1st week and I'm already exhausted! Just me?

[hejduk]

Just moved across the country to a new state. Took a GTA position for a new class I've never taught. Overwhelmed with learning a new town and campus. It's the first week and I'm already exhausted! Is this just me, or others feeling this way already?

Whoo it's gonna be a slog this first semester!

[HyacinthMacaw]

Don't worry, you are not alone! I feel the same way. And chances are people in your cohort do, too. Right now I'm just trying to take a breath, smile a little half-smile, and give things my best shot. I try to find company with people who make me feel happy and good about myself, i.e. mostly people in my program. That gives me the security of knowing that I've got support from my peers should I ever need comfort, humor, etc. as I settle down to the daily grind. Sure, things aren't easy right now, but I'm chasing my dreams and enriching my mind and my soul along the way, and I think I'll be a better human being for it.

I hear you, I'm overwhelmed, too. This too shall pass, as they say. Give yourself credit that you've already come this far--why surrender now? You are capable of far more than you've achieved thus far, and you know it. That's why freaking out before every challenge, and grieving if we fall short, never really pays off in the long run. We're stronger than the vicissitudes of academic life would lead us to believe.

Some stress is expected and fine and even beneficial. When we cope with it in a healthy way, we grow even stronger and more resilient.

So I wish you and everyone all the best!

[robot_hamster]

This is my 3rd semester. Believe me, you still feel tired after the first week!

[ktel]

I just flew here yesterday and woke up this morning feeling sick...I guess all the stress of moving and packing finally caught up to me. I need to get better by Monday so I can go to rugby try-outs. I start getting busy next week.

[hejduk]

Don't worry, you are not alone! I feel the same way. And chances are people in your cohort do, too. Right now I'm just trying to take a breath, smile a little half-smile, and give things my best shot. I try to find company with people who make me feel happy and good about myself, i.e. mostly people in my program. That gives me the security of knowing that I've got support from my peers should I ever need comfort, humor, etc. as I settle down to the daily grind. Sure, things aren't easy right now, but I'm chasing my dreams and enriching my mind and my soul along the way, and I think I'll be a better human being for it.

Glad I'm not the only one! And you make a great point about "chasing dreams and enriching my mind"; helps put it in perspective. This whole PhD thing is a priviledge, and not a right. Glad I'm here and proud to know I have the opportunity that only so few have.

This is my 3rd semester. Believe me, you still feel tired after the first week!

I'm guessing the fatigue for most people is just related to getting back into the grind?

[robot_hamster]

I'm guessing the fatigue for most people is just related to getting back into the grind?

Yes, I suppose that it probably it. I kinda sorta didn't do anything this summer and now it's coming back to bite me as I start the new fall semester.

[StrangeLight]

heh. i was busy for most of the summer, taking may off for some much needed decompression, but then i got back to work. i've found that these spurts of 8 months of "grinding" are bad for my mental and physical health. i've taken a few approaches to dealing with work so that i feel less stressed.

1) make a weekly to-do list at the beginning of your week that contains everything work-related that you'll need to do that week (coursework and research and TA/RA responsibilities)

2) at night, make a daily to-do list for the next day only. work until you complete that to-do list and then stop, even if it's only 3 or 4 in the afternoon. you'll know that you're progressing towards completing the week's tasks so you won't feel so guilty when you decide to grab a beer at 6 pm one evening.

lots of people recommend time management skills, saying "work from 8 am to 7 pm every day and just stop at 7 whether you're done or not. treat it like a regular job." this is generally good advice and works for a lot of people, but a regular 9-5 job feels like a grind too, and you're adding on 3 more hours of it and taking it into the weekend. i tried that for two years and it wasn't sustainable for me. now i'm switching to "energy management" rather than "time management." i set daily tasks and when i complete them, that's it. it's usually "read one book, write a short summary, and start an outline of my overview." if i tell myself, i have this day to read this 400 page book, and that's it, i'll find a way to do it more efficiently. if i tell myself, "i'm going to read for 9 hours today" then i often don't finish the book in a day because i read too slowly or too carefully and everything starts to pile up by the end of the week.

Edited August 27, 2011 by StrangeLight

[UnlikelyGrad]

Just moved across the country to a new state. Took a GTA position for a new class I've never taught. Overwhelmed with learning a new town and campus. It's the first week and I'm already exhausted! Is this just me, or others feeling this way already?

Whoo it's gonna be a slog this first semester!

Teaching for the first time is hard and stressful in and of itself. So is moving/settling in.

