motivation to finish phd

The Savvy Scientist

Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

PhD Motivation: How to Stay Driven From Cover Letter to Completion

PhDs can be a long slog and it’s easy to lose touch with why you set out to do one in the first place. If you’re falling out of love with your PhD why not try these tips to help boost your motivation.

Note – This post, and its predecessor about PhD Burnout , were inspired by a reader who asked for suggestions on tackling PhD fatigue. I love hearing from readers of the blog, so if you have any ideas for posts which you, or others, could find useful please do let me know! Just pop a note in the comments section below or drop me a message .

This post is part of my PhD mindset series, you can check out the full series below:

• PhD Burnout: Managing Energy, Stress, Anxiety & Your Mental Health
• PhD Motivation: How to Stay Driven From Cover Letter to Completion (this part!)
• How to Stop Procrastinating and Start Studying

Focus on the Big Picture

If you’re struggling with motivation during your PhD it can be helpful to consider what originally motivated you to pursue one. One way you may find it useful to capture these thoughts is through a vision board or spider diagram.

Try listing out each of the following:

• What you hope to achieve during your PhD (both personally and professionally)
• How you picture your life and career post-PhD

The vision board for the PhD itself will help you make the most of your time now, while your post PhD vision board will serve as a reminder of where you are going.

This can be a great way to increase your motivation and identify opportunities within your PhD that may help you to realise your long term vision.

Here is an example one I created about life after the PhD which could serve as some motivation during the PhD:

Set Short Term Goals

Depending on how far along you are in your PhD, reaching the finishing line may seem like a herculean task. Rather than risking getting overwhelmed, focus on making regular progress by setting achievable short term goals.

What are some examples of short term goals? Well let’s start by highlighting a few potential milestones during a PhD:

• Completing your first set of experiments
• Writing your first paper
• Drafting your thesis
• Passing your viva

Try to break down these large tasks into sub-tasks and set yourself short term goals. Importantly, make sure that the goals are actually realistically achievable! Although it is great to push yourself, if you set goals that are too lofty you risk demotivating yourself further! Small and consistent progress is what we’re aiming for.

Breaking tasks down will allow you to recognise your progress and how far you’ve come. While recognising what you’ve already accomplished with your PhD will help provide the motivation to achieve even more.

So for instance breaking down the first of those example milestones, completing your first set of experiments, could be broken down into much smaller short term goals:

Breaking down goal 1: Completing your first set of experiments

• Read five relevant papers to get ideas from other studies. Which techniques did they use? What further work did they recommend?
• Speak with my supervisor about first potential experiments. What is achievable in the lab? Do we need to order any consumables?
• Get inducted into the lab if necessary and get trained on key equipment.
• If relevant, shadow someone else in the lab to understand certain processes.
• Give it a go: conduct a few preliminary experiments.
• Build on these first experiments and suddenly you’ve become a self-sufficient researcher. Good job!

You may personally choose to set goals monthly, weekly or even set yourself one task to achieve each day. Try different lengths and see what works best for you.

Now as a postdoc I personally have an ongoing document which I always keep open with goals and tasks for me to complete which I add to as I have new thoughts and conversations. Every day I set myself a short list of tasks I set to complete myself to work towards these bigger goals and projects. Without this not only would I lack focus but also motivation.

Recognise What You’ve Already Achieved

As mentioned above it can feel like you haven’t achieved much when the big picture PhD goals still seem far away.

Sometimes we can get motivation from realising how much we already have to be proud of. I know what it is like to be in a downbeat part of your PhD and it can be tough to appreciate your successes but this is exactly the time when we need harness positive and motivational thoughts!

Let’s play a quick game. Set a timer on your phone for 2 minutes and write down a few things about your PhD you’re already proud of. Don’t worry, I’m not expecting a list of potential Nobel prize winning discoveries.

Here are some ideas:

• Coming up with some ideas for experiments
• Learning a new research technique
• Facing a personal fear – such as public speaking

If you’re in the early stages, remind yourself that pushing yourself to apply for the PhD is an achievement and getting accepted into a PhD programme is no mean feat. Go you!

Reward Your Accomplishments

Along with setting short term academic goals it’s important to reward yourself once they’re completed. Depending on what length goal you set, the reward may be as simple as taking a break and indulging in something unproductive, taking an afternoon off to relax or treating yourself to your favourite meal.

It can be tempting to skip this step but celebrating when you complete tasks is really important. This will help to get you in the right mindset for progressing towards the next goal. Celebrating achievements is also a great way to instill better habits and we’ll cover more on this next.

Build Better Habits

Mastering self discipline and consistency is one of the best ways to maximise your potential both during your PhD and beyond. If this is something you struggle with then now is the perfect time to try making improvements in a very low risk environment. Here is some great advice on this subject by an incredibly successful guy:

Making these improvements through small actions can make surprisingly big differences. To illustrate this: a person who improved by 1% each day would be 37 times better after a year!

Consistently improving 1% each and every day isn’t likely, but the cumulative effect of working on yourself by building better habits is undeniable.

It typically takes 40 days to master a habit, so start small and once you have your first habit ingrained you can start on the next. Realising success will empower you to master harder challenges too and also provide you with the confidence to know that you can achieve what you set your mind to.

