Quit Phd, take a break? What will make me happy!?

[I_am_Myth]

A year and a half into my PhD and things are going well, I am early to mid 20's in one of the top 5 universities in the UK. I've just written a paper that successfully fixes a problem in my field. Supervisor is quite happy with performance and I am on target to finish on time. I've always been quite a high flyer, but not sure if I want all that anymore.

So why am I not happy? Why have I fallen completely out of love with research? Why do I want to quit it all and jut work a 9-5 with no weekends? I've realized that I just don't fit with the culture or work ethic of academia, don't  get me wrong I work hard (too hard) but I want a good life balance and academia doesn't offer me that.

So I have too opinions:

1) finish the PhD and then what? I've consider becoming a quant  but that looks very stressful. Orginal plan was academia, but thats out of the window now that I've realized its not what I want.

2) I could quit now with a masters and get a job. I've been looking into something like actuary? Its seem like quit a stable and relaxed pace job. But worried that my potential would be wasted or I'd end up regreting it?

3) take a break from the PhD and get a job - take say a 10 month break and 'find myself' and figure out what I what I want in life, best of both worlds as I can always return if I want but, not sure if this is even possible?

 

Anyone have any advice on what to do? Unhappy doing what I'm doing but not sure how to change for the better?

[meowth]

I wouldn't just quit.

 

If you just "take a break" I'm assuming you'd still have bills to pay, and even just having NO obligations isn't actually as fun as it seems (especially if you have no source of income). If you take your masters and leave, there's no saying how long you'd be unemployed before you find a job. Even if you think you're just going to work 9-5, that doesn't mean you won't have nights that work makes you stay late. That you won't end up having to come in during the weekend to finish a project.

 

Maybe you could look into jobs while still in school. I wouldn't throw away what you have without having something else lined up first. Maybe if you're working 110% for your program, work 80% and use some of the extra time and effort to soul search, job search, etc. while you're still there, if possible. If you have a winter break or something similar coming up, think of how you could use that time too.

 

And look for people in the jobs or careers you might be interested in, talk to them, see how they like it, if they regret going into the job field instead of going for a PhD. Similarly, talk to people in your field that have a PhD, and those that got their PhD years and years ago, and ask how they felt when they were in graduate school, if they ever went through something similar, or know someone who did. If they did fall out of love with their research, felt unsuited to academia, etc., ask how they came back from that.

 

It's hard to say what you'll like until you're there and you could potentially find yourself in an even worse place than before, so that why I'd say be wary. But it's still good that you're thinking about it, since you don't want to waste years of your time doing something that you might not even like.

[memyselfandcoffee]

i agree with above poster, now that you are half way there and have nothing else lined you may as well complete, especially given your clearly well able for the programme. While I wouldnt advise someone to a phd unless is was necessary thier career, given you half way through and can handle it an do well, I feel you should defnitely finish. A phd will be of benifit, its better than masters and a year in job you may not even like( if you do in fact land a job straight away). I cant see what you would have to gain by quiting at this stage.

 

As for the idea of taking 10 months off, it seems like in ten months you would be  a year/6 months from completion (depending on whether you are doing 3/4 year phd). and you probably wont find alot to do in those ten months and you will have anxiety of knowing you have to go back and finish hanging over you.  How about a taking 3-4 weeks off over xmas and then getting stuck in and finishing?

 

be gratefull you are doing so well in your programme, and the Phd will stand to you in future even if you dont go inot academia.

[prefers_pencils]

You just sound like you're a little burned out. Do you take vacations, weekly time off, trips out of town? You'd be surprised what a difference a few days can make. Given your major issue is the work/life balance, give a little more to your non-work life for a month and see how things feel. Manage expectations with your advisor so the workload is a bit lighter.

 

Some academics work every day, but not everyone does. Maybe being at a top 5 school has something to do with it. The faculty there sought the prestige of your school/department, worked hard to get there and work harder to stay. It's not necessarily representative of everyone in academia as a whole. Enjoy the atmosphere while you're there and look forward to finding a job in a place that isn't so intense.

 

FWIW, I've never seen an actuary refer to their job as "relaxed".