I recently (not too recently about 7 months) enrolled in my PhD. I was from pharmacy back ground but changed my field to Food technology. It took 2 months for me to adjust to the life IN NEW ZEALAND and to understand my research work. I started working in the lab and got some good results. My supervisors are happy with my progress. I too working hard in the lab to get my work done. Recently after my Easter holidays i lost interest in my work and i didn't even enter the lab for almost 15 days. I feel really bad and depressed. I even thought of quitting it. But i don't want to go back with a failure. Everyday i think i will start my work today. I will end up with wasting time infront of my computer reading news papers and wasting all the time. The last day i worked in the lab i didn't get good results. I don't know what i should do to come on to the track again.

While doing my Masters i used to study at least one paper every day during my project. Now i didn't do that also. Even though i kept lot of books in my home to read and i knew that i need to read a lot to understand the basics of food technology (which i don't know much exactly). But i end up with watching TV and wasting time with friends.

I have my conformation seminar in September before that i need to lot of experiments. I am worrying that if this continue then i can't finish my experiments also. I still need to do my review of literature.

Can anyone please advice me what to do and how to motivate myself to start my work and finish my conformation seminar successfully.

Thanks heaps to all
:-(

You're obviously aware of what it is you need to be doing so I should start doing it again a little at a time. Keep yourself to a strict working day, even if it's a short one to start with. Don't think 'I need to read all those books' but rather try to work through on a chapter by chapter basis. And be honest with your supervisor and ask their advice to start getting back on track. Good luck.

you are just like me (except I am from a different discipline, probably a great many years older than you and have excess emotional baggage). You can also read self-help books, from this forum I was introduced to joan bolker's book (about writing) and that helped a great deal. I am also struggling with depression. but I am not giving up on myself.

First, sit down and make a list of all the things important to you. Then make another list of things you NEED to do: example: reading paper, saying prayers, writing, lab, grocery-shopping. Then make a schedule of which you may plan for the whole week, or month if necessary, and keep revising. If you constantly forget, print it out and stick it somewhere u can see so you will be constantly reminded, for example..laundry day is Sunday.

To motivate yourself, do things bit by bit. For example, everyday u will say your prayers consistently. This helps a lot.
So you do say one morning prayer, and see how you progress from there. To further motivate yourself (this is just an example), put an image of your favourite God form, example Lord Shiva and tell yourself you will say a prayer because Lord Shiva is waiting.

Do something nice for yourself, for example go out and buy yourself some agarbathi and burn that in your room. It will bring back the days of when you were doing your masters. Try it.

To be able to immerse yourself in the lab again, first start by entering the lab to clear your workbench. Throw out old junk or reorganize your drawer/cabinet. You will definitely feel better. Do this one afternoon, and then go home and plan what you want to do, next day go back and do it. I'm sure you have time in the lab while waiting for your experiments to run, so at home, plan to bring at least ONE paper to read while waiting for your samples.

Because u need to read up on foodtech basics, make sure you do this when you are away from the lab, so that your concentration and focus will not be interrupted by your samples or your labmates. For instance, make Saturday your FoodTech Day so you will concentrate just on foodtech on this day.

Most importantly, dont give up.

I've often been unable to work for weeks/months on end due to long-term illness. So each time I have to drag myself back into the swing of things. I do this by drawing up lists of what needs to be done, everything I can think of. The lists can be depressingly long, but I look at them and identify the least unappealing items on there (that's how I view it rather than most appealing!), and start working through those. Whenever I manage something on my list I cross it off. That gives me a boost, and I move onto the next item on the list. May only start slowly, but it picks up, and gets me going again.