Some ideas for areas you may wish to develop better habits for are:

• Work schedule
• Healthy eating

Habit Building Tips

• Start small and focus on just turning up – When building new habits it is much more important to be consistent than to set lofty goals.
• Gamify it – In 2020 I decided to start using Duolingo to learn Spanish. Not only is the format on Duolingo very engaging, so is the “streak” of uninterrupted days you use the app for. It is surprising how powerful motivation can become to keep the streak going. In fact, as of writing this post I’ve just passed 600 uninterrupted days on Duolingo! I now try to apply similar concepts in other parts of my life.
• Don’t beat yourself up if you slip up – It’s natural to make mistakes but it’s what you do afterwards that counts. If you slip up with your habit fight the urge to give it up. Instead move on and work to get back.
• Be accountable – Tell others about your goals and if you know another PhD student struggling with the same issue why not team up together to try and improve.

I’d also highly recommend giving the below video from Kurzgesagt a watch to learn more about how to build positive habits.

Prioritise Self-Care

PhDs are a marathon not a sprint and in order to make it to the end it’s vital to take care of yourself along the way. Exercising, socialising, eating healthily and prioritising mental health will all put you in the best position to keep your energy levels high.

PhD Burnout is a very real thing and the last thing you want is to lose all passion for research entirely. Check out my post here on PhD Burnout to learn the warning signs and how to intervene before things go to far.

Make sure to take time each week to recharge and don’t prioritise your research to the detriment of all else. It isn’t worth sacrificing your own health for your research. Make the most of opportunities during your PhD and find things you’re passionate about and look forward to.

I personally found it helpful to treat my PhD like a full-time job which meant having weekends and weekday evenings off. There were exceptions to this of course but in general it meant that I had a good work/life balance and didn’t feel desperate for the PhD to end.

Everyone will have different ways of structuring their time, but recognise that YOU are a priority and your life shouldn’t go on hold until your PhD is complete.

Define Success Differently

Reframe what you see as success. Instead of defining success by the achievement of a long term goal instead define success by the consistent actions taken to progress towards it.

For instance, if you’re nearing the end of your PhD then completing your PhD thesis may be months away. But, if you commit to working on your thesis for at least one hour a day (and achieve it) you’re already on a successful path.

I’d suggest giving the intro to this newsletter by Andrew Ng a read to learn more about process goals versus outcome goals.

Avoid Comparisons to Other PhD Students

We all know this one but it can be easy to forget. Looking at what others have achieved can sometimes be motivating, but it can also leave you feeling inferior.

No two PhD journeys will ever be the same so all you can do is aim to achieve the “best” version of your own journey.

Top Tips to Boost PhD Motivation

• Focus on the big picture
• Set achievable short term goals
• Recognise what you’ve already achieved
• Reward your accomplishments
• Build better habits
• Prioritise self-care
• Define success differently
• Avoid comparisons to other PhD students

I hope you found these suggestions on how to boost PhD motivation helpful. Do you have any advice of your own to share? Let me know in the comments section below.

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Dissertating Like a Distance Runner: Ten Tips for Finishing Your PhD

The above photo is of Sir Mo Farah running past Buckingham Palace into the home stretch of the London Marathon. I took the photo two days after my viva, in which I defended my PhD dissertation. Farah become a British hero when he and his training partner, Galen Rupp, won the gold and silver medals in the 10k at the London Olympic Games.

I had the honor of racing against Rupp at Nike’s Boarder Clash meet between the fastest high school distance runners in my home state of Washington and Rupp’s home state of Oregon. I’m happy to provide a link to the results and photos of our teenage selves since I beat Galen and Washington won the meet. (Note: In the results, ‘Owen’ is misspelled with the commonly added s , which I, as a fan of Jesse Owens, feel is an honor.) By the time we were running in college—Rupp for the University of Oregon and myself for the University of Washington—he was on an entirely different level. I never achieved anything close to the kind of running success Rupp has had. Yet, for most of us mortals, the real value in athletics is the character traits and principles that sports instill in us, and how those principles carry over to other aspects of life. Here I want to share ten principles that the sport of distance running teaches, which I found to be quite transferrable to writing my doctoral dissertation.

To provide some personal context, I began as a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham in 2014. At that time my grandparents, who helped my single father raise my sister and me, continued their ongoing struggle with my Grandfather’s Alzheimer’s. It was becoming increasingly apparent that they would benefit from having my wife and I nearby. So, in 2015 we moved to my hometown of Yakima, Washington. That fall I began a 2/2 teaching load at a small university on the Yakama Nation Reservation as I continued to write my dissertation. Since finishing my PhD four years ago, in 2018, I have published one book , five research articles , and two edited volume chapters related in various ways to my dissertation. As someone living in rural Eastern Washington, who is a first-gen college grad, I had to find ways to stay self-motivated and to keep chipping away at my academic work. I found the following principles that I learned through distance running very helpful.

(1) Establish community . There are various explanations, some of which border on superstitious, for why Kenyan distance runners have been so dominant. Yet one factor is certainly the running community great Kenyan distance runners benefit from at their elite training camps, as discussed in Train Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way . Having a community that values distance running can compel each member of the community to pursue athletic excellence over a long period of time. The same can be said for academic work. Many doctoral researchers have built-in community in their university departments, but for various reasons this is not true for everyone. Thankfully, alternative ways to establish community have never been easier, predominantly due to technology.

Since my dissertation applied Aristotelian causation and neo-Thomistic hylomorphism to mental causation and neural correlates of consciousness, I found it immensely helpful to meet consistently with neuroscientist, Christof Koch, and philosopher of mind, Mihretu Guta. Mihretu does work on the philosophy of consciousness and Christof propelled the dawn of the neurobiology of consciousness with Francis Crick . Though Mihretu lives in Southern California, we met monthly through Skype, and I would drive over the Cascade Mountains once a month to meet with Christof in Seattle. As my dissertation examiner, Anna Marmodoro, once reminded me: the world is small—it’s easier than ever before to connect with other researchers.

