Everyday doings of a psychology researcher – thoughts, challenges and everything in between
When I started this blog in 2016, the focus was on how research, particularly doing a PhD, requires a certain tolerance to ambiguity. In the years since, and a thank you to those of you who stood by me in this journey, my role has changed and diversified. I’ve changed[…]
Read moreTime and again, this blog has dealt with topics of mental health. Often, my own experiences and reflections on stress in academia, burnout, mindfulness exercises and whatever takes up brain space for me each month. In today’s post, I would like to introduce you to my art – a hobby[…]
Read moreEveryone was happy to strike 2020 off the calendar, but not me. I finished my PhD in 2020, with all the publications I had strived for. And you may imagine finishing a PhD is like a clear achievement. One day you don’t have a title, and the next morning, you[…]
Read moreI am in the final stages of my PhD work. This, for me, means unstructured work hours, writing multiple articles parallelly, and job hunting. I knew it would be a hectic, chaotic 2019; and I pride myself at being organized and well-prepared for such a feat. As 2018 was coming[…]
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Change happens whether you realize it or not, whether you want it or not. Most people go through life not realizing what their everyday situations are doing to them, how they interact with their environment and with themselves day after day. Some other people, however, are a lot more in control of their direction of change. These are the kind of people who can reflect best on their growth process. This post is an interview with one such person, my dear friend and (until recently) colleague Gayatri Salunkhe.
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Have you had a fight with a loved one that left you feeling like you’ve run a mental marathon? Have you had days where you’ve needed to solve a relatively simple problem, but found yourself incapable of doing so? Have you worked long hours without regular breaks, only to give up and overeat at the end of the day? All of these are cases of ego depletion where our mental resources are almost running dry.
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This post is about managing questions better. Over time, I’ve learnt that not everyone asking you ‘are you done yet’ actually cares about the process of your work. Therefore, I have come up with three possible answers that PhD candidates can give people for the 3-5 (or 6, 7, 8…n) years they are doing their PhDs for.
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When I joined my department, my colleagues, who eventually would form the core of my PhD support, were coming to the end of their first year. They had had their experiences and were openly annoyed at how happy I was. ‘Talk to us in a year’ they said. Sure enough, a year later I was seriously questioning my life, and trying very hard to not cry in front of my supervisor while telling him how something in the lab had collapsed, yet again.
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It’s 15.46. The lights are on. I sit at my office table looking at my ToDo list. Is this going to be one of those monologues like ‘I’m stuck in this abyss and I’m documenting it so someone knows how my last hours were spent’? Probably! Winter blues are best[…]
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