PhD programs across the world vary greatly in terms of the expectations from the students. Having said that, PhD students have some shared challenges and experiences at various stages of their doctoral programs. It is a fairly long journey. There may be patterns of certain behaviors observed depending on workload, expectations, personal circumstances, and other factors.
Today, I will discuss 5 common behaviors to be careful about as they can quickly become problematic and hinder your personal growth and overall progress. These are the behaviors that every PhD student indulges in at some point in their journey. I will help you recognize any patterns that may have gone unnoticed and think about what you can do about it.
This article is full of actionable steps to break these patterns, so be sure to read each behavior.
Checking emails relentlessly
Photo by Maxim Ilyahov on Unsplash
Ok. Confession time. I myself was guilty of checking emails as soon as they were delivered to my inbox. It came from the need to get caught up at all times and not miss out on any important emails. I know for sure that it is not just me who indulges in this behavior. I have gotten better over the years about not checking it right away unless it is urgent. If you are like me and struggle with compartmentalizing, trying to break the pattern will help you stay focused on an ongoing task and increase productivity.
For example, writing a manuscript section, reading articles, conducting experiments, and so on. These are the tasks that require 100% of your attention and something as simple as an email can be a source of distraction. Setting boundaries while at work is equally as important as balancing between work and personal life. So, if you wish to break the pattern, here are small actionable steps-
- Set a time aside to check emails once in the morning and once at the end of your work day so it doesn’t interrupt your workflow.
- Turn off notifications for emails to stay focused; if someone needs urgent help, email will not be their go-to medium.
- In case you happen to read an email and need to investigate into it, mark the email as ‘unread’ so you can refer to it later when you are ready to work on the task.
Procrastination
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Procrastination is a much more complex behavior. In the PhD context, it is delaying or postponing work. This can happen due to a number of reasons. But, if this becomes a habit with no real reason and just out of unwillingness to do the work or the habit of doing things last-minute, that is a behavior to look for.
We have all been guilty of procrastinating at several stages of PhD. However, as PhD students, there must be a sense of accountability and consideration for other people’s time. For example, procrastinating on writing a grant proposal until the last week and then expecting your mentor to provide feedback overnight and move things forward to meet the deadline.
There are several other examples I can provide but I think you get the point. Procrastination can be observed in many forms and if you notice this pattern and want to break it, here are some starting points –
- Plan out your day or week and create a list of tasks. Highlight the ones that are high priority. This will help identify important tasks and complete them in a timely manner.
- Work with your advisor and set a tentative and a hard deadline so you feel accountable to make progress by the set date.
- Every few months, reflect on the progress you made on each of the projects to get a reality check and appreciate your own efforts.
Not taking breaks
Not taking a break becomes a way of life during PhD for most students. I can almost guarantee that ALL of us are guilty of overworking ourselves at some point. I have been discussing work-life balance and taking a break in my last couple blogs. But, here I want to help you identify if this is a pattern. The road to overworking leads to exhaustion, burn out, and losing interest in the work you chose out of passion.
If you struggle with not taking a break at the right time, be sure to check this article. If you have already identified the pattern, here are some actionable steps –
- Make it a point to take regular breaks. These can be during long weekends, public holidays throughout the year, or during Summer or Winter break. This way, you do not have to even ask your advisor for extra leaves.
- If needed, be sure to work with your advisor to take extra time off and compensate for it later. Be transparent and honest with your advisor as not taking a break when you NEED to will impact your productivity and increase room for making bigger mistakes. Neither you nor your advisor would want that. Easy solution to this is to simply communicate.
- Indulge in self-care no matter what. Self-care means different things to different students. For some, just taking a walk may be self-care while for others, buying something for themselves may work well. It depends on your needs, interests, and personalities. Whatever it is, be sure to give yourself a chance to breathe and recover.
Not asking questions
Not asking questions may be more common in the initial years of PhD when you are still getting acclimated to the lab, learning new techniques in research, and building a rapport with your advisor. Everyone around you seems to have it all figured out while you are still learning something new every single day. It is okay to feel this way. But not asking questions when something is unclear can be detrimental to your own growth.
As PhD students, expectations are higher than other graduate students. You are expected to take responsibility and be accountable for your own actions. So, if you feel like you are currently experiencing this, try these tactics –
- If there is something unclear in your classes and you feel hesitant to ask, schedule a meeting with the instructor and address it one-on-one.
- When you identify a problem or have made a mistake, don’t overthink it for weeks and then bring it to someone’s attention. Do it sooner than later.
- Reach out to your peers if talking to your mentor still feels a little awkward. Peers often turn into helplines throughout PhD. So, make sure you reach out to them and build connections and social networks early on. This is especially helpful for international students.
Saying yes to everything
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
This behavior may not apply to all PhD students. It may be more relatable for those with overachieving personalities. This trait helps you be proactive and achieve significant milestones as compared to others, However, the same trait can sometimes become a problem. Continuing to say yes to every opportunity that knocks your door may not be wise as it can quickly get out of hand.
As I always say, PhD is full of action and balancing responsibilities is prudent to be able to commit to every task at hand and give your 100% in every project you say yes to. I am personally guilty of indulging in this behavior from time to time. Fortunately, I have an amazing mentor who reminds me to say yes cautiously. If you don’t have many resources around you, let this be a sign and here are some strategies you can try out –
- Ask yourself these questions. Always think about a new opportunity in terms of how passionate you are towards it, what you can bring to the role, and what it adds to your personal or academic growth.
- List your current commitments including research projects, upcoming next steps, conference travel, and volunteering roles. Evaluate how much time you have to sign-up for a new role and how long you will be able to commit to the new opportunity.
- Start saying no to opportunities you are not much interested in. If more than one opportunity arises at once, instead of saying yes to all, say yes selectively and evaluate what holds meaning for you.
To sum up…
I understand that any given behavior is much more complex than simply indulging in it or stopping it. These behaviors often surface as a result of ongoing struggles with classes, research, personality traits, lack of professional and social support, dysfunctional relationships, and more.
However, YOU will be the only one being able to identify the patterns in your day-to-day work and take action to improve them if not completely avoid them. I do not recommend even trying to avoid them because it is unrealistic to start with, and the goal here is not to put pressure on yourself to be perfect and have no flaws. The goal is to recognize potentially problematic behaviors. Evaluate if there is a pattern. And make a small change to make your PhD richer, more productive and efficient, reduce stress, and excel at time management.
One bonus actionable tip – be consistent with whichever actionable step you choose to try from this article. Consistency will be the key for each of these strategies. Save or bookmark this article to come back later.
If you found this article insightful, part-2 with other 5 behaviors and actionable steps is upcoming next week, so be sure to sign-up for free to receive it to your inbox. Follow me on Instagram for quick PhD-related tips and connect with me on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear your feedback or suggestions on topics you’d like me to talk about in future.