I am 3 months into an engineering PhD and have just had my most non-productive day so far (excluding weekends!!!!). I've been up since 7.30am and it's now 4pm and I have read 1 page of 1 paper. I have had the house to myself since 12pm but can't seem to focus at all on work today and now my stomach is in knots with guilt. I think part of the problem is that at the moment my research plan is very vague (my supervisors disagree about the path I should follow and I don't know enough about the area yet to have an opinion). So my reading is very diverse and as yet it's very much surface stuff so far. So I feel like in 3 months I haven't achieved anything or gained any knowledge and I seem to waste so much time worrying about work but not being able to actually do anything. I estimate that I probably only have 2-3 hours per day where I'm actually focused so it seems like I'm wasting so much time. Is this normal or am I heading for trouble? Does it take a while to train yourself to focus? I've been a successful crammer in my academic career to date and so am used to fast results!! Does anyone have tips about how to focus/maintain some sort of self-discipline? Help!!

welcome to PhD land - you seem more productive than me. 2-3 hours would be a dream!

Hi EV

Don't feel guilty, that won't help and it just makes you feel bad! Put that day aside and tell yourself that you're going to do better today!!

It is hard to focus and I think it does take some training. Basically, you need to force yourself to start, to focus and build in rewards. I tell myself that I'm going to work for 25 mins then take a break for 5 minutes. Or work for 50 mins then take a break for 10. Make a list, cross things off, see how your work grows week by week. Lately I've even gotten into the habit of not letting myself change screens, so it's just me and the chapter I'm writing. It is a different way of working - cramming won't work, this is a marathon, so yo need to go slowly and steadily!

But it sounds like your not getting the guidance you need either. Can you try and get your supervisors to agree on how you should be progressing? Could be that once you have a plan and definitely know what you're doing, working will become a lot easier. It's hard to focus if you don't know which direction you're supposed to be going in.

Hi Sue,

thank you for your help - for me now it's 10am the next day (after my worst day ever). So last night I tried to totally swtch off from work - I brought the dog for a long walk- then had a glass of wine with some friends. Unfortunately though I didn't get much sleep so I plan to sleep for an hour now then hopefully get about 10 hours done later. I'm very anxious to make up for yesterday.

I absolutely agree that the conflict with my sups isn't really helping the situation. The problem as I see it 1st off is that they each come from different fields within my discipline and my project is mostly based in one of these fields but will also touch the other. So whilst each of them is an authority in their own fileld, neither of them obviously has an in-depth knowledge about the others. Basically this means that all 3 of us have interpreted the major task which I must complete for my sponsor in a different way and nobody seems to be in a position to make a decision about it. I myself don't feel that I have the knowledge or experience yet to make this decision as it determnes the course of my work and could even totally change the direction of my project. On top of that, I have several other tasks to do which some of my colleagues have pointed out are very big in themselves and could potentially be the basis for an entire PhD by themselves. As these tasks are quite diverse getting to grips with even the basic theory has been quite difficult.

Basically, I am repeating exactly what you have said - it's hard to focus on something if you don't really know what you are trying to get at. Maybe this is normal at this stage (3 months)?? But s it ok to not really have a direction to go in until maybe the 8 or 9 month mark as I estimate it could take that long before I have the necessary knowledge?

Hi Ev,

I can't give you much advice on the situation with your sups as I don't fully understand sponsors etc. Aside from that, it sounds to me like you are being very hard on yourself and unneccesarily so. The Phd is a process of learning how to be a researcher- nobody is expecting you to have that nailed after 3 months! There is a big danger that if you put too much pressure on yourself now you will end up hating your PhD very early on and wanting to leave. You have another 3 years to go so you need to preserve some energy.
Don't try and do 10 hours today: you are setting yourself up for a fall. If you only end up doing a few hours again you will hate yourself for it and the cycle of fear and negativity will just carry on. Write a list of tasks which you need to get done today, do those and then go home and relax tonight. I recommend (as I always do!) reading Jean Bolker's 'How to Write your Dissertation in 15 minutes a day'. The key message of the book is, as Sue says, the PhD is a marathon, not a sprint and as long as you can continue to do a little bit every day you will eventually get there.Procrastination and not being able to work long hours are such common problems amongst PhD-ers. I can honestly say that I've never met anyone who hasn't struggled with these things. One day of not getting much done is not the end of the world- lots of people recover from having months away from their work.