It can also be helpful to keep in mind that your community can be large or small. As some athletes train in large camps consisting of many runners, others have small training groups, such as the three Ingebrigtsen brothers . Likewise, your community could be a whole philosophy department or several close friends. You can also mix it up. As an introvert, I enjoyed my relatively small consistent community, but I also benefitted from attending annual regional philosophy conferences where I could see the same folks each year. And I especially enjoyed developing relationships with other international researchers interested in Aristotelian philosophy of mind at a summer school hosted by the University of Oxford in Naples, which Marmodoro directed. For a brief period, we all stayed in a small villa and talked about hylomorphism all day, each day, while enjoying delicious Italian food.

Whatever your community looks like, whatever shape it takes, what matters is that you’re encouraged toward accomplishing your academic goal.

(2) Know your goal. Like writing a dissertation, becoming a good distance runner requires a lot of tedious and monotonous work. If you don’t have a clear goal of what you want to achieve, you won’t get up early, lace up your running shoes, and enter the frosty morning air as you take the first of many steps in your morning run. There are, after all, more enticing and perhaps even more pressing things to do. Similarly, if you don’t have a clear goal of when you want to finish your dissertation, it is easy to put off your daily writing for another day, which can easily become more distant into the future.

(3) Be realistic about your goal . While it is important to have a clear goal as a distance runner and as a doctoral researcher, it is important for your goal to be realistic. This means your goal should take into account the fact that you are human and therefore have both particular strengths and limitations. Everyone enters the sport of distance running with different strengths and weaknesses. When Diddy ran the city it would have been unrealistic for him to try to break the two-hour barrier in the marathon, as Eliud Kipchoge did . If Diddy made that his goal, he probably would have lost all hope in the first mile of the marathon and never finished. Because he set a more realistic goal of breaking four hours, not two hours, he paced himself accordingly and actually finished.

The parent of two young children who is teaching part-time can certainly finish a dissertation. But the parent will have a greater likelihood of doing so with a reasonable goal that fits that individual’s strengths and limitations. If the parent expects to finish on the same timescale as someone who is single with no children nor teaching responsibilities, this will likely lead to disappointment and less motivation in the middle of the process. Motivation will remain higher, and correspondingly so will productivity that is fueled by motivation, if one’s goal is realistic and achievable.

Another element of having a realistic goal is being willing to adapt the goal as your circumstances change. Sometimes a runner might enter a race expecting to place in the top five and midway through the race realize that she has a great chance of winning (consider, for example, Des Linden’s victory at the Boston Marathon ). At that point, it would be wise to revise one’s goal to be ‘win the race’ rather than simply placing in the top five. At other times, a runner might expect to win the race or be on the podium and midway realize that is no longer possible. Yet, if she is nevertheless within striking distance of placing in the top five, then she can make that her new goal, which is realistic given her current situation and will therefore sustain her motivation to the finish line. Sara Hall, who could have and wanted to crack the top three, held on for fifth at the World Championships marathon because she adjusted her goal midrace.

The PhD candidate who initially plans to finish her dissertation in three years but then finds herself in the midst of a pandemic or dealing with a medical issue or a family crisis may not need to give up on her goal of finishing her dissertation. Perhaps, she only needs to revise her goal so that it allows more time, so she finishes in five years rather than three. A PhD finished in five years is certainly more valuable than no PhD.

(4) Know why you want to achieve your goal . My high school cross-country coach, Mr. Steiner, once gave me a book about distance running entitled “Motivation is the Name of the Game.” It is one of those books you don’t really need to read because the main takeaway is in the title. Distance running requires much-delayed gratification—you must do many things that are not intrinsically enjoyable (such as running itself, ice baths, going to bed early, etc.) in order to achieve success. If you don’t have a solid reason for why you want to achieve your running goal, you won’t do the numerous things you do not want to do but must do to achieve your goal. The same is true for finishing a PhD. Therefore, it is important to know the reason(s) why you want to finish your dissertation and why you want a PhD.

As a side note, it can also be immensely helpful to choose a dissertation topic that you are personally very interested in, rather than a topic that will simply make you more employable. Of course, being employable is something many of us must consider. Yet, if you pick a topic that is so boring to you that you have significant difficulty finding the motivation to finish your dissertation, then picking an “employable dissertation topic” will be anything but employable.

(5) Prioritize your goal . “Be selfish” were the words of exhortation my college cross-country team heard from our coaches before we returned home for Christmas break. As someone who teaches ethics courses, I feel compelled to clarify that “be selfish” is not typically good advice. However, to be fair to my coaches, the realistic point they were trying to convey was that at home we would be surrounded by family and friends who may not fully understand our running goals and what it takes to accomplish them. For example, during my first Christmas break home from college, I was trying to run eighty miles per week. Because I was trying to fit these miles into my social schedule without much compromise, many of these miles were run in freezing temps, in the dark, on concrete sidewalks with streetlights, rather than dirt trails. After returning to campus following the holidays, I raced my first indoor track race with a terribly sore groin, which an MRI scan soon revealed was due to a stress fracture in my femur. I learned the hard way that I have limits to what I can do, which entails I must say “no thanks” to some invitations, even though that may appear selfish to some.

A PhD researcher writing a dissertation has a substantial goal before her. Yet, many people writing a dissertation have additional responsibilities, such as teaching, being a loving spouse, a faithful friend, or a present parent. As I was teaching while writing my dissertation, I often heard the mantra “put students first.” Yet, I knew if I prioritized my current students over and above finishing my dissertation, I would, like many, never finish my dissertation. However, I knew it would be best for my future students to be taught by an expert who has earned a PhD. So, I put my future students first by prioritizing finishing my PhD . This meant that I had to limit the teaching responsibilities I took on. Now, my current students are benefitting from my decision, as they are taught by an expert in my field.

