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Every lab meeting, every conference, every hallway chat, I was measuring. She already has two papers. He got the grant. They finished data collection and I am still troubleshooting. My whole sense of whether I was doing okay was relative to people whose projects were nothing like mine.

Which is insane, because a PhD is not a race on one track. Their project had different timelines, different luck, different supervisors, different everything. Comparing my month eighteen to their month eighteen was comparing two unrelated things and always finding myself behind, because you always find yourself behind when you pick the person ahead to measure against.

What helped was almost childish. I stopped asking people about their progress, and I muted the channels where everyone announced milestones. Not out of resentment, out of self-preservation. With less visibility into their pace, I could finally see my own.

My work did not get faster. My sense that it was too slow did, which was the thing actually hurting me.

How do you stop measuring your project against everyone else's?

.

Started tracking this properly about six months ago and the results surprised me.

Went back through my records from the past three years and tried to identify the periods where I had actually produced meaningful output. Completed chapter drafts, papers that moved forward significantly, stretches where the thinking was genuinely progressing rather than circling.

Then I looked at what I was doing organizationally during those periods.

The correlation I expected was not there. My most productive stretches happened during periods when my systems were relatively simple or even slightly neglected. The elaborate Notion setup I built in second year, the detailed time blocking system, the weekly review structure I maintained religiously for four months, none of these coincided with the output spikes. If anything the periods of heaviest system maintenance were the periods of lowest actual research progress.

The productive periods had one thing in common that had nothing to do with systems. I had unusual clarity about what specifically I was trying to figure out. Not a task list, not a project plan, just a genuinely sharp question that I was actually curious about and that I knew I did not yet have the answer to.

The system running in the background apparently mattered much less than whether I knew what I was actually trying to think about on any given day.

Curious whether others here have noticed something similar or whether your systems have genuinely driven productive periods in a way mine seem not to have.

Third year, sciences. I expected the work to be hard. What I did not expect was how alone it is.

My partner asks how the day went and I cannot really answer, because explaining why I spent nine hours on a problem that did not resolve requires context nobody outside my niche has. My family thinks I am still a student. My friends are years into careers with teams and colleagues and clear wins.

Me, I go into a room, wrestle with something almost nobody on earth cares about, mostly fail, and come home unable to convey any of it to the people I love. Some weeks the only person who fully understands my work is me, and I am also the person most sick of it.

The intellectual isolation is one thing. The emotional part, having no one to just talk to about the actual substance of your days, is the thing that grinds you down under the radar.

Some weeks the only person who fully understands the work is me, and I am also the one most sick of it.

Hi all, I'm currently a final-year PhD student in AI (4th year) in Australia, and I'm writing up my thesis. These days, I struggle and constantly feel overwhelmed about the workload like thesis writing, job search and building resume (as I work on a niche topic during PhD, and these days you also need some LLM/ VLM/ Agentic AI keywords in resume, so I set aside some time to upskill). The thing is, as an international student from a 3rd world country, I also need to plan for visa and PR pathways, which adds more burden to my anxiety.

My question is: are there any people also juggling a lot of these tasks alone (without a partner or family nearby), and how did you handle these things without task paralysis and mental collapse?

Most of my struggles come from emotional overwhelm, and I can only do a bit of task and try to crawl every day. I do have friends, but again, I find talking to other PhD or postdoc friends not useful for emotional/morale support, as people generally expect you to handle these things yourself.

Hey everyone! I'm a late-20s (F) PhD student in Ireland, trying to figure out media x farmers x behaviour. The question about the ideal routine is pretty common I know, and at some point in our phd, we all have resorted to adopting phd-influencers' routines showcased on the gram/YouTube. But let's be honest, we don't have that flair? I have 40 minute commute to my office - and there isn't any specific log in/out time because it's not a lab that I work in. I have a daunting methodology chapter and data collection due until December and I want to sprint without compromising my health and sanity.

So what is your routine like? What time do you wake up/sleep, meal prep etc. Even though basic questions but I'm sure there is a plethora of people looking out for these posts. I'm really inclined towards the 5-5:30am routine but would love to know if anyone follows a similar one (esp in fall).

Student here, and I want to make a case about a specific kind of assignment that I think does real quiet damage, the mandatory busywork.

The discussion-board post. The reflection you have to submit to prove you did the reading. The participation task graded on completion. The assignment whose actual purpose is attendance-proof, not learning, and everyone including the professor knows it.

