How to Deal With the Things That Make You Quit PhD
This is very disappointing that people quit PhD just because they become unable to handle the pressure. I couldn’t believe that sometimes bright scholars can’t stand up academic pressure and give up mid way. I would like to share my friend’s story with you.
My friend was excited when he enrolled for PhD programme at Pacific University, Udaipur. He used to think that if you are smart you should keep studying higher and higher. He had been a bright student thus he thought to apply for PhD programme. After a year he realised that he had no interest in doing PhD. It has nothing to do with interesting work; rather an academic research that never suited his taste. Further he was not able to manage the time. He took thesis writing work extremely boring. He started staying furious and frustrated, and soon he decided to give up.
People quit PhD because they are not able to find solutions to the problems that emerge during coursetime. Here are the solutions of the problems that are faced during coursetime.
Time Management Problems
You have lots of things to do; so assess how important and urgent the tasks are. Complete your high priority tasks first. When it comes to manage the time, you have to stick to your schedule. Try to make a task as specific as possible. If you have scheduled your statistics research on Tuesday, make sure that you have done it on the same day. Mark your deadlines on your schedule and try to finish a task within those deadlines.
Try to identify distractions. They may be in the form of email notifications, calls for casual meetings, social media activities etc. Have only half an hour for such activities so that rest day you can have uninterrupted time for your thesis work only.
Incompetent to Write Thesis Well
Analyze the ambiguity, complexities, and controversy in previous research papers. Find out where the author contradicted their own points. Figure out how the gap can be further researched to benefit to people. Decide the questions that can be asked, and think why those questions are relevant to your chosen subject area.
When you have completed this stage, start writing down your thesis. Write it regularly to complete it as soon as possible. Another problem that is faced by PhD scholars during writing a thesis is sentence-structure with a clear meaning. To polish up your writing skills read some PhD books that guide you on writing a thesis. Some popular books are The Chicago Manual of Style, The Literature Review by Lawrence A. Machi, and Writing Thesis in 15 minutes by Joan Bolker.
Exhaustion
The best way to avoid PhD exhaustion is to properly maintain a schedule. Regularly devote your hours in thesis work. Set your own deadlines and try to meet them. However, eat healthy food and take proper rest along with your research and writing work. Do meditation to have a calm mind especially when you feel you’re under intense pressure.
Feeling of Seclusion
Feeling of seclusion generally arises when you have no clear directions and guidance.
If you feel PhD isolation, you should establish your network. Join groups on social media platforms where you can find PhD scholars and experts, and talk to them about the solution to a specific problem. PhD interactions will help you know the ways to complete your project effectively. Experts will tell you flaws, and the ways to rectify them. You will be updated new strategies to deal with PhD stress.