While prioritizing your dissertation can mean putting it above some things in life, it also means putting it below other things. A friend once told me he would fail in a lot of areas in life before he fails as a father, which is often what it means to practically prioritize one goal above another. Prioritizing family and close friendships need not mean that you say ‘yes’ to every request, but that you intentionally build consistent time into your schedule to foster relationships with the people closest to you. For me, this practically meant not working past 6:00pm on weekdays and taking weekends off to hang out with family and friends. This relieved pressure, because I knew that if something went eschew with my plan to finish my PhD, I would still have the people in my life who I care most about. I could then work toward my goal without undue anxiety about the possibility of failing and the loss that would entail. I was positively motivated by the likely prospect that I would, in time, finish my PhD, and be able to celebrate it with others who supported me along the way.

(6) Just start writing . Yesterday morning, it was five degrees below freezing when I did my morning run. I wanted to skip my run and go straight to my heated office. So, I employed a veteran distance running trick to successfully finish my run. I went out the door and just started running. That is the hardest part, and once I do it, 99.9% of the time I finish my run.

You may not know what exactly you think about a specific topic in the chapter you need to write, nor what you are going to write each day. But perhaps the most simple and helpful dissertation advice I ever received was from David Horner, who earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford. He told me: “just start writing.” Sometimes PhD researchers think they must have all their ideas solidified in their mind before they start writing their dissertation. In fact, writing your dissertation can actually help clarify what you think. So “just start writing” is not only simple but also sage advice.

(7) Never write a dissertation . No great marathoner focuses on running 26.2 miles. Great distance runners are masters of breaking up major goals into smaller goals and then focusing on accomplishing one small goal at a time, until they have achieved the major goal. Philosophers can understand this easily, as we take small, calculated steps through minor premises that support major premises to arrive at an overall conclusion in an argument.

Contained within each chapter of a dissertation is a premise(s) in an overall argument and individual sections can contain sub-premises supporting the major premise of each chapter. When you first start out as a doctoral researcher working on your dissertation, you have to construct an outline of your dissertation that maps out the various chapters and how they will relate to your overall conclusion. Once you have that outline in place, keep it in the back of your mind. But do not focus on writing the whole, which would be overwhelming and discouraging. Rather, focus on writing whichever chapter you are working on. The fastest American marathoner, Ryan Hall, wrote a book that sums up the only way to run long distances in the title Run the Mile You’re In . And Galen Rupp discusses in this interview how he mentally breaks up a marathon into segments and focuses on just finishing one segment at a time. Whatever chapter you’re writing, make it your goal to write that chapter. Once you’ve accomplished that goal, set a new goal: write the next chapter. Repeat that process several times and you will be halfway through your dissertation. Repeat the process a few more times, and you will be done.

By the time you have finished a master’s degree, you have written many chapter-length papers. To finish a dissertation, you essentially write about eight interconnected papers, one at a time, just as you have done many times before. If you just write the chapter (which you could call a “paper” if that feels like a lighter load) you’re writing, before you know it, you will have written a dissertation.

(8) Harness the power of habits . Becoming a great distance runner requires running an inordinate number of miles, which no one has the willpower to do. The best marathoners in the world regularly run well over one hundred miles a week, in addition to stretching, lifting weights, taking ice baths, and eating healthy. Not even the most tough-minded distance runner has the gumption to make all the individual decisions that would be required in order to get out the door for every run and climb into every ice bath apart from the development of habits. The most reliable way around each distance runner’s weakness of will, or akrasia , is developing and employing habits. The same can be true for writing.

If you simply try to write a little bit each weekday around the same time, you will develop a habit of writing at that time each day. Once you have that habit, the decision to write each weekday at that time will require less and less willpower over time. Eventually, it will take some willpower to not write at that time. I have found it helpful to develop the routine of freewriting for a few minutes just before starting my daily writing session of thirty minutes during which I write new content, before working on editing or revising existing content for about thirty minutes. My routine helped me develop the daily habit of writing, which removes the daily decision to write, as I “just do it” (to use Nike’s famous line) each day.

I have also found it helpful to divide my days up according to routines. As a morning person, I do well writing and researching in the morning, doing teaching prep and teaching during the middle of the day, and then doing mundane tasks such as email at the end of the day.

(9) Write for today and for tomorrow . Successful distance runners train for two reasons. One reason—to win upcoming races—is obvious. However, in addition to training for upcoming races, the successful distance runner trains today for the training that they want to be capable of months and years ahead. You cannot simply jump into running eighty, ninety, or one-hundred-mile weeks. It takes time to condition your body to sustain the stress of running high mileage weeks. A runner must have a long-term perspective and plan ahead as she works toward her immediate goals on the way to achieving her long-term goals. Similarly, for the PhD researcher, writing a dissertation lays the groundwork for future success.

For one, if the PhD candidate develops healthy, sustainable, productive habits while writing a dissertation, these habits can be continued once they land an academic job. It is no secret that the initial years on the job market, or in a new academic position, can be just as (or more) challenging than finishing a PhD. Effective habits developed while writing a dissertation can be invaluable during such seasons, allowing one to continue researching and writing even with more responsibilities and less time.

