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Grad school

not today
academic  ·  motivation  ·  survival guide
Some days are just not for PhD Writing

Last week I went to the library to get some work done in a less distracting environment. However, I couldn’t get any job done. You should suspect that my going to the library meant it was serious business for me.

One of my new semester goals is to visit the library more often. Even though I recognise that there are lots of online resources in terms of up-to-date journal access, I acknowledge that the library has a lot of resources that help one with understanding the theoretical and fundamental issues one intends to address in the cause of a PhD journey.

So I went to the library to use the resources and get a chunk of work done but guess what? I couldn’t do anything! The words were not flowing coherently. It was taking me a longer time to understand the article I was trying to read. Mind you, this was the early hours of the day (well not so early), between 10 am to 12 pm. The point is that this was the first intellectual work I was doing for the day, but I was not making any headway.

After trying and trying to get into my flow, you know what I did? I stopped trying. I closed everything that had to do with PhD and do something else unrelated to academics. This is not my first time experiencing a day like this, but this is the first time I am writing about it

I bet you have experienced some days like this. If you have, you should know that it’s not just you and the fault is not with you. Some days are just not for writing. Some days, you get into the flow effortlessly, other days it is just a struggle. Don’t think too hard about it, get away from the system for a little bit. Probably have a chat with a friend, read a book not related to academics or talk a walk or even journal.

It could be that your mind just needs a day to cool off and sometimes it could require more than a day but don’t take too many days off as it becomes harder to get back into the flow.

Just remember that some days are not just for academic writing so that you can be less hard on yourself for not getting it right. It is not you. Today is just not the day. Sometimes it’s just that simple.

Photo credit: mayankbhogal on flickr
October 5, 2020

celebrate
academic  ·  lifestyle  ·  survival guide
PAUSE. Give yourself a pat on the back

So you have deadlines to meet. You have to work all through the weekend. Probably that’s how you define your productivity (you should read my previous post on how productivity is relative to help you define productivity right).

I am not against you being productive and meeting your deadlines. But come to think of it feels like these deadlines don’t come to an end. As a full-time lecturer and full-time PhD student, finishing a deadline does not mean much because there are other deadlines piled up for me. Meeting a deadline is just one down among others. Does this sound familiar?

So what am I saying?

I am saying PAUSE. Before you go rushing into meeting the next deadline, take a break and celebrate the fact that you just accomplished something no matter how small it seems. It is worth celebrating because you completed it against all the odds. You were able to manage your time, put in the necessary resources to meet the deadline against the bountiful distractions and other things struggling for your time.

You my friend, met a deadline and for that reason, it is worth celebrating.

Celebrating little wins does not make you vain instead, it makes you mindful, accountable and attentive because not everyone can recognise a win even when it is staring them in the face. Learn to recognise and celebrate the little accomplishments in the cause of your journey.

Don’t be a victim of the pitfall that thinks about other tasks yet to complete. Not only does this ruin your current celebration, but it also deprives you of the gift of being present.

Whether you are a PhD student or not, don’t forget to PAUSE and give yourself a pat on the back. You deserve it.

Photo credit: siddharthav on flickr
September 20, 2020

academic  ·  awareness  ·  Writing
Shutting out the noise in your head (Part 1)

Noise according to oxford dictionary is a sound especially loud and unpleasant or that causes disturbance. It could a good music may be playing but if the song is unwelcome at the time then, it is noise. The description matches the noise we are used to, I call it the noise on the outside. I use that term because I recognize that there is noise that happens on the inside, the noise in our minds.

This kind of noise is particularly annoying to me because there is no turn off switch. For the noise on the outside, you can turn it off quite easily. For instance, if you are in a noisy environment, you can put on a headset to counter the source of the noise or you can leave the place.

However, the noise in the mind is so tricky, sometimes you won’t even know that its there. Inside noise handicaps you, cuts your productivity flow and causes your thoughts to be incoherent whether you are a PhD student or not. It simple terms, it is crippling to your mental health and the worse part is that you might not recognize its effect on your mental health until the damage has been done.

I mean how do you fight an enemy you can’t see?

I don’t claim to be an expert in mental health however, I will share how I detect that there is noise in my mind as it might suggest to you things to pay attention as regards inside noise.

  1. I can’t explain how I feel. This might sound like an emotional issue because it has to do with feelings but it’s not. If one is in a stable mental space, you should be able to tell if you are excited, overwhelmed, sad, angry or hurt but when you can’t place a name to what you feel there is high tendency that there is noise in your mind.
  2. I lose concentration. This is like a very obvious sign but for me, I can lose concentration when I am hungry or tired which is not the same as inside noise. So how do I tell the difference? Well… If I lose concentration and I have no desire to eat or rest then I know that I am losing concentration as a result of noise in my head.
  3. I am all over the place. This is the most obvious sign for me and the last sign to manifest mostly after damage has been done. At this point, I experience lack of concentration combined with restless. I can’t sit still, my thoughts are in shambles, I am neither here nor there. I maybe at my work station at school but my mind is not there. I think of going home but I don’t think it will help either.

Does any of these signs relate to you? If I am missing some, tell me in the comments. I look forward to hearing from you.

Watch out for the second part of this post which addresses what to do about it.

Photo credit: pedroalves on flickr
September 1, 2020