4 ms·

I agree with your general experience, I'm in the middle of my PhD and so far I find it to be some of the most interesting and productive time I've spent thus fa

I agree with your general experience, I'm in the middle of my PhD and so far I find it to be some of the most interesting and productive time I've spent thus far. I'm not really interested in continuing on to academia, but this has been a good transition period for both building confidence and exploring other topics without having to worry about finances (besides of course making sure to keep up with advisor grants). It has helped me learn and improve a lot about myself without the pressures of a more typical job. I'd say I was still pretty immature after undergrad, I wasn't really independent and didn't really think for myself (to the point that I didn't even realize I ought to be looking for a job until I had graduated and had family asking what my next step would be), which, after a year spent languishing led me to going for a Masters. Then my research work got me recruited for a PhD. Since then over the past 3 years I've been learning to be more independent which I feel works better when still having the freedom a PhD offers compared to a SWE job. If I had gone straight into the workplace I'd probably be in the process of overworking myself into burnout right now. A side benefit is that having a PhD is very helpful for speeding up the immigration process and opening up possibilities elsewhere in case my current plans don't work out.

smm11 4y ago
- dotnet00 4y ago
  Convincing yourself that your work is the only hobby you need and doing literally nothing else without regard for proper sleep or food for years nonstop is a pretty quick path to burnout. I used to think about nothing but my projects every waking moment, I'd very often skip sleep just to keep working on them and would frequently not eat anything all day because it was too much of a distraction to go buy something from the cafeteria. These days while I still enjoy spending a lot of time working (kinda unavoidable in a PhD tbh), I make sure to leave some time for hobbies unrelated to work, which has improved my health significantly.
- kleiba 4y ago
  Don't laugh, doing a PhD can be very stressful for a continued period of time. Not in the beginning. But I, for one, felt the psychological pressure very much after year two or three. You're in an economically unstable situation, don't know if you'll be able to finish with anything worth showing (which is the nature of research), and no matter how hard you work, there are a number of relevant factors that are completely out of your control - e.g. whether or not you get enough papers accepted at relevant conferences which, over the years, has become akin to buying a lottery ticket. The only way I kept my sanity was to set up a daily routine where I would work in the library throughout the day (a nice quiet place, as I did not have an office), and go for extended walks in the evening to air out my brain. This was what allowed me to sleep normally again at night. Upper tier managers with crazy responsibilities are not the only people who can experience burnout. It can manifest itself in very different situations, and it doesn't hit all people the same.

smm11 4y ago

dotnet00 4y ago
Convincing yourself that your work is the only hobby you need and doing literally nothing else without regard for proper sleep or food for years nonstop is a pretty quick path to burnout. I used to think about nothing but my projects every waking moment, I'd very often skip sleep just to keep working on them and would frequently not eat anything all day because it was too much of a distraction to go buy something from the cafeteria. These days while I still enjoy spending a lot of time working (kinda unavoidable in a PhD tbh), I make sure to leave some time for hobbies unrelated to work, which has improved my health significantly.
kleiba 4y ago
Don't laugh, doing a PhD can be very stressful for a continued period of time. Not in the beginning. But I, for one, felt the psychological pressure very much after year two or three. You're in an economically unstable situation, don't know if you'll be able to finish with anything worth showing (which is the nature of research), and no matter how hard you work, there are a number of relevant factors that are completely out of your control - e.g. whether or not you get enough papers accepted at relevant conferences which, over the years, has become akin to buying a lottery ticket. The only way I kept my sanity was to set up a daily routine where I would work in the library throughout the day (a nice quiet place, as I did not have an office), and go for extended walks in the evening to air out my brain. This was what allowed me to sleep normally again at night. Upper tier managers with crazy responsibilities are not the only people who can experience burnout. It can manifest itself in very different situations, and it doesn't hit all people the same.