Just looking for a little support...

[BB1]

Over the last couple of days I have increasingly lacked motivation to work on my PhD. I wouldn't say I feel depressed as in other threads, just... tired. I'm not doing particularly badly, I'm halfway through (I started in October 2011) and believe I'll finish on time. I've had 3 competitive papers accepted to major conferences, 2 book chapters published and 1 journal article re-submitted after revisions (awaiting final decision).

 

The problem is that I increasingly don't care. I almost feel that the more I know and the more I do, the more I see my work as insignificant and fail to find a sense of purpose in it. My research is interesting (social sciences- interpretivist), but not groundbreaking. I seem to flit between reading articles by great authors in my field and sitting back in awe at the scope of their knowledge and their intellectual ability (and feeling very dumb and insignificant in comparison) and feeling as though being an academic (in this field) is almost too easy. I'm 23, and will get my PhD at 24, and think to myself that by the time I'm 50 will I just be bored with academia?

 

I'm hoping this will pass.I haven't had a break since Christmas (no more than the odd day or an evening off) and because I'm away at conferences and seminars in April, May and June I can't afford to take a break until July. I'm not sure if I'm just feeling 'burnt out' and whether something will re-ignite my interest, but at the moment I feel like a zombie going through the motions without any real enthusiasm, passion or flair

[PsychGirl1]

Chug it out while planning a week long vacation in July. For that week, tell everyone you will be out of the country and can't get computer or cell phone access. Turn everything off and RELAX. Make sure to drink margaritas and/or pina coladas as well!!

 

Also, I'd spend some time thinking about major future goals/careers, or the people you really want to become in the future as inspiration. You could also try pulling in a new (but related area) into your research, so that you are learning new things and are becoming challenged. (I don't know anything about your area of research). You could maybe also try brainstorming for a certain amount of time every day all the crazy, cool research ideas you would like to do? No matter how expensive/crazy/whatever. I find this often inspires me. But like I said, I know absolutely nothing about your field of research, so if this is completely irrelevant, just ignore me :-D

[Tall Chai Latte]

This is exactly how I feel right now. Two weeks ago, a major experiment failed badly after so much preparation and effort went into it, and the setback knocked most of the motivation out of me. Now I'm just struggling to get something done... I started in October 2010, and I wonder if I'll ever get done on time. So OP, you are not alone. I'm waiting for something to re-kindle my motivation too...

 

Doing something light, like catching up on literature might help. Cook myself some of my favorite food always helps in some way

[ak48]

This is exactly how I feel right now. Two weeks ago, a major experiment failed badly after so much preparation and effort went into it, and the setback knocked most of the motivation out of me. Now I'm just struggling to get something done... I started in October 2010, and I wonder if I'll ever get done on time. So OP, you are not alone. I'm waiting for something to re-kindle my motivation too...

 

Doing something light, like catching up on literature might help. Cook myself some of my favorite food always helps in some way

 

I've only had 1 year of research experience as an undergrad, but I definitely noticed the correlation between my mood and my research progress. When an experiment went right, I'd be giddy for days; long days of success drought led to irritability.

 

It was actually sort of disappointing to me, to learn how volatile and capricious happiness could be, in light of how important we think other aspects of life are.

[Tall Chai Latte]

To ak48: not only experiment results affect my mood, the reaction of my advisor also does. Really don't like this insecure and paranoid feeling hanging around.

 

I've done 3 years of undergrad research + I'm almost at the end of my third year of PhD, and yet I'm still easily affected by these things.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Tall Chai Latte

[nnnnnnn]

Hmm? I second your sense of apathy. Similarly, I haven't had a break recently, and the feeling's only been for two weeks, but wow, I'd hate to imagine the years dragging by like this.

 

After struggling on something for a year, I've finally managed to make minimal progress on my work, and this made me happy for less than a day.

 

Perhaps this will sound incredibly spoiled, but after being awarded funding (which only serves to vindicate that I can get by without achieving very much), I don't have TA work on my hands anymore. This means while watching experiments, I waste time on youtube and facebook, even if I kind of hate myself for it.

[zapster]

I seem to flit between reading articles by great authors in my field and sitting back in awe at the scope of their knowledge and their intellectual ability (and feeling very dumb and insignificant in comparison) and feeling as though being an academic (in this field) is almost too easy. I'm 23, and will get my PhD at 24, and think to myself that by the time I'm 50 will I just be bored with academia?

 

Perhaps you need to counter one with the other? Draw up a long term coherent and connected research agenda that is aspirational, motivates you to look forward to a bunch of things that seem really vast in scope and sophistication but allow you to fit your current research work as something that is just the starting point for that agenda. Once you are able see how your current work might fit into a much larger maze, it can provide you both direction and the motivation to zing along ! best of luck.

[wildviolet]

Getting a PhD, especially at such a young age, does not mean that you have to be in academia forever! You've got your whole life ahead of you. I'll get my PhD (hopefully) when I'm 38, and I still feel young. Also, you never know what life will throw at you--I take things just one day at a time. I used to try to "plan" my life, but now (after having gone through things I never thought I would have to go through), I realize that life is just too unpredictable to be worried about where I'll be 50 years from now. Two years ago, I never thought I'd be in the Midwest, yet here I am (and I survived the long winter)!

[+Whiskey]

I wholeheartedly agree with most of the above advice and would like to add: Get some sleep! Sleep can be so important to curiosity and motivation but it's so often overlooked. Get some rest. And then try to gauge and be honest with yourself about what amount of genuine rest is most efficient for YOU. Good luck! I know it's weird and maybe counterintuive to work fewer hours when you're facing difficulties. 

[imonedaful]

It is normal to get tired and bored... with just about anything. If you want a very honest account of the PhD experience read this book online:

 

http://pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir.htm <-- The PhD grind

 

The author goes through their experience of aimlessness. It is very important to take breaks. If you take a break for a week that can motivate you to work more efficiently for the next two months it is better than continuously working and getting little accomplished. Try to pick up some other hobbies that frees your mind from whatever you working on and you will feel much better. So of the PhD students in my college joined a beach volleyball league that plays on the weekends. It helps everybody relax and enjoy their experience as a grad student a little more.

 

Furthermore, the painful reality about research is that, most likely, very few people will read or care about what we are researching. Most of us make these small incremental contributions to an expansive field that seems only like a drop of rain in a lake. However, you do it for a reason. Maybe you need to take a break and think about what is your exact motivation? For me, I really like teaching. I think being a professor is an admirable and important job. I wanted to do a PhD so I could teach at the university level. However, part of that process is learning about research. Our program coordinator gave us some very useful advice. He said that learning about how to become a successful researcher is an important part of the process. You should try to be as successful as you can in research as a graduate student but if you decide that you hate the research process there is nothing wrong with not doing it the rest of your life and working at a school that focuses primarily on teaching. 

 

So, in short, my advice to you is to take a break and do something completely non-graduate school related and then take some time to thing about your original motivation for doing the degree in the first place. Do not try to think too far into the future.