Thanks KeepCalm - it's good to know at least I'm not the only one - I think you're right - I'm already putting pressure on myself to"achieve something" and it's so early on. I guess it just seems hard to know if you're doing ok or are falling behind when there are no deadlines or feedback. So I'm probably panicking and as a result amn't getting anywhere (can't even focus on the paper I'm trying to read and really not taking it in at all). I was planning on working til 10pm but maybe I'll leave at 7 instead and start afresh tomorrow. Hope all is going well for you!

Hi Ev

It's fine to not have a lot to show for the first 3 mths, and yep, it seems for a lot of people it does take till at least the 8th or 9th mth to know what they're doing and produce stuff, so don't worry about that. And maybe don't focus on time spent working so much, but on tasks? Which ties in to, I think you need deadlines. My sup gave me a firm deadline when I need to have my lit review done, and then with progressive goals all the way through my PhD. I presented a conference paper at the start of my second year, and spent the first year doing the lit review to present at this conference. So, I think you needs some firm goals and deadlines, and you also need to get your sups sorted out. That sounds really frustrating! Put them all in a room and get them to sort it out! Is there someone above them that could help? Am not able to give much advice about this as I don't have a sponsor and just have one sup who's fab.

So, don't commit to 10 hour days, just plan to read more, make some notes and see how you go.

======= Date Modified 17 Oct 2009 02:36:06 =======
great advice given already! so i will just add my 2 pennies worth. and i agree with the other posties. you're being way too hard on yourself! it is perfectly normal to have unproductive days and off days. you're not a robot. believe me, some days you will be zooming through things, other times you will barely do anything!

my advice, set yourself specific tasks to do. if you have a pile of papers to read through, make it into a "game" when i had stacks of papers to read this is what i did.

i got a pack of cards. and shuffled them.

hearts meant i had to do a particular exercise, like push ups or squats, whatever. like for example, if i drew 5 of hearts, i had to do 5 pushups. and then pull a new card

spades meant i could take a break according to the number on the card, for eg, if i drew a 8 of spades, i could take a 8minute break doing whatever i wanted

and so on.

and then diamond meant i had to skim read the paper in the card number allocated time! and clubs meant i had to make notes from a paper- or whatever you want.

the point is that sometimes things will get tiresome, so you have to make them fun. and sometimes when i drew a 5 of diamond and set my timer for 5 minutes to skim read a paper, i found myself trying to buy more time so i could finish reading the paper, just so i could tick it off my check list!!
and if i drew a "break" card, but didnt want to take a break, i would put them aside, and collect them, for a longer break hehe.

but everytime i played the cards game, i always ended up reading more, and taking less breaks, sometimes i would end up reading for 40 minutes (even if it was just one paper). sometimes fear and panic can cause procrastination, and i am the princess of procrastination! so sometimes if you just trick yourself, it helps!
but yah dont worry about it, and just focus on small goals and tasks, it will all come together in the end!

Thanks guys for your lovely & helpful replies - they've helped alot- I've been re-reading them today in my panicky moments and they help to get me back on track. It's funny how much of a difference the kind words of a stranger can make! Lara your game sounds like just the thing to break up the monotony of hours of reading - I think I'll give it a go tomorrow when I'm working from home - I already get funny looks from the guys in the office for carrying around my hot water bottle- throwing a few squats and push-ups in there will probably convince them that I've lost it completely!!

Hey guys, I just wanted to post an update and to thank all the people who took the time to try calm me down and help me. Those really un-productive days have passed at last. My supervisors have given me 2 really short deadlines for 2 really big things (well they will have a huge bearing on the success of my lab work depending on the decisions I make) and I'm stressed, of course, but it seems to have kicked me into action! I'm writing a document at the moment which is really pushing me to nail down exactly what I propose to do for the project so it's diffucult but I actually feel like I'm making some progress - YAY!! After months of aimless reading, it seems like a clearer plan is emerging. So thanks to everyone who helped me along and for anyone who is experiencing a similar problem - I didn't believe it at the time but it will pass. Now, I'm absolutely certain that I will have similar frustrating times in the future but I know now that it's only a temporary issue:-)