3 Things I wish I did differently in my 2-4 years of my PhD

Personal Journey, Thoughts, Hindsight, Tips

The fourth year of my PhD is coming to an end, and I seem more lost now than I have ever been before in my life. For the past year, I questioned my ability to succeed in an academic career, and I had second thoughts about keeping going in the program. The first few months of the pandemic, March to June 2020, I found it hard to keep my focus on research. Heck, I binge-watched entire seasons of series available on all streaming platforms instead of working on my research. Having wasted four months, I went into panic mode and started working seriously on a project from June 2020. At this time, I was putting in hours.

However, I felt like I was staring into an abyss. And if you stare into the abyss long enough, it stares back at you. That project fell through due to a lack of results in Feb 2021. After seven months of work, I had to abandon the project and start from scratch all over again. I felt the darkness of incompetence. I beat myself up for being underqualified and skillless to make my project work. I hit rock bottom. During this time, I lost weight due to depression. Like a ball that bounces back after being thrown to the ground, I have always been able to pull myself up. This time was no different. I came back with hope. I planned my days and focused on one task a day. The accomplishment of one job after another gave me confidence. After months of struggle, I can say I am doing better. I pitched another project to another professor. He liked my project, and now we are working together. We are also collaborating with a private firm. This is a BIG win for me.

This new project gives me great confidence in myself. I still have a long way to go before seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (i.e. my graduation). However, I am confident that I will accomplish it if I set my mind to it. Most days, I plan and stick to the plan, which helps keep the negative thoughts at bay. Instead of waddling in my thoughts, I focus on my work. By staying busy with tasks and research, I make sure my brain is focused only on the journey (i.e. research) rather than on the project's outcome. Through all these learnings, I realized I could have done three things differently. This list is not exhaustive. However, these are some things I kick myself about for not having done these to give myself an edge.

Don't be afraid of coding.

For a long time, subconsciously, I was convinced that I am bad at coding. So, I avoided tasks that included web-scraping, text-scraping and python coding in general. My mental inhibition was stopping me from getting the jobs done. I recognized early on during the 2nd year that coding was my Achille's heel. I should have paid extra attention to learning coding during years 2-4 of the PhD program. Had I planned and set aside time for it, I could have ensured that I was not crippling myself, as I knew coding is necessary to thrive in this career. After getting over my inhibitions, I started learning python coding as per the required task. I wouldn't say that I am a coding expert now, but I can get the job done. In this age, with loads of data at your disposal, coding skills will never hurt.

No skill is too hard to pick up. By breaking it up into smaller tasks, any skill can be learned with some attention and time. This realization is one of my key learnings through years 3-4 of the PhD program.

Maintain Notes of everything.

Taking notes is vital as it helps -- 1) to have a record of your thoughts and 2) for active recall. I take notes of seminars, book notes, etc. and never look back at them as often as I should. Maintaining a log of what I am supposed to do, when it is due and how many hours does it take to get it done gives a good picture of the time we have at the end. Most tasks always end up taking twice or more the amount of time I think it takes. My planning now accounts for this. Ever since I discovered Notion, I can maintain a database of all my notes in one place. Notion database app has been beneficial, and I recommend it to EVERYBODY. It is a game-changer. It took me months to set it up in a functional form that would be the most useful. But, it is worth it. I love Notion, and I can't go a day without using it now.

Before Notion, I had tons of notebooks (even digital) where all my notes resided, and it was hard to keep track of them at times. My research projects and new ideas are all organized in folders. Notes and organization help me a lot when I come back to the project couple of weeks later. Without notes or organization, I would have been lost as I tend to forget things easily (especially after a couple of weeks). Initially, when I started coding, I did not put comments. Rookie mistake, I know. Now, I have detailed remarks and dates when I put in as it helps me understand my thought process and why I did what I did.

Note-taking is LIFE, especially for a researcher.

Calendar-blocking.

Have you ever planned to do tasks for a day and realized you were barely able to scratch the first item off the list? I have 🙋🏽‍♀️. I am guilty of not being able to meet my task list many, many times. Journaling and writing down tasks on a to-do list was my go-to strategy. I have been journaling for more than a decade now, and three years ago, I switched to bullet journaling. Bullet journaling was exciting at first as it helped incorporate my love of doodling into journaling. However, it still did not help me stay on track with achieving my tasks efficiently. About a year ago, I came across the concept of calendar blocking. It is one of those concepts that feels so simple and intuitive that you almost feel stupid for not having thought of it yourself. It is as simple as blocking time for a particular task and showing up to do it. By allocating some time on the calendar, I commit to myself that I will dedicate some time to that task. I made my calendar my master, and I try to obey my master as diligently as I can. I became a slave to my calendar, and it has helped me immensely. Now, I can proudly say that I accomplish most tasks I set out for myself, which gives me great joy.

Remember, the Calendar is THE master.

Hope my journey and my learnings are of help. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Have a great weekend!