Basically, you have two major stressors in your life right now--of course you're feeling overwhelmed!

It will pass. Trust me. I'm not saying your life will be easy, ever--but it will become more manageable. Hang in there; you'll do fine. Good luck with everything!

[Eigen]

Even though I never left school this summer (and I'm done with classes, so my routine doesn't really change starting a new semester), I always find the first week of the semester a drag- part of it is the campus that was so nice, empty and peaceful being clogged with tons of undergraduates.

Part of it is doing orientations/events for the new grad students, setting up meetings with undergraduate researchers who're back from the summer, etc.

But I think a lot of it is just psychological, at least for me. It passes pretty fast, and I find a new rhythm for the rest of the semester.

Give yourself a while to adjust, and I think you'll find it a lot better.

[Eigen]

Also, lest you think this is just a grad student thing:

First Week: Survival Stories from the Hardest Week of the Term from the CHE forums... No one likes the first week.

[ktel]

I had my first symptoms of impostor syndrome today. I sat in on some presentations from the summer students who are now finished their projects and a lot of it sounded like gibberish. Some of them didn't explain things as well as they could have, however. On the bright side, I figure that if these undergrads can do such great projects in 4 months, I'll be able to pick things up.

Otherwise I'm spending a lot of time on transit and killing time between various appointments.

[wtncffts]

Has anyone else had their baggage lost on the way to your new home? I've never had problems with bags before, so this was not fun and quite stressful. So, I've been here two days and they've been, especially the first, exhausting, more from worry and anxiety than from any work, which doesn't start until next week for me. I'm looking forward to actually getting started on things; the downtime even between today and next week seems daunting.

[fuzzylogician]

I've had my baggage lost the last three times I went home (different airlines, different airports, even different suitcase, I think it must be karma). Not while moving, though, I can imagine how stressful that must be. They always found it within two-three days and delivered it to my home, if that helps. I hope it works out for you too. Good luck with the move! take some time to get familiarized with your new surroundings, since you have some downtime. Walk (drive?) up and down the streets, find at least two-three ways to bike to school, learn the bus/train system, pop into all the stores around your new apartment. Learn where there's good takeaway and where you can find a drugstore that's open late. This is information that could be helpful later on in the semester, when you won't have time to do the "research".

[nehs]

And I thought I was the only one. I woke up with a head ache this morning. Grad School + marriage is a very stressful combination and I am in one such combination..Geeez!

I hope things get manageable soon. The transit/travel time is what is taking its toll on me.

[hejduk]

And I thought I was the only one. I woke up with a head ache this morning. Grad School + marriage is a very stressful combination and I am in one such combination..Geeez!

I hope things get manageable soon. The transit/travel time is what is taking its toll on me.

In the same boat, but wouldn't have it any other way. We moved cross-country, and it's something exciting for both of us to face these new challenges together. Definitely has made our relationship stronger.

Sure she probably gets sick of me b!tching about my cohort, etc, but at least she pretends like she's listening! Oh, and statistically those that are married are more likely to finish their PhD.

[bedalia]

Has anyone else had their baggage lost on the way to your new home? I've never had problems with bags before, so this was not fun and quite stressful.

You might be able to get a per diem-type compensation from the airline to cover the expenses due to not having your bags, for example toiletries, change of clothes, towel, etc. I've been able to make such a claim several times, granted that was more than 10 years ago and I was travelling internationally. I don't know if either factors make a difference, but it's worth inquiring.

[wtncffts]

Thanks. I got the bag yesterday. I suppose it was a bit of an overreaction emotionally on my part, but as I said, it's never happened to me before and for some reason the thought of my bag being lost somewhere out there combined with moving to a new and unfamiliar place just got to me. Objectively, nothing in it was all that valuable, but perhaps for the books that were for courses.

[ktel]

^ I hope you got some sort of compensation from the airline for their mistake

[wtncffts]

^ I hope you got some sort of compensation from the airline for their mistake

Well, I think I would have to file a claim and go through a whole bureaucratic process. I don't think the hassle is worth it, especially right now, and I can't honestly claim that there was substantial harm done; I had all the necessities with me and going a couple days in the same clothes isn't the end of the world.

[Sigaba]

lots of people recommend time management skills, saying "work from 8 am to 7 pm every day and just stop at 7 whether you're done or not. treat it like a regular job." this is generally good advice and works for a lot of people, but a regular 9-5 job feels like a grind too, and you're adding on 3 more hours of it and taking it into the weekend. i tried that for two years and it wasn't sustainable for me. now i'm switching to "energy management" rather than "time management." i set daily tasks and when i complete them, that's it. it's usually "read one book, write a short summary, and start an outline of my overview." if i tell myself, i have this day to read this 400 page book, and that's it, i'll find a way to do it more efficiently. if i tell myself, "i'm going to read for 9 hours today" then i often don't finish the book in a day because i read too slowly or too carefully and everything starts to pile up by the end of the week.