It is also worth noting that there is a sense in which research writing becomes easier, as one becomes accustomed to the work. A distance runner who has been running for decades, logging thousands of miles throughout their career, can run relatively fast without much effort. For example, my college roommate, Travis Boyd, decided to set the world record for running a half marathon pushing a baby stroller nearly a decade after we ran for the University of Washington. His training was no longer what it once was during our collegiate days. Nevertheless, his past training made it much easier for him to set the record, even though his focus had shifted to his full-time business career and being a present husband and father of two. I once asked my doctoral supervisors, Nikk Effingham and Jussi Suikkanen, how they were able to publish so much. They basically said it gets easier, as the work you have done in the past contributes to your future publications. Granted, not everyone is going to finish their PhD and then become a research super human like Liz Jackson , who finished her PhD in 2019, and published four articles that same year, three the next, and six the following year. Nevertheless, writing and publishing does become easier as you gain years of experience.

(10) Go running . As Cal Newport discusses in Deep Work , having solid boundaries around the time we work is conducive for highly effective academic work. And there is nothing more refreshing while dissertating than an athletic hobby with cognitive benefits . So, perhaps the best way to dissertate like a distance runner is to stop writing and go for a run.

Acknowledgments : Thanks are due to Aryn Owen and Jaden Anderson for their constructive feedback on a prior draft of this post.

• Matthew Owen

Matthew Owen (PhD, University of Birmingham) is a faculty member in the philosophy department at Yakima Valley College in Washington State. He is also an affiliate faculty member at the Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan. Matthew’s latest book is Measuring the Immeasurable Mind: Where Contemporary Neuroscience Meets the Aristotelian Tradition .

• Dissertating
• Finishing your PhD
• graduate students
• Sabrina D. MisirHiralall

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7 Super Simple PhD Student Motivation Hacks

Losing motivation during your PhD is very, after all, you are trying to work towards a single problem for many years. When things are not going your way, or you are just fed up of thinking about the same thing over and over again, you can very quickly lose motivation.

Keeping your motivation up during your PhD means understanding you need to focus on discipline and not necessarily motivation. However, remembering your “why”, eating healthily, and finding an energising hobby can help keep you motivated.

In this article, we will go over all of the things you need to know about keeping up your motivation as a PhD student and all of the things I learned throughout my 15 years in academia.

I was always surprised at how easy it was to get myself back on track if I found myself in a slump.

Check out my YouTube video if you want to know more about how to get your PhD motivation back. I summarised all of the most important and effective tricks:

Here are all of the little tricks you need to know.

It’s about discipline NOT motivation

It’s common to feel demotivated and lose your motivation during your PhD or when writing up your thesis, but there’s a simple fact that every successful person learns.

It’s not about motivation, it’s about discipline.

That’s what successful PhD students and academics understand.

They don’t wait to feel like doing something, they just do it. And they keep doing it, even when they don’t feel like it, because they know it’s important.

Successful PhD students are disciplined. They have the self-control to do what they need to do, even when they don’t want to do it. They know that if they’re not disciplined, they won’t achieve their goals.

Unfortunately, we often wait for too long for motivation to strike. In my experience, a lot of the time, this simply does not happen.

If you want to be successful during your PhD, you need to be disciplined. You need to have the self-control to do what’s necessary, even when you don’t feel like it. You need to keep going, even when you feel like giving up.

Discipline is the key to success in academia.

Sometimes, discipline is not enough on its own. If you are experiencing any of the low motivation symptoms, you can combat them relatively easily.

How to spot low motivation?

There are several ways to spot low motivation.

One way is to ask yourself how much pleasure you get from the activities you’re engaged in. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, it’s likely that your motivation is low.

Another way to tell if your motivation is low is to look at how much effort you’re putting into your studies.

If you find yourself procrastinating or not putting forth your best effort, it’s a sign that your motivation may be low.

Finally, take a look at your results. If you’re not seeing the progress you want, or if you’re seeing setbacks, it could be a sign that your motivation is lacking.

There are also some very specific PhD related symptoms that you should look for.

Not wanting to communicate with your supervisor

One of the first warning signs I look for in any of my students is any hesitation in communicating with their supervisors.

Students often avoid speaking with their supervisors if they are not producing results. This can happen when the PhD student feels like there is a massive hurdle in front of them that they cannot overcome.

Your supervisor should be able to help you find a simple experiment or study to do to start the ball rolling.

Never avoid or delay a supervisor meeting. The meetings will keep you accountable and help you on the path to completion.

Procrastination on thesis/writing

Writing is a massive pain in the bum.

I know that I would always procrastinate a lot when it came to writing up my thesis or peer-reviewed papers.

A lot of people find the academic writing process very tedious and painful. Finding the motivation to do just a few hundred words a day can also be very difficult.

Loss of enthusiasm

Burnout During your PhD, it is likely that you will feel overwhelmed and stressed at some point.

Your supervisor may not be able to help either, as they are usually busy with their own research and things.

Research is a notoriously competitive field, which means that there is a lot of pressure to succeed. This can lead to feelings of anxiety and stress, which can eventually lead to burnout.

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or burnt out, it is important to take a step back and assess your situation. Talk to your supervisor about your concerns and see if there is anything they can do to help you.

It may also be helpful to talk to other PhD students or academics who have been through the same thing. They will be able to offer advice and support.

In the end, it is up to you to manage your own stress levels and make sure you don’t end up burning out.

If you want to know more about combating burnout during your PhD check out my YouTube video below.

How do PhD students stay motivated?

There is no one answer to this question as different students have different motivators.

However, some ways that PhD students stay motivated include setting goals, breaking up their work into manageable tasks, staying organized, and seeking support from their peers and mentors.

Additionally, many students find it helpful to celebrate their small accomplishments along the way. This will help create a sense of momentum that can breed more motivation.