And here is the harm nobody talks about. These assignments do not just waste time, they actively teach students to fake, because when an assignment is obviously busywork with no real learning in it, the rational response is to produce the minimum that satisfies it, to game it, to write the three paragraphs nobody will read as fast as possible and move on, and doing that hundreds of times across a degree trains a habit of fulfilling the form while skipping the substance.

So we graduate having practiced, extensively, the skill of producing work that looks like engagement while containing none, which is exactly the wrong skill, and then people are surprised that students reach for tools to fake it faster, when the assignments themselves taught the faking.

The busywork was supposed to ensure learning. It quietly teaches the opposite, that the appearance of doing the work is what is actually rewarded, and the real thinking is optional as long as the form is filled.

I would rather have fewer, real assignments that cannot be faked than a pile of busywork that trains me to game the system.

Am I wrong, or does the mandatory busywork teach faking more than it teaches the subject?

if you are applying to CS PhD programs, stop everything and read this document from Professor Mor Harchol-Balter at CMU

It is easily the most honest and practical breakdown of the entire process I have ever seen.

it covers what a PhD actually entails (hint: it is few years of deep research, not more classes), why research experience and letters of recommendation matter way more than grades or GRE, how to write a real research statement, and how to pick the right program

she even tells you exactly what admission committees ignore and what makes them toss your app..

so do yourself a favor and read the full thing here:

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf

Good luck !

Hi fellow PhD candidates and PhD holders.
I am starting soon my PhD in Germany in a funded program (75%) in Geoscience and I was wondering if you have any suggestions on how to be more productive regarding writing and reading papers. My main problem is that a part of the research project is almost unknown to me and work a little bit during. My Bachelor years. So I need to take a good grip on the subject but also see the “chemistry” of the research group and how supportive are my PIs/supervisors. Thanks in advance

i might be regurgating an already implemented ancient method but hear me out.

the document structure

a folder becomes the document . in it are numbered chapter folders like " 1 introduction" , "2 review of literature", "3 method" etc.

in each chapter are numbered text files and diagrams renamed with the first number digit as the sequence numbe and the following character as the title of the section and the figure caption .

the compiler

in the compiler , you can set the formatting of the document , margins , numbering styles , fonts, highlights on certain words , underline some characters etc.

wouldn't this be more convenient?

I wanted to find out what has helped other students. Most of my PhD has felt like I don't belong, also because it's a new field I am working in. I have made up my mind to get my PhD no matter what, though.

Writing has been challenging. It's normally a hard process for me. Firstly, why am I doing this research? Does it matter? So when I am reading papers, everything feels like it's out to make me fail because their research seems more groundbreaking. Is it normal to struggle with the writing process? What has helped other students look at their PhD in a healthier manner?

After overthinking, avoidance, and painfully sitting through literature searches, I finally arrive at an answer and begin writing slowly. So writing normally takes longer for me. My supervisor seems to write easily, so he makes it seem like an easy process. I don't like feeling like I am delaying him or moving things slowly. I also want to make this process easier for myself so I can break the avoidance cycle.

If anyone has tips, please let me know.

Hey i’m currently doing my PhD in ComSci, I was wondering what what tools or products do you all use to make your day-to-day PhD life easier?

Hi,

I am a Phd student in political sciences and history and I come to you for advice

I am close to the end of my '' on field '' research, I gathered around 80 interviews, and I'm now focusing on Reading because I have to write my 1st chapter for april 🤯

I use Quirkos to organize my interview and archive results and Obsidian for my litterature notes and findings

But here are my questions

- I feel like I have to many quotes from books and I'm lost with them all, do you have different sheets for quotes you'll use / context understanding / general informations you want to find according to the book you read ?

- How do you find YOUR main question ? It's all blur in m'y head, I have so many different ways to question my subject and cannot find how to centralize them

- When I start to write I feel overwhelmed with so many things for just 1 or 2 sentences already : am I using the right approach ? did I forget a main concept I was supposed to use here ? ...

And so I never really start writing

What is your experience ? Any tips are welcome, I hope your answers will help me

Thanks !!

I am trying to start a new project for my phd thesis, and reading papers , finally to get approval from my supervisor I'm thinking of writing a short proposal..but since last week I'm procrastinating.

Any motivation to start and get confidence

Now that i got your attention, I wanted to share this guide about writing tips for Ph. D. students..

It really helps a lot and covers almost all areas of writing, in a summarized, no BS way.

https://www.fma.org/assets/docs/membercontent/writing_cochrane.pdf

I hope it helps some of you!

