jlr1228

I agree with the general theme that it is field dependent. And as hard as it is to not compare yourself to others in your department, it never really does much good in the long run. I'm not sure if you have an advisor or mentor that you work closely with (also program dependent) but if you do, talk to him or her about your concerns and set some tangible goals to get those pubs out. I have also heard from a lot of people about keeping a "writing diary" so you can actually see how much writing you are accomplishing each day. Also find the time of day that you are most productive for writing and block that time out!

Do you have your own advisor you can ask? Depending on how supportive and understanding your advisor is, it might be a good option.

Hey, for those of you who have exams for COMPS (rather than a paper), about how long did you study before taking your exam? And how many hours did you study a day on average? Thanks!

Honestly, there are days where I just simply choose sleep over reading/writing/whatever else on my to-do list. I don't function well if I don't get sleep and when I am exhausted it is stupid to try and work anyway. So I just go to bed and finish my work in the morning. - I will say I am a morning person and usually turn in quite early. But I get up and work in the morning and I can accomplish more in a shorter amount of time in the morning fully rested then if I were to try and stay up late and do it. So, ultimately I think it is about finding your "prime time" and making it work. And choosing sleep - make it a top priority.

I learned this through trial and error as well as with MUCH input from older graduate students. There is also this really nice satisfaction feeling you get when you see your excel sheet growing larger It helps to know that the endless hours of article reading are worth it. And then you have proof as to where you have spent all your time recently - for those pesky significant others who don't fully understand what a lit review involves!!

So I am an excel lover, and I put the basic information for each article into an excel spreadsheet (citation, method, results, overall point, keywords, sometimes notes to myself). This way I can sort based on topic, or results and you can see what you have. It also helps in seeing where you have gaps. I always do this before any writing because it helps me in determining how to organize the actual paper. So you might be passed this point. But hey, if you have time and feel like it give a go I have found it incredibly helpful. Also, my friend did this for her entire dissertation literature over the course of about 3 months, then she was able to write her proposal in a week because everything was already laid out for her!!

Glad to hear that it gets better! I've only had lecture style experience (besides one on one during office hours). I am looking forward to having teaching experience where it is more discussion based.

So I am a first year clinical psych student, want to go into academia so I can do research. This semester I had to guest lecture for my professor a couple of times because she had other meetings that conflicted with class time. I discovered that I really don't like to lecture. I don't know if this is because it isn't my material, or because I don't have a lot of experience with it yet...I like working one on one with students, but not teaching in a giant lecture hall. Is it better when it's your own material??

I am going to two conferences this year, and am presenting at both. Although, even if I wasn't presenting I would still attend for the learning experiences. I typically pay for my own way, although I get $500 a year for presenting, but I can only use it once. So conference 2 is always out of pocket.