Here are the basic motivational tips including some simple actionable advice that you can use if you are feeling unmotivated.

Motivational Tips

1. The basics

First, try setting smaller goals that are more achievable. This will help you see progress and feel more successful, which can increase your motivation.

Second, make sure you’re taking care of yourself physically by getting enough sleep and exercise; both things can boost your energy and mood, which can in turn increase your motivation.

Finally, try speaking kindly to yourself and focusing on positive self-talk; this can help increase your confidence and self-belief, making it easier to stay motivated.

2. Remember your WHY

Throughout PhD it can be hard to remember why you actually started one in the first place. There is so much more you end up doing is a PhD student. You can actually forget your true purpose whilst busy with the admin, politics, and busywork that a PhD often presents.

Getting familiar with your motivations to do your PhD will certainly ground you, hopefully, help you remember why you decided to go down this path in the first place.

3. Focus on the bigger picture

Focusing on the bigger picture also helps me a lot.

Quite often we can get bogged down in the details of our research. However, connecting with the bigger picture and zooming out really helps boost motivation.

Remember questions such as:

• who you’re doing this research for
• why you did this in the first place
• what the true benefits of your work are

can really help provide that small amount of inspiration when it is low.

4. Find an energizing hobby

Hobbies have been something that has provided a welcome distraction from my PhD and academic work.

They have allowed me to get away from work and take a break from the daily grind.

However, not all hobbies are made the same.

I would recommend finding a hobby in which you feel energised. Watching TV, reading a book, are great but often leave me feeling tired. Hobbies that include hanging out with other people and being active are often much better for keeping up my motivation and helping me feel energised and ready to tackle the issues by PhD threw up.

5. Eat well

It goes without saying that eating well throughout your PhD will help you feel better in many aspects of your life.

If you’re feeling unmotivated remember to go back to unprocessed and healthy food to kickstart your healthy eating habits again.

Stay away from highly processed foods and junk food – doing so has provided me with a huge boost in energy and therefore motivation.

6. Take time to step away from your work

Step away from your PhD every so often.

Take a moment to reconnect with friends, family and old acquaintances. It is actually okay to take some time for you.

Some PhD students need to step away from their work for much longer. Stepping away from your PhD for six months to a year can also help you regain the motivation you need to finish.

7. Focus on your achievements

In the daily grind of a PhD can be hard to focus on your achievements when all you can see are your failures or challenges.

Nothing motivates me more in my academic career than seeing what I have already achieved and what I can improve on.

Taking a moment to stop and reflect on your achievements will help you fine-tune your next step and will give you the energy to want to reproduce that successful experiment or study.

I like to keep a little list of my achievements nearby so that I can look at them whenever I am feeling flat.

Why Losing Motivation In Grad School Is Normal

Losing motivation in grad school is normal for a number of reasons.

First, the academic pressure can be intense and overwhelming at times.

Second, the process of getting a PhD or postdoc often takes much longer than students expect, which can lead to frustration and disappointment.

Third, many students are juggling multiple responsibilities (e.g., teaching, research, family) and simply don’t have the time or energy to devote to their studies.

Finally, it’s easy to become discouraged when you compare yourself to your peers and feel like you’re not making as much progress as they are.

If you’re feeling unmotivated, it’s important to remember that it’s normal and that you’re not alone.

Talk to your advisor or other trusted faculty member about how you’re feeling and see if they have any advice on how to get back on track.

Take some time for yourself outside of school and do things that make you happy. And finally, remind yourself why you’re doing this in the first place. Grad school is hard work, but it’s also an amazing opportunity to learn and grow as a person.

Wrapping up

This article is covered everything you need to know about keeping up your motivation as a PhD student.

The PhD is long, arduous, and can test even the most motivated of individuals. Focusing on discipline and execution every day will be the number one way you can build up momentum and keep moving forward.

When your willpower is depleted, make sure you are eating well, you take time to reconnect with friends and family and do an energising hobby.

Small steps every single day is what finishes a PhD. Take small steps and the rest of your PhD will follow.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

We are here to help you navigate Academia as painlessly as possible. We are supported by our readers and by visiting you are helping us earn a small amount through ads and affiliate revenue - Thank you!

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Birkbeck Perspectives

Birkbeck experts and students share their opinions on a diverse range of thought-provoking topics., “a good phd is a finished phd”: tips for completing your thesis from academics who’ve been there.

Struggling to find the motivation to get through the final furlong of your PhD? Professor Almuth McDowall, Head of the Department of Organizational Psychology, shares some top tips to help you finish strong – with many thanks to Rob Briner, Kamal Birdi, Jane Ogden, Gail Kinman, Katrina Pritchard; and Rebecca Whiting for the quote in the title.

Studying for a PhD and writing the thesis is one of the most challenging undertakings in academic life. One of the difficulties is that there is no blueprint. Each research journey is different. Each thesis is unique. Some of us, and this includes me, probably spent too much time and energy emulating others. Then the realisation dawns that it’s yours and only yours to finish.

Writing the thesis is not a linear journey. There are stops and starts along the way. We start doubting our capacity as writers. We will wonder if our research will ever be good enough. Will people care? Or will they look down on our undertakings? Self doubt tends to creep in.

Motivation is also an issue. On the home stretch, which should be the final energetic lap, many of us get bored with our own words. The end is in sight, but energy levels dip, which often means that procrastination sets in.

