Hi everyone, I am aware this is a little bit vague and honestly I’m kind of looking for some form of validation from peers and others in my position. If I’ve used the wrong tag/flair please let me know.
I basically want to know if I’m doing enough in my day to day work for my phd. For context I’m a second year in the humanities (history) based in the uk.
I’ve tried treating my phd like a job, working from 10-6 Monday through Friday. Taking a half hour break for lunch and a second half hour break for a mental health walk. I’ve also not have the most productive year due to other circumstances but I hope to make up for it over the summer when everyone else is taking a break.
But recently I’ve been hitting a brick wall with my motivation. I struggle getting started and usually only start working at like 11:00 or 12:00 and finishing earlier because I just can’t focus. I’ve tried doing different activities to keep my focus but it’s not working. My motivation is at an all time low even though I still love my subject.
I’ve tried asking my supervisor if I’ve done enough and he just asks me if I think I have. Ngl until I’ve finished the thesis the answer will always be no. I’ve tried asking my peers what their routines look like and I’m not really getting good answers.
I try and get all my work done in a day. Focussing on tasks instead of hours. Like I try to either write for 2 hours or write at least 1,000 words depending on my motivation. Usually by the end of that my motivation to do further research is wiped or I spend what time I have left until 6:00 doing pretty pointless procrastination tasks. Organising my bibliography, organising my calendar, looking for papers to read but not reading them, etc.
In all honesty I’m probably spending on average 2 hours a day of hardcore focus on my thesis. On a good day, which is usually once a week, I’m doing up to 5 hours. I’d like to keep the 5 hours consistent so would also be appreciative of any advice on how you keep motivated.
I’m not sure if it’s relevant but I’m self funded so I don’t have to prove my productivity to any funding bodies or anything. Just a monitoring interview with my uni at the end of the year. But I can’t afford to repeat the year.
Again, sorry if I’ve used the wrong flair/tag or formatted wrong. This is my first Reddit post ever.
TLDR: I’m usually doing around 2 hours of work a day, 4-5 days a week and I’m not sure if that’s enough. Usually writing 1,000 words a day.