that the most useful thing was to e-mail researchers that specialised in the general area I was interested in, explaining that I would like to do a PhD and asking what they were currently working on and what they would be willing to supervise. Although I'd read around what I thought I wanted to do, I didn't know much about what was likely to get funded or what the current trends in research were, so it helped me develop my ideas with those things in mind and with a bit more focus.

I know this isn't too specific to what you were asking but I hope it helps anyway!

I'm never sure on this either! I've read a few articles that just cite it as normal, some that give the full reference in square brackets and some that just don't cite anything at all. I normally go for the latter though because where the abstract is essentially an overview, no-one really expects you to back up every statement you make as you'll probably get to this later on in the paper. This might not be the case outside of psychology though!

Well I'm about a month into my psychology PhD and have taken a while to get into the swing of things. My supervisors are great (especially compared to some of the horror stories on here!) but they only seem to give me very small tasks to complete by the next meeting, despite me assuring them I can get more done - I suggested I started data collection last week but I was told not to for another 2-3. I guess it seems slightly bizarre that I'm complaining about this, but everyone else in the psychology department are having to work 9-5 and I can probably get all my week's tasks done in a day (not that I do of course!). I've been finding adjusting to PhD life pretty difficult and only just have an office as of today, so I haven't really done any extra work beyond that suggested by my supervisors and am I'm worried that I could be getting really behind! I guess my bottom-line question is: is it possible to be irreversibly behind at this stage, considering how little I've achieved compared to others that might even be presenting next month (and all i have is a questionnaire draft!)? I'm planning on getting my head down and working proper office hours next week to try to catch up but I'm not sure if trying to make up for a month while keeping up-to-date with what I'm meant to be doing now is really reasonable?

What does everyone think? Is it OK that I spent the last month faffing around slightly or should I have a proper routine and schedule of work by now?

Thanks!!

I'm only a month or so in to my PhD but I already feel it's going poorly! I'm still a bit lost with it all and so spend most of my days pretending to be organised by writing list after list of everything from things I need to do that day to reasons why I'm doing a PhD and should therefore stay off facebook...Looking at everyone else's posts, it's good to see that this doesn't seem to change too much!! Fingers crossed I'll find a routine and work out what it is I'm meant to be doing so I can respond a bit more positively to the next poll....!