What can we do on the final furlong? In no particular order, here are our top tips:

Make yourself a plan and timetable

Month by month at first. Week by week on the final stretch. Share this. Make it accountable. If you miss deadlines and milestones, rethink and learn from why this happened. If you were too ambitious, revise timelines but share this with your supervisor. If slippage happened because you simply didn’t write, reflect on why this happened. Don’t beat yourself up, but recognise that this was a slip and think of strategies to do better next time.

Create a reward system and reward chart

Maybe don’t hit the biscuit tin every time you write 500 words, but think of other treats. A walk in the park? A cup of your favourite tea? Relish and notice the reward. It will feel very satisfying to tick tasks off.

Divide tasks up into ‘intellectual’ and ‘housekeeping’

Some tasks are tough mental work, such as writing a meaningful conclusion. Others are more tedious, such as formatting tables, but these tasks still need to be done. So when you are feeling fresh, do the hard stuff. When you have brain fog, do the simpler tasks. This way, productivity is kept up.

Enough is enough

No thesis is perfect. A take-home of five to six contributions, clearly articulated, is better than a long list.

Divide your attention equally

Don’t fall into the trap of going over and over a certain section, but neglecting other equally important sections of your thesis. Use your chapter structure to ensure that you work across all chapters equally. It’s a common trap to neglect the conclusion. Use your abstract to articulate and shape what your key contributions are.

Chunking is your friend

Don’t think about writing thousands of words, or an entire chapter. Think about writing lots of 500 words. It will feel much more manageable.

Use your submission form to fix the end date

Do this as soon as realistically possible. Seeing the date in print makes it more real and will focus your energies.

Let go of perfection

A perfect thesis is a rare creature. Is this really what it’s all about? Doing doctoral research is an apprenticeship which prepares you for the next chapters of your life. Celebrate what you do well, and don’t mull on your weaker points. Good research is rarely perfect but thought provoking. That’s what it is all about.

Make a plan

Our final tip is not just to read ‘top tips’ but to plan how to put them into action. What are you going to tackle first of the above? Always remember – “a good PhD is a finished PhD”. Perfectionism and ambition are helpful, but should not deter and detract you from the final submission. It’s part of an academic’s life that we worry if our work is good enough, liked, cited and used by audiences. A thesis does not have to be perfect, but needs to document a learning journey.

We wish you well in your writing journey on the ‘final furlong’.

Further Information:

• PhD research at Birkbeck
• Department of Organizational Pscyhology
• Professor Almuth McDowall

One thought on “ “A good PhD is a finished PhD”: tips for completing your thesis from academics who’ve been there ”

This advice – at best insightful – just gave me a lift. I have the link and will return to it when my energy flags. Thank you, PhD seniors, at Birbeck – for this big let-off.

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Motivation to Finish the Ph.D.

Ph.D. programs in the mathematical sciences frequently take five or more years to complete. After finishing all required coursework and focusing solely on research for a while, it can become challenging to find motivation to complete the doctoral degree. Without the benchmark of grades and exams, it can be difficult to gauge how much progress you are making and it may feel like the end is nowhere in sight. With this in mind, I asked five current mathematicians to share what their motivation was to finish their Ph.D.

———

“My motivation to finish my Ph.D. was twofold. First, I liked doing math and was not knowledgeable about potential careers in industry, so at the time I viewed becoming a professor as my ideal job (it turned out well!). Second, coming from a small rural town in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, me, my parents, and my then-girlfriend (now wife) had invested a lot of time and energy for me to get to the point where I could work on getting a Ph.D. At the time, I felt like quitting the program would have been a waste of that energy and effort. I don’t view this as a healthy reason now, but at the time it motivated me to keep going.” – Alexander Diaz-Lopez, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Villanova University

“There were both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Unlike my pre-candidacy years, during my last 2 years of grad school, I knew I was smart enough and capable enough to get a Ph.D.  But fatigue (read: exhaustion) had really set in by then and staying the course was hard.  One big source of motivation was that I knew that this degree was the ticket to a job where I could wear a big afro, snarky t-shirts, and tennis shoes to work for the rest of my life (read: My credentials meant that I could bring more of my authentic self to work).  Another big source of motivation were my mentors.  They knew I could finish before I did (especially back in those pre-candidacy years) and all they ever asked of me was that I do my best (again, they somehow knew that my best was enough to get a Ph.D.)… I felt like the least I owed them was my best effort.” – Shelby Wilson, Ph.D. Senior Data Scientist at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

“In no particular rank: Be the first to receive a Ph.D. in my close family. I was told that “[I] won’t be a mathematician” by a faculty member in my undergraduate institution… Proved him wrong and am now an NSF Postdoc in the same department as him/my alma mater. Get out of Kentucky as fast as I could.  There were personal motivations such as wanting to be near a large city, a desire for public transportation, being closer to family, and being queer; these played a role into motivating to finish. Finish the Ph.D. to move past academic requirements and somewhat be the decision maker of my own mathematical interests and trajectory. You can say that now I can enjoy doing the math and not feel the pressure of trying to graduate (though there are other stressors like finding a permanent job, but that’s another topic).” – Andrés R. Vindas Meléndez, Ph.D. MSRI Postdoctoral Research Fellow  NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley    “By the end of year 1, I was reconsidering my prospects at Burger King. But having a Ph.D. means more backup options in the future, like getting a research position in industry or access to adjunct teaching positions in retirement. I won’t ever get the chance again: life gets busier with time and I won’t be going back to school. Plus, unless I feel really strongly motivated about another path, it’s smarter to not derail myself. It’s also the last chance I got to take classes tuition free in any skills I want.” – Ravi Shankar, Ph.D. Mathematics Instructor at Princeton University

