So I guess Hugh Kearns is right when he talks about getting just two golden hours into your day!
He basically says that if you can manage to do two productive hours a day without distraction it's better than a 12 hour workday with distractions!
I appreciate your honesty @drwubs, I was feeling guilty about the fact I find it hard to put in a full day of work. My attention span is not able to hold for a full day of sitting in front of a computer at home. Thanks

" Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
- My desk calendar

This is a quote from my desk calendar in March, I feel that it is really appropriate for me at the moment
and anyone else lacking motivation these days!

Thanks for your input AlexMad and fakename! :)

Thanks all so interesting to see all your routines!

Glad to see I am not the only one who procrastinates a lot of the time!
I am working from home most of the time at the moment would love a balanced week with some days in the field too!
So I feel your pain Cucaracha it's hard to find the motivation but breaking goals down into smaller ones sounds like a good idea!
Fair play to you emmaki you had a very busy schedule!

Hi :)
Just wondering if people could give me a general idea of what your daily routines look like?
(as in academically, not your personal life)

I am looking for motivation!!!
I do a timetable up every week for myself but finding it so hard to stick to it and I am procrastinating a lot.
So said I would just see what other people do it might give me some ideas to maybe make more realistic goals and actually do something productive!!!

Thanks

Hi Choti,
you must have something good to bring to the table or they wouldn't have picked you for the position?
But then again if you really don't like the topic quitting now would be better than in a year or two. Or even apply for others before quitting to see if something else comes up.

I think maybe try and forget about it and move on! Reliving the experience messes with your head. Every time you think of the interview, just ask yourself is this thought worth thinking about? it will only make you feel awful about yoursel if you keep reliving it so try and acknowledge when you have thoughts of it then dismiss them. eventual you'll stop thinking about it :)

What is a Russell group Uni?

Sounds like you have a hard time getting to where you are now, so don't give up stay strong.
I know it's easier to say it than actually do it(I am guilty of not following my own advice all the time)
But try not to worry about getting a job, the more you worry it will increase stress levels.
the fact you already have a job at Walmart means you won't be unemployed once the Ph.D. finishes, so at least that is something!
if you have a network of people within your area of interest, it will help to find employment in something you enjoy.
But don't get too hung up about it!

Hey Rewt and Glimmerbat,

Thanks for clearing that up for me there!
I wasn't saying that I want to be lazy by the way I just wouldn't want to put myself under unnecessary pressure
when I don't see myself staying in academia either. Thanks again.

Yorkfuller- I am glad you came to a decision I wish you the very best in the future, let us know how it works out for you!

I find this really interesting!
So what I understand from the responses here is basically if you want to stay in academia do as much as you can because it's really competitive, however if you don't want to stay in academia anything will suffice to get you through? Is that right?
What about the PhD by publication? is that easier than writing a thesis and publishing your work separately?
I don't understand why you can't just publish a chapter straight from your thesis they are basically the same layout???
Sorry, I am no help to you Yorkfuller! And sorry for all the questions I am just so curious! I have no one to ask these kinds of questions.

Hi there,

I am not sure if I can be much help to be honest because I am nowhere near finishing my Ph.D., and who knows if I will ever! ha!!!
But just to let you know my undergrad was in Horticultural Science and my PhD is in Geography, I have no background in Geography.
I also took a few years away from studying and worked in retail which also has no relevance to Geography.
In my opinion, I think if you are passionate about the subject area and you let it shine through then you will be ok!
And listening to the great advice given above of course would be no harm ether :)

Hi There,

I would agree with Rewt, in the fact that if you already have bad anxiety that it might not be a good time to start a PhD.
Although if you have been applying for three years then I would advise you to go ahead with the interview, even if you don't get it you can learn from it and use the experience in the future.
To give you an example for expressing weaknesses if asked, in past interviews I have mentioned that I lack the experience to communicate effectively with a large group of people. I then followed it up with, however, I have joined an organization called toastmasters to build and develop my experience and become more competent in this area. So you are being honest about your weakness (which if you have this particular one they will have already noticed) but you are following it up with a solution and showing that you are trying to overcome it.

Sometimes I think the more you want something the more worked up you make yourself! Like in your head you're probably thinking this is my only chance. In reality, it's not there are plenty of Ph.D.'s and there will be plenty more. So just remind yourself that this is not the be-all and the end all. You will still be you if you don't get it. Hope that helps a little.

Hi rewt,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my comment. It is comforting to know that it is standard enough not to have data yet. Ha yes, the weather has been awful, which to me is not a problem because I really enjoy the outdoors rain, hail, or shine. But I suppose it's not to everyone's taste so that could be a factor that I didn't consider, thanks. No, the equipment is very expensive I don't have an account with them it would have to go through the college or the funding body I would assume. So that part is out of my hands but I will give a gentle reminder about it weekly so that it doesn't slip his mind.
About the meetings, the more I get to know him I can tell he is a naturally unorganized individual, and it's not because he doesn't care. Like you mentioned he probably will be more motivated to have regular calls when the weather gets better and I start collecting data and we have more to chat about.
There is no lab work required in my fieldwork, when it's up and running it will be a live feed to my desktop. I did download sample data from the company that supply the instruments and I have been practising analysing it through the software that I will be using. I will continue to do this until I have my own data. It is really difficult because everything is so new to me and I have no guidance but I guess Ill just keep going until someone tells me I've done it wrong ha!
I was put in touch with other students because our research falls under the same broad category, which is great but they are in another university and some of the ways they do things are different to my university. So even though I still feel disconnected from my own university, It really does help just knowing other students and being able to talk to them. Even this forum is a huge help just reading others comments and being able to relate to them is really helpful.

Thanks again for your reply and I will most definitely be asking dumb questions on here again :)