3rd YEAR PhD Survival

Delayed posting from 2013


In two months time,  I will be in the end of third year. By right, thesis should have already been submitted, and the final viva should be taking place in 4-6 weeks. Then, do corrections, final submission and fly home. Ting! Time over - just nice, scholarship ends and I can live happily ever after. 

In reality, it is like living in a moving roller coaster right now. I am still data collecting and simultaneously writing up, analysing data, finishing up papers for publication and trying to stay calm against the ticking clock. The clock seems to be ticking faster than ever! I find it impossible to wrap everything in two months. But Alhamdulillah, if there is a will, there'll always be not only 1 but many ways. But first I must admit that in the very beginning I was devastated, worried and stressed because I realised that I was running against time, and there was nothing in my control that could change the situation. Being a perfectionist, I tend to be over sensitive to circumstances that do not happened the way I wanted. I had moments of difficult times that slowed down my productivity. In one of the meeting during that period, my supervisor mentioned that I utilised 80% of my time worrying and only 20% working on the main tasks. I ate more than the usual and that rang a bell...I was not in a healthy state - body, soul and mind because I naturally eat, eat and eat as an escape mechanism. Phone bills went up because I spend more hours talking to my family for comfort. Their support were amazing. Other than my parent, I owe a lot  to my husband. Not forgetting my friends here in London and my sister's in law family in the UK, I am grateful to surrounded by positive thinkers. 

Looking back at those difficult times, I wish I had known how to handle the situation effectively and this is what I would like to share in this entry. I will start with the trigger factor that made me realised 36 months not sufficient then the options I had and finally what option I chose. 

The Trigger Factor

The Gantt Chart. In previous entries about PhD survival I mentioned the importance of this tool and again here I emphasize that this is an IMPORTANT tool. I made a point to revise my Gantt chart every 6 months and have it discussed with the supervisors. As long as the plan looks realistic and practical, my SVs would agree. The hurdle started at the end of my second year when we learned that the ethical approval for my final project is taking longer than we anticipated - 6 months longer! My second project is a randomized control trial targeting 160 participants and thus, 6 months delay is a significant loss of time. The approval was obtained at month 28, that was 8 months before the original thesis submission date. No matter how optimistic I tried to be, in reality, I knew it would be a tough one. 

Options

Rather than falling into 'depression' worrying and slowing down my progress, I should have just accepted the fact that there is a 50-50 percent chance of hitting the jackpot in 8 months. What happened was, I duelled too much into emotion. It wasn't the academic stress but I guess I became exhausted from the far-distance marriage relationship (in Malay is PJJ = Perkahwinan Jarak Jauh). 

Sometimes, I find it difficult to think right because I am overwhelmed with everything.

Well, well, well...survived 1st and 2nd year. Now the real beast has arrived...3rd YEAR!!! (Sempat ke ni...Huwaaaa..nak balik, nak balik!)