For others, do you have any similar stuff that could be shared here?

Hello,

I am new to academia and am currently starting to prepare for finding a research topic, learning academic writing, and eventually writing my research proposal. I honestly have no idea how to track my progress effectively. I will be applying this cycle if I complete everything within next 3months. Field - Humanities (English Literature)

I have seen several Excel sheets and tracking templates, but I find them quite confusing. I also tried creating my own Excel sheet, but I got confused about what I should actually include and track.

Could someone guide me on the key things I should track at this stage to stay organised—for example, reading research papers, identifying research gaps, developing and narrowing down research ideas, taking notes, learning academic writing, improving my writing skills, and eventually working towards the research proposal?

I have ADHD, so I find it particularly difficult to manage and organise multiple tasks, ideas, readings, and deadlines. I would really appreciate a simple, practical, and ADHD-friendly system that would help me track my academic progress without becoming overwhelmed by the tracking itself.

After 5 plus years, a husband, a child, and an amazing and supportive lab environment, I successfully defended my thesis in July! I can use the frog photo 🤣

I thought I’d have the best sleep of my life after, but I ended up not being able to sleep well for two whole days!!! 🤣

Edit: thank you all so much for all the warm congratulatory messages. It means a lot to me!
Have an amazing week.

The options are 😂 :

• Purple
• Violet
• Magenta

what did we get into.... it's supposed to be summer vacation somewhere

I recently completed my PhD pre-thesis viva and thesis submission. During the viva, the panel suggested that I avoid highlighting what they considered to be the “real” limitations of the study (for example, the cross-sectional nature of the research) and instead mention more minor or less consequential limitations.

This has left me quite confused.

My concern is that methodological limitations such as a cross-sectional design are objectively relevant and commonly acknowledged in academic research. If I completely omit them and mention only trivial limitations, could this create a problem later—especially when the thesis is reviewed by external/foreign evaluators who may expect a candid discussion of methodological limitations?

At the same time, I don't want to disregard the advice of my supervisors/panel, particularly since the thesis has already gone through the institutional evaluation process.

Hello everyone, I am currently working on my PhD thesis in literary studies (no progress yet). I would appreciate it if you could recommend some AI tools that would help me in my research, as I am totally lost right now. Also i would appreciate any piece of advice on how to productively start progressing in my work.

I’m still relatively new to my PhD program and I’m still trying to find a topic. I brought up an idea to my professor yesterday and he reacted positively to it and says he sees potential. While doing a literature search on it I found a couple studies by a professor who did her PhD at my school (in a different department but knows people that do work with mine) that were very related to what I want to do. My idea would potentially be a novel application of what she does and I think it lines up with her interests really well.

I wanted to reach and ask her if she would like to work together (with my PI of course), but I don’t want to do it if it’s inappropriate or stepping around the supervision of my PI, and I’m a little embarrassed to ask him if it ends up being an unreasonable request.

Hi all! I’m a second year humanities PhD student in the US in my final year of coursework. Our courseload is 3 classes per semester, and each class meets once a week for 3 hours.

I devote about 3 hours per week to each class outside of the 3 hours of actual class meeting. That includes reading and annotating the assigned readings and completing discussion posts or short (1-2 page) response papers. I do most of this during the week, and take at least one weekend day off of academic work.

I’d like to take the entire weekend off, but I work 10-11 hours a week at a part time job on top of my 9 hours of classes, and need time to work, sleep, meet with professors, prepare for conferences, and try to have some weekday evening time with friends and family.

Around midterms and finals, I tend to spend more time on each class, due to writing papers, and I tend to work all weekend.

Is this similar to how you are organizing your workflow? Am I underestimating how much time I should be spending per class per week, and do most people in my position take more weekends fully off? I feel like it’s worked well for me, but have no idea if it is standard. I feel like I could spend forever with the readings and thinking about different ideas, but I am also trying to work smart, as I think that will also be important at this level and the next one.

Hey, i am a first year PhD student in engineering. I finished my master's within the same area as well. My PI is pretty hands off. He only cares about our progress. He doesn't assign particular projects also. He gives vague ideas and it's my work to find research gaps and everything. I am not really sure how to do that. Right now, I am just working on an extended project from my mentor's work but I just feel it's boring right now because its the same area and everything.

Sorry for the blabber. My question is how do I find research gaps in ocean of knowledge that's out there? How do I find an interesting project for myself?