PhD students feel overwhelmed balancing classes and research

I’m a first-year PhD student in biomedical research, and I’ve been struggling with something that has started to affect both my motivation and my enjoyment of research. Before joining my current lab,…

“I’m in my first year of my clinical PhD program in the United States and I feel inadequate. I took my first ever midterm, studied like crazy despite being at a conference two days before I took it, and I was constantly going to office hours to ask questions three weeks before the midterm. I finally got my grade back and I got a 70. My professor said it felt as if I had put no effort into her exam and the reason behind my grade was because I didn’t write enough in our open ended portion of the ex”

“my phd buddiessss i need some help. at the moment, i am taking 2 courses and teaching one (assignments and 5-6 articles). i am conducting an eeg study and one side project. i am writing revisions to a submission. and having 3 regular meetings a week to discuss the projects. I AM PARALYZED😭😭 and can’t function because of all the stress. i feel like even 12h work a day is not enough. how do you manage your time? submitted by /u/Maximum-Barnacle-446 [link] [comments]”

“Hello, I'm in the transitioning phase from Masters to PhD in human sciences (exercise science). My programm is very challenging and the department I'm in produces high quality science. I am in the process of submitting my first paper and spoke at a congress recently which was a huge milestone for me. However, I feel like I need to work on my resilience If I am going to do this whole journey. There have been countless times last year where I opened my emails with a racing puls, where I wa”

“I’m a first-year PhD student in the UK, a few months in, and I’m struggling to balance my research with the other tasks and responsibilities that come with my PhD. The problem is that they take up a significant amount of my time and mental energy. By the time I get to my actual research, I’m often exhausted, and I feel like I’m making much less progress than I should be. I’m passionate about my research and don’t want to just get through the PhD. I want to produce genuinely novel ideas and good”

“Not really a question, more of a rant. I’ve just started a PhD and I’m living in halls with several Master’s students. I knew there would be a big difference in workload, but I didn’t quite expect the disconnect to feel this noticeable. It seems like every night they’re either going out or having people over, while I’ve just spent eight hours working on a literature review, followed by another one or two hours of mandatory training courses. The frustrating part is constantly feeling like I shoul”

“First time posting, open to any personal or academic advice. I’m in an interdisciplinary PhD program in the U.S., I have a marine biology B.S. (no masters) and am delving into the world of social science. I work full time and am tying my dissertation into my work. I started my first semester this fall and am already expected to have my committee formed and a draft proposal by the end of the semester. I’m feeling completely overwhelmed, I was under the impression that you spend your first year mo”

“First semester in my PhD, 15 lab hours, 3 classes, and TA-ing 2 lab sections. I am always super super busy doing one thing or another. Is this a normal amount of work expected for grad school? submitted by /u/PaintingPuppies [link] [comments]”

“So my PhD (health informatics) has not been going great. I officially started this fall semester but been working with professor since start of this year. I can’t seem to understand what to do exactly. The professor gives a good long idea. But I don’t seem to understand exactly what I need to do. Could someone please breakdown what’s a good research problem means? How to find or define good problems or challenges? What does it mean to think independently? I will probably lose my PhD if I don’t s”

“I am in 2nd year of my PhD and I dont understand how to manage everything. I have to manage doing experiments, read papers, read about whats new going on in your field, work out, being social, cook, clean the house. So many things in such short time. How do people get enough energy and time to do it. I'm sure everyone here faces these challenges more or less so I'm looking for tips on how it can be done more efficiently submitted by /u/glorious-ahole [link] [comments]”

“Hi I'm a PhD student in UK. International student. I'm little confused about balancing developing, reading and writing..I'm really finding it quite hard. Any suggestions ? I'm from CS field, so need significant amount time in developing. Please suggest me how to increase my productivity. I might have an undiagnosed ADHD. submitted by /u/Baba_YAGA1995 [link] [comments]”

“I’m a fourth year phd student in STEM and I feel like I’m not doing anything with my life. I have ADHD so I can’t concentrate to save my life. My research question is too broad. I haven’t even begun writing a proposal. I failed the qualifying exam the first time around and only have one more shot at it. I feel lost in my field. I don’t feel like an expert at all, except knowing some fancy words. People around me seem to have it together and move at a faster pace. Meanwhile I’m so overwhelmed I c”

“I’m doing an applied math PhD and I’m in my second year. I’m finishing up the last of my classes and preparing for my second qualifying exam before it’s full time research, and I genuinely have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve been at the top of my classes and my advisor thinks I’m a genius, but the problem is I genuinely feel like I have zero practical knowledge at all. I feel like I’ve done essentially no actual research and honestly my coding skills are not even close to on par to where they shou”

“So I'm an incoming transfer student and have spoken on Zoom with two professors who both have molecular bio labs I am really interested in and would like to do research in until I graduate and apply for PhD programs. I feel bad even thinking about it this way but I'm trying to decide which to join and a big factor is which would set me up for PhD applications better. I'll try to make a short list of pros and cons for both professors (A and B) to get feedback: A Work directly with him”

“wo yearst in and I still feel like I'm figuring out what I'm doing half the time. advisor's great but hands-off, and I keep comparing myself to labmates who seem to have it together is "feeling lost" just part of the process, or a sign I'm doing something wrong? submitted by /u/ponderingpixi17 [link] [comments]”

“I recently started my first semester as a PhD student and I’m already not liking the experience. I feel overwhelmed by all the expected reading and don’t feel like I vibe with anyone in my program. I went straight from undergrad to my master’s to my PhD and I feel really burnt out and dread having to go back to classes after spending the summer just working and enjoying my free time. I’ve always been passionate about my field and was very excited for my program but now I just feel sad. I also di”

“I'm in second year of a course-intensive PhD programme at UIUC. And I'm TAing for a lab course for the first time. And I find that there is very little time left for research, learning or social life. I have estimated my weekly time blocks for the semester - this is assuming 95-100 percent efficiency. If there are hiccups or bad days, my time availability further reduces. mu autism and adhd makes it even harder. How do you all manage time for research - advisor's expectation, learnin”

“I'm starting to apply to PhD programs now, but the application process + fellowship applications + my courses already eat up a lot of my time and I'm worried that staying in my lab one more year will eat up the rest of my free time. For context I'm a 4.0 student and have 2 years of lab experience + an REU on top of that, a poster, and a paper. Should I just stick it out for one more year so I have more experience going into grad school, or should I prioritize free time while I still”

“Throwaway account. I (early 20s F) just started my third year in my STEM PhD program in a heavily male-dominated field. For context, I have been the only woman in my lab since I started and the only woman in my subfield in the entire department since last year. My PhD program hasn’t been all bad but has been a lot of bad. I love my advisor and my research but the environment feels wrong for me on so many levels. Beyond the “only woman” thing, I really just don’t fit personality-wise with my intr”

“I’m an international student from a developing country who directly entered a PhD program at an R1 university in the US after completing my undergraduate degree. I’ve been here for just three weeks, I am enjoying my time here mostly but sometimes o feel quite tired and overwhelmed. Back home, I was very productive, but here I’m trying to balance classes, research, reading papers, lab/field work, meetings, and adjusting to a completely new academic environment. For those who have been through thi”