SL--

With respect, I suggest that you abandon the frame of mind where you're saying you read "too slowly or too carefully." Read the way that works best for you. If you need to change those methods and develop different skills, look at those revised methods as improvements but not the older versions as "failures." That is, see yourself as going from good to better, and from better to great.

In regards to managing time, an approach that worked for me is that I would say, no matter what, the interval between the end of my last class of the week and at least the next twenty four hours was my weekend. What ever I did during that interval, it could not have anything to do with history.

Equally useful was teaching myself how not to stress out about taking a break during the week. So if I was going to watch a game, I would enjoy the game and not worry about what I could/should be doing. On occasion, this practice did lead to some very long nights, but then, sometimes there advantages to having insomnia.

HTH.

[jynx]

YES! I actually came to the forum today to start a thread like this, only to find that there was already one here.

I'm feeling super stressed and overwhelmed and having some serious impostor syndrome. Everyone in my program (especially my advisor!) is extremely nice and helpful, which, although I really appreciate it, actually makes me feel even worse for being so lost. I've been getting nothing but advice and support and I still feel like I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. My lab is starting a research project and is trying to get me involved in it, but I feel like they overestimate me even when they try to hold my hand. They even picked out a part of the project for me to do, but I have no idea how to do it or how to even get started. So I'm wondering, did I somehow mislead them during application season into thinking I knew how to do this already? Nobody else in my cohort seems to be having as tough a time as I am, and they all have more research experience than I do...

I think the worst part is I have absolutely no idea what is expected of me. It's so disorienting and stressful. I can't tell if I love grad school or hate it yet...so far I have been vacillating between the two from moment to moment.

[far_to_go]

Jynx, sorry to hear you're having a tough time with the research program. You may not know how to do your part right now, but I'm sure you CAN learn to do it! Hopefully you'll find a way to let your colleagues know that you need some more help getting started, and they'll be responsive to that.

One of my incoming cohort-mates last year was in a situation that sounds similar to yours. She was new to our field of study and was very worried about whether she'd be able to catch up with those of us who had a background in the field. She hung in there, and now she's doing well and loving the program. Hope this will be the case for you too.

[wtncffts]

So, I don't know if this is taking the thread too off-course, but I guess I'm just in need of a little encouragement. I moved to my new city on Monday, had the baggage problems, got a lot of things set up, and my overwhelming feeling right now is that I just want to go home. I learned today of a family-related problem back home and really feel that I should be there, but that's prohibitively expensive. I also don't know anyone here and don't have internet access at my place; I know the latter seems like a small thing but it's kind of frustrating to have to go out to find a wifi spot just to check things. It's also the long weekend so a lot of places are closed. i'm just feeling extremely homesick, much more so than when I left for my master's a few years ago. I hope and imagine this will start to change when courses get going and I have things to work on, but right now it's just a very empty, almost guilty feeling, like I'm not where I'm supposed to be. Any advice, encourangement, whatnot, would be great.

[fuzzylogician]

Hang in there. I can sympathize about wanting to go home for a family emergency just after moving (it ended well in my case, thankfully, without me having to go home) and I am sure everyone will agree that the first few days in a new place can be overwhelming and very lonely. I also completely understand about not having internet, it's a terrible feeling knowing that you're far away and can't connect with your friends and family as easily as you'd like, especially when you know that there's something going on that you'd like to be kept in the loop about. This may not be too helpful but just hang in there. This moment will pass. In another week classes will begin and you'll get busy, you'll start making friends, internet will eventually be installed. Hopefully things will become clearer with your family and I hope that it all turns out for the best. In the meanwhile, maybe there are people in your department who you could meet over the weekend? some people work during the weekend and I'm sure they won't be opposed to taking the new guy with them when they go for lunch or dinner. Or find some hotspot (or use the university internet) to talk to friends from home? It's only two more days; I promise you after that your program will keep you so busy you won't even notice you don't have internet at home..

[eco_env]

I have some time before I start classes, but I'll soon be moving into my new apartment, furnishing it, setting up residency in the state, opening in a new bank account, etc. I suspect the queasiness I'm feeling is a result of anxiety about getting everything sorted out.