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A grad student’s journey to a PhD is often difficult and stressful, and self-doubt, job insecurity, and deficient supervision are common triggers of mental health issues in PhD students (Friedrich et al., 2023). Other triggers include an imbalance between effort and reward, boundary permeability and lack of leader support (Heming et al., 2024). While some factors like lack of funding may be beyond your immediate control, there are many things you can do to keep yourself motivated during your PhD; these seem small stuff but can add up in the long run.
Daily targets
Set tiny daily targets, like read X papers or write 100 words. Just the act of starting work can actually trigger inspiration. Harper Staples, who holds a PhD in education, shares her experience:
How often have you sat down at a desk to finally attempt that essay/dissertation/analysis, fearful after what’s felt like a decade of avoidance only to find that, in fact, you have the answer already ripe, juicy and ready to pick at the front of your mind? Even though we often might feel that not directly addressing the task at the top of our “to do” list means that we are ignoring it completely, I often find that I have actually been subconsciously mulling it over the whole time. Often, inspiration strikes at moments when you are as far as you could be from your laptop …
Set up a routine
Set up a routine; go to your lab/university and work from the library even if you’ve no specific experiment to run that day. Anastasia Dorinina shared the following about her journey to secure a PhD in water engineering:
failing to separate my home and work life had begun to affect my mental health, and I wasn’t being as productive as I needed to be. So I packed up all the necessary equipment and decided to make my desk at work a welcoming and alluring environment. […] Slowly getting into a routine has also been mildly satisfying and has alleviated some of the stress I’ve been feeling over the last few weeks.
Be social
Network in whatever way you can. Keep in touch with peers; reach out to others in your cohort and suggest a quick coffee or meeting a couple of times a month. This reduces feelings of isolation. Make it a point to attend conferences, even small regional ones in your field to build up a network. Lorie Owens, who holds a PhD in education, shares:
I have been fortunate to have been able to attend several conferences, paid for my employer at the time (a state education agency) or my university. I cannot say that I necessarily gained knowledge at any of these that directly benefitted me. What did prove more valuable to me was the ability to meet people in my specific field and have intellectual conversations with them. That being said, we can accomplish much of this same networking online in this 21st century world. You need not feel limited by your inability to attend conferences. Many of them will post the keynote speeches and other addresses online afterwards. You can access the intellectual “meat” of the conferences in that way. Other than that, seek out virtual colleagues via social media.
Proactively reach out to your supervisor
Schedule regular check-ins with your supervisor/advisor. Talk to them about how often they would like to meet you, whether they prefer updates via email or in person, and make a list of talking points to cover at every meeting.
Lyndsey Middleton, who holds a PhD in psychology, sums up the benefits of regularly talking to your supervisor:
One thing which is really important if anyone ever feels lost in the land of research is to tell someone. Chat, moan, and cry. That pretty much sums it up. When embarking on a PhD, one of the most important things is the influence of the supervisory team. They are not only there to shape the research but they are there as a vital source of support. Your supervisor is not going to look down upon you (or they shouldn’t if they are a good supervisor) for saying you have a problem and you need help. It’s a big step in getting that help and if asking for help is the worst part, then so be it. What could be worse? Dwelling on your worries and stressing over unnecessary things!
Don’t jump into a topic too quickly
Take a little time to choose a topic. Of course, your topic must interest you or you’ll find the next few years pure purgatory. But your research question must also be feasible in terms of time, resources, and budget or else you’ll feel discouraged and resentful.
Here’s what Saranath Parthasarathy, who holds a PhD in microbiology, had to say about choosing the right research problem:
Like most students in my batch, I started working on a project my research advisor had already set their mind to, without doing much problem definition of my own. My only objective was to learn whatever I could. I did not have a Plan B in case the research project did not produce satisfactory results, which is exactly what happened (thank you Murphy’s law!). Determined to turn things around, I doggedly continued working on the project without any thought toward the time it took for fruition or how it would fit into my future goals. I therefore experienced many periods of demotivation when facing challenges during the experiments.
Realistic expectations
Don’t expect it to be all sunshine and roses. You may have been a straight A, honors student all through high school and as an undergraduate, but a PhD is a different journey altogether. There are minimal to no tests and grades to show you’re progressing, and research itself is often challenging, confusing, and marked by no concrete results. Daniel Morse had the following to say about his PhD journey in oral microbiology:
If you think of a PhD as a roller coaster, that’s a pretty accurate description of the journey that every student goes on. Some highs, many lows, and the second year blues seem to be quite a big part of many journeys too. A lack of motivation, perceived progress, results, and the constant imposter syndrome hanging over you only adds to the stresses associated with the second year.
Enlist your family and friends
Paint a realistic picture for your family and friends beforehand. Many people assume that grad student life isn’t all that different from undergrad. That you’ll have regular vacations, be up for bar hopping on Friday nights, organize your bestie’s bachelorette weekend. Gayatri Ramachandran puts it plainly:
If the graduate student’s family members don’t know how challenging, time-consuming, and effort-intensive their work is, it can result in a series of misunderstandings – they might wonder why you’re working long hours, they might be aghast to see you come home at unearthly hours, they might seem confused and displeased about you having no time for your family, and they might often be annoyed that you have to work on most weekends in a month. I don’t think one can blame the family in such a situation. They didn’t know anything about the schedules and lifestyle of a graduate student. This isn’t something they signed up for.
