Hi :-)

I struggle with my PhD. I have tried any technique (split work, focus, do a step at a time etc) proposed in the forum but all fails.

I sit and think what is that it blocks me and the answer is: "I am not interest for the Phd". But I have publications and I have seen worst researchers than me in my lab getting their PhDs. Also the work that I must do is not too much to get my PhD. I try as hard as possible but everything move too slow… I just keep walking! The question is how I can run? 8-)

I try to go vacation, I go gym, do things that interest me but the bad situation and un-productivity continues...
So the main question is what to do if I am not interest about the PhD but I am close to get it and I do not want to quit. I have managed to stick to it, but I do not care to finish, my advisor does not care in how much time I will finish my PhD, I have plenty of money so nothing can push me ahead.

The only thing that I care and use to push myself is the thinking that I can do better things than to be in the university and spend my life in PhD, but this is not enough… so any tips?
It is a strange situation for me as the PhD has become like an everyday job for me, a routine!

Thank you

LOL, quite an intriguing case. seems that u're out of zest and everything is mechanical.

i would recommend that u turn it into a game. if nothing pushes u to finish than maybe u need a pull. finding ways to make something fun could introduce vigor back into ur phd.

i used this as a way of learning things that would often put me to sleep. turning it into a game requires some creativity on ur part. as long as it doesnt endanger anyone in the process, or does not entail cheating, i reckon it should be ok.

for instance, in learning literature like shakespeare and all that, i imagined that i'm the director of a movie.. and learning literature turned into "how can i make this a movie that's cool to watch". so i denoted each character to an actor/actress that i liked.. visualized their interaction in my head. pretty soon "much ado about nothing" didn't look so prosaic after all. i memorized the dialogue better because it's important to direct the right facial expression for a scene.

or, in doing laborious experimentation, i turned it into a game by asking.. "what are the 3 fastest ways to get this all done without cheating?" and i started doing some study on operational research and experimental design, only to discover new ways to do experiments. so, instead of taking the usual 6 months to get things up and running, it's taking me about half the time to get things done afterwards.

in studying history before, i turned it into a game by asking "how can i make the best comic strip from this lecture" and i changed all the notes into cartoons, caricatures and what not. my history book ended up looking more like a sketch book than a dictation of dates or facts. at first, some of the conservative educators were appalled, but when they see the rise in my grades for history they started to be more understanding.

hope it works out ok for u.

There are no tips. You just put your head down and finish.

Life outside of the lab is amazing (from what I 've heard).