Dear earthlings,
I'm practicing something for my future PhD use..what is it that I'm practicing you may ask..the will to write as soon as I have something to write about...For your information, I am actually very scared of starting my PhD journey...I've heard (and read) so many experiences from those who's traveled down this road..Honest to God, I'm scared..I'm scared I won't have the resilience and patience..I'm scared that I won't have ideas for something novel..I'm scared of a lot of things...I'm just plunging in to this journey...I start in September...
In order to allay my fears, I started asking around about the whole PhD journey from all those Drs who successfully came out on the other side completing their PhD on time...I wanted to know, what it took for me to achieve the same feat...I'll list down some of the most important things they highlighted to me...
1. Always go to school..This may seem trivial and obvious but remember, PhD is a journey you take on your own..Nobody is going to boss you around and nag you to go to school..There'll be no classes, it's just you and your research..therefore, you must have a strong will and make sure that you clock in at least 40 hours a week...just like when you were working..only difference is, this time around, you are completely focusing on your research..They said that they'll come in at 8 and go back at 5...If they ever felt that they wanted to leave early on Friday, they made sure that they completed their to-do list earlier on..or if not, they would actually come in on the weekends to finish off whatever unfinished business...
2. Focus and focus and focus...oh...and struggle...and work extremely hard during the first year..this was said because many made the mistakes of leisurely cruising along the first year just by reading and doing the Lit Review...One of them actually advised me to start the experiment as early on as possible...Whenever I bumped into a wall, or some kindda hiccup in the experiment, then I could delve further into the LR and find articles closely related to the experiment I'm working on...then things will make more sense.. and we won't be like finding needle in a haystack..The LR will be more specific...
3. Write...write and write...Some people make the mistake of keeping the writing session till they complete the experiment, however, this is highly unadvisable said one of the successful Dr..It is better if we could do a write up about our experiment, comment on the results as soon as we are happy with the completed experiment...If we put off writing until at the very end, there's a high chance we'll end up with a lot of graphs, and numbers that don't make sense to us at that time...
4. Plan your work..this is what they said to me...Each week, Monday morning, just take some time to list down all you need to complete during the week..Make sure that the tasks are not insurmountable but not too easily achieved as well..there should be a balance so that at the end of the day, you are making full use of your time...make sure it is visible..write on small post-it..stick it to your laptop..so it's there..right in front of you...there's a huge difference between a TO-DO list in your mind and in front of your eyes..we are visual creatures...
5. Make friends with your research group members..this is super important..yes, PhD is an individual thing but it's not wrong to have some kind of support system who understands what you are going through, who are familiar with the deadlines and research..talk to them..sometime, maybe even during coffee breaks, during casual talks, we can get ideas because we are sitting among people who are doing nearly the same thing..
6. Set up a small group of people and then meet maybe weekly to present your findings on the journals and papers you've read..this way, all members can benefit in the sense that they don't actually have to scour through the whole article, they can get the gist of it from the group discussion...
7. Meet the supervisor regularly, so that he/she knows your progress and if you are digressing, they will be there to help nudge you back on the right path...
8. If you really want to take a break, then the best time to do it is when you go off for conferences to present your paper...After 2 days conferences, you can take a couple of days off to re-energize your batteries knowing that you have actually done something that can contribute to your PhD before having fun...It is tempting to go off on a trip to Europe especially when UK is very nearby and the flight tix are cheap, but do abstain yourselves especially during the earlier years of your PhD...Once you've achieved a huge milestone in your PhD progress, then you can reward yourself with that trip you've been dreaming of..
9. Doa and prayers...So very important beyond words. We may try as we might...but if we forget to ask help from the source of everything, if we forget that it is from Him that all our ideas come from, then maybe He will test our patience and our will just to see whether we return back to Him...Nothing happens if the Creator does not will it, therefore, pray.
I'm sure there's a lot more tips from those who made it but these are just a few that I managed to grab from the people I asked..Hope this helps those embarking on this huge PhD journey..This post is actually more of a self-reminder for me so that I don't forget myself when i'm there...
Yours Truly,
Adventure Addict
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