Has anyone had extended periods of inactivity with their PhD? I'm talking weeks rather than bad days every once in a while. For the past couple of weeks, I haven't been able to get myself motivated at all, and am finding every distraction under the sun. I'm sure my computer is the worst of the culprits, so I was thinking of not turning it on, or even hiding the bloody thing! I'm concerned about the severe lack of productivity which has gone on for two whole weeks. For some ridiculous reason, I fear I'm going to get caught out for this lazy spell, and then I realise that we don't have anyone watching over us, only our sups who we meet with randomly. Any advice on how to get motivated again? (i.e. open window. proceed to hurl computer out of said window.)

Have you set yourself specific tasks to do? Do you have a work plan that is monthly, weekly and daily? ( or something along those lines?) And then do you carry through and do the things on that list one by one? I think that is the best way to operate. It gives you a concrete list of what needs to be done, and you can mark progress even in small ways by checking things off. Do you keep a list of what you need to review with your supervisor when you meet?

In paid employment you would not expect your boss to hover around and keep motivating you...so why is a PhD different in the sense of motivating yourself as a very bottom line requirement? Try making a list of 5 things to do today--even small things, like read and summarize one article, outline a chapter, write one paragraph...and then just start to carry through it.

I had a month a while back of complete and utter inactivity. I think I was just wrapped up in other things, and was feeling restless so couldn't concentrate. I see your point olivia, about paid work and the PhD. However, in work you have a routine and structure, set hours and someone to answer to if you don't fulfil your responsibilities. I think of all the challenges of PhD life, the greatest test is self-motivation rather than intellectual labour. In those terms, the previous degrees you've undertaken don't prepare you for the considerable leap into the PhD, which is so utterly divergent from any previous academic work you've done, and this is the hardest transition to make.

I have to agree xeno, that is the greatest challenge above all else, and certainly one that I have been struggling with. Eddi, I was talking about this with my supervisor yesterday, and he told me that it's quite normal in the first year of your PhD to waste buckets of time because you're just trying to get your head around the fact that you're actually doing a PhD. I don't know if that helps, but it's coming from a senior academic, so it provided me with some relief.

I think I have wasted months, not just weeks! I started in September and I have only written about 2,000 words and read what seems like only a handful of books and articles. Day after day I feel unmotivated, mostly sitting on the internet with the intention to work, but not doing it. I had a plan to have done a literature review before christmas and I am absolutley nowhere near it and it's already Feb.
I try to treat it as a job, getting up and attempting to do 9-5 on it, but you are right, there is no-one telling you off if you don't work - and ultimately I don't feel like this is a job which I can leave 'at the office' or whatever, it just follows me everywhere and is a constant in my head no matter what I do

mokey, I can totally relate to everything you said! I'm in the same predicament. I sit at my desk, all primed to work, and then it seems everything distracts me. I don't know what's going on with me at the moment, it's like I'm 'not in the mood' for intellectual work, like I'm wanting to do more simple things. This has come from nowhere, because when I applied for the PhD, I was so geared up for it. In fact, I did more PhD work in the three months leading up to the PhD than since it's actually started! I hope this passes soon, because at the moment, my inertia and general lack of interest is worrying to say the least!

At the risk of being a bit repititious, I still think that this sort of thing comes about from being overwhelmed by looking at too much to do. In other words, it is very paralyzing to contemplate the whole of a PhD, or even a major slice of it. It becomes impossible to get a handle on how to do anything, because the enormity of the task IS overwhelming when set out like that.

It is a principle that is used in animal training by so called dog and horse whisperers, that you keep breaking a task down until it is in a small enough bite that the animal can "get it" without being overwhelmed and stressed.

If you present the animal with a learning objective in training that they cannot achieve, they shut down, they become frustrated and passive and stop engaging.

On the other hand, if you break the task down into simple steps, which can be something as small as, get the horse to stand in one place while you adjust your stirrups...something that does not require the horse to comprehend a whole series of actions, just ONE step, then the learning takes off.

I think the same is true of human motivation and learning. Present yourself with a mountain that seems too big to climb, and you will start to feel disengaged, unmotivated, distracted. You are in fact looking for tasks you CAN accomplish, whatever they are.

Which, I think gets back to, redefining your task. Make a to do list of small items, just five, or three. Make it as small as you have to to chart some forward progress. For instance, something like write a 50 word paragraph to start a chapter. Then write 50 words and take it off your list. Move on to something else, like read one article. Read it, and then move on. Take it off your list. Take something else, for instance, edit 10 footnotes in a prior draft. Edit them, proof them or whatever you have to do with them, and take it off your list.

Done.

Make another list for tomorrow, that might be, write a 500 word summary of article that you read. Relate it to the 100 word paragraph you wrote the day before. Read another article. Done.

Little by little you can build up your list over the course of several days so you get some momentum back and figure out the size of task you can confront to keep working, but not so big that you paralyze.

I don't think its a matter of motivation and interest going--I think its a matter of how you define the work ahead of you, and making sure you keep the vision of it small in some sense, so you do not get so overwhelmed by the task that you cannot do anything. A daily to do list works wonders to get you moving---just keep it small and simple to begin with, and reward yourself when you have the tasks done!

I am so used to working on my PhD in the evenings, since I was in fulltime work during the day, that I find my best time to work on it is still in the evening, even though I now have all day to do it. So I am trying to find that happy medium of when to work on it, and in what amounts--I have had something that I have wanted to write all week, but not been able to get to because of other things taking priority, and just now it is taking off like a house on fire, and I notice, well, its evening--so---no surprise there. I think finding your productive hours is key as well, not everyone is a morning person or even a productive 8-5er, and so if you have the flexibility to arrange your study hours, do them at the time you are at your peak.

Cheers olivia! All your advice is very useful indeed. You're right, I'm not breaking it down in little bits, but instead trying to take it all in at once and it's really overwhelming me. Cheers for the tips.

eddi, I just had a thought. I too have been suffering from this (as I mentioned), but I just realised that my inability to concentrate could partly be attributed to the fact that I've been frustrated by the monotony. I started a new plan this week to shake up my research routine, so I'm going to get some variety by studying in a different place every day. I think that will provide varying stimulus and prevent stagnation.

bellaz, that sounds like a great energy regenerator. I tried that before, but then found I spent so much time wandering around and faffing about, that, in the end, I only got one hour's reading done! By the time I'd actually found somewhere different to study and settled down, I'd wasted most of my day, and often wasn't in the mood anymore. I find studying at home the best, as I can go to the loo, make tea/coffee, be comfortable. I actually feel more distracted in the uni library strangely!

Also, when I'm in the uni library, I don't like leaving my stuff alone, so even things like going to the loo becomes a pain because you've got to pack all your stuff up. I guess I'm paranoid, but I had my stuff stolen from the library last year, and I'd only left my desk for two minutes.