Excited about starting in Fall - how to motivate to finish MA

[ἀκρατής]

Hi everyone,

 

I have found a wonderful spot in a wonderful PhD program, starting in fall. I am really excited about it and can't wait to start. And I really mean the "can't wait": I am still finishing up my MA stuff at the moment and have a really hard time motivating myself to do the work. I will have my final exams end of May. The outcome of my exams won't have any impact on my future, even if I fail, but I still would like to do somewhat well on them...

 

Is/Was anybody in a similar situation and what do/did you do to motivate yourself?

[kabelo]

This. I'm in exactly the same situation. Awesome PhD lined up, Masters degree technically irrelevant, so how will I get through this? I'd rather take some time off and travel before starting grad school in the fall.

[ἀκρατής]

Thanks for sharing kabelo! I realized that my topic shouldn't just sound like asking for advice on this - it's also so good to hear that there are other people in this situation out there! I did seriously think about not taking the exams at all and instead to go traveling. But then I became ambitious again and thought I should finish up what I've started :-). After having written the whole master's thesis etc, it's kinda hard to just throw away your MA degree entirely...

[booksnlooks]

I'm in the same situation! I'm starting a PhD in the fall, which I'm so excited about, and currently in my final exams of my MA. It's been particularly hard to motivate myself because overall I'm not happy in my MA dept - just not a good fit for me.

 

I'm motivating myself in two ways. First, I've created a reward system. If I productively study for X many hours today, or completely Y tasks from my to do list, then I'll treat myself. All little things like yoga, playing guitar, going for a walk, whatever. Second, I'm using this as practice for my PhD. I'm sure there will be a million times during my PhD when I won't feel like working, so using this time to build up my self-discipline will pay off.

 

Good luck everyone