“The motivation for me to finish my doctorate mainly stems from my hesitation to choose a career path. I have never been certain on what exactly I wanted to do but I felt like having the degree would make me better prepared for whatever it is that I ended up doing. The pandemic also played a role in my decision to finish as the least year and a half of my degree was completed during it. This cemented my decision as entering the job market at the height of the pandemic seemed bleak and ultimately, I am very happy with my decision.” – Genesis Islas, Ph.D. Lecturer at California State University, Long Beach

When I first started my Ph.D., my goal was mostly intellectual and I was motivated by the idea of learning more math. In the time between finishing undergrad and starting graduate school, I had somehow romanticized the idea of academia. After completing a summer internship, however, my motivation for finishing the Ph.D. has become much more practical. I now see grad school as more of a job than a passion. Since I do not plan on staying in academia after graduation, I am motivated by the prospect of having more stability (income), more limits on my work time, and less ambiguity in my research objectives.

A common motivator in the responses by current math Ph.D.’s is the idea that finishing the Ph.D. gives you more options and opportunities down the road. All of these individuals are proof that completing the degree is possible, even if you are doubting your ability to do so.

About Victoria Uribe

Opinions expressed on these pages were the views of the writers and did not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the American Mathematical Society.

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10 habits that helped me finish my PhD

Doing a PhD is a long-distance run where you don’t know when (and if) you get to cross the finish line. Moreover, you are running through a misty landscape, unsure for long stretches where you are and whether you are heading in the right direction (and what is the right direction, anyway).

Sounds familiar? It surely was familiar to me. Few years into my PhD, I found myself in a very uncomfortable situation: it was slowly time to finish my work & write up the thesis, but I didn’t have any reasonable, publishable results yet. I was in the middle of a big mess — and my mind was a big mess, too. I was distracted most of the time, jumping from paper to paper, from idea to idea, starting something but not finishing it, procrastinating with little busy work, and pushing away what was important. This stressed me out more and more, so that finally I had to face the reality and do something about it.

So I read some blogs about self-management and productivity and started to experiment with my behaviors. And I discovered that productive habits and routines were indeed the perfect solution for my situation.

The power of habits

Why are habits so powerful? The short answer is that having any kind of regular routine is helpful because it alleviates the burden of choice . Decision making is exhausting for the brain, and when we have to make too many decisions in a given day, we feel overwhelmed and even unhappy.

So developing habits frees us from wasting our decision capacity on little everyday things like when we are going to do what. As a result, we will feel more focused and capable to do better work for longer time.

Moreover, habits and routines are a great help with achieving goals . Setting goals is not sufficient to actually achieve them – we need to do something, and for big goals it means doing a lot. Some people even argue that you don’t need to set goals at all – just develop the right habits and they will bring you the desired outcome.

You can design your routines by deciding which behaviors you want to do daily or weekly, and allocating certain time (and/or a place in a sequence) for them. For example: after I wash my teeth, I do some yoga, then I have breakfast.

Before a habit becomes automatic, you need to repeat it daily for a month or two. There are many tricks that help you stick to your chosen behavior and not give up. For example, you can place little notes to yourself at visible locations around your room or house, set an alarm clock that will remind you that it is time for your habit, use a big calendar and mark every day when you do your habit with a big cross, or even ask a friend to act as an accountability partner and report to them every day (or week) how you are doing with your routine. If you want to learn more, here is my favorite minimalist guide to sticking to habits .

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10 habits that saved my PhD

Now, let’s be more precise: How can you overcome your problems and finish the bloody PhD? Here I show you the most important daily and weekly habits that I developed during grad school, habits which helped me complete my thesis and stay (mostly) sane.

• Planning , which included daily, weekly, and long-term planning of my projects. I tried to plan my day at the end of the previous day, so that I could be productive from early morning and didn’t waste time with figuring out what I need to do. Furthermore, I learned to divide my todo list in two parts: “ big rocks ” that I tackled first thing in the morning, and “todo” containing all the little things that needed to be done, like emails and other organizational stuff. Big rocks were the most important things, but they were rarely urgent. So if I would not prioritize them, they would be endlessly postponed. Moreover, I found it important to break down these “big rocks” into small actionable steps , otherwise they would feel too big and intimidating, so I would rather procrastinate than work on them.
• Morning routine was another game changer for me. I designed an optimal start into my day where I could do all the necessary things quickly without employing much decision making and start my work day with a fresh and focused mind. I included here healthy habits like morning yoga that gave me the necessary energy boost for a whole day of hard work.

• Daily writing in my lab book : Towards the end of my PhD I (finally!) started to document my research activities in a great detail — in a lab book. (If you wonder why I started so late with it: As I was working with computational models, lab book was not required, unfortunately.) I described here not only my procedures and results, but also included notes about the papers I read, and reflections about ideas and open questions I had. Starting with the lab book was THE great turning point in my PhD: turning away from procrastination and towards great productivity that allowed me to graduate much faster than I thought was possible. Regularly using the lab book brought multiple benefits : First, it generated detailed documentation, so I didn’t need to repeat simulations or re-read papers anymore. Second, writing about my difficulties actually helped me find solutions. Third, I wrote texts that I could recycle in manuscripts and my thesis. Fourth, it gave me daily painless writing practice that later enabled me to write up my thesis quite fast, without writer’s block and procrastination. And fifth, it created a feeling of daily progress, which motivated me to keep going and not give up.
• Taking notes when reading papers : I used to just highlight the relevant parts in the text and write my comments and questions on the side as I was reading a paper. Later I realized that I can avoid the need to re-read papers (for example, when searching for appropriate references) when I write a little summary of the most important points (most important for me and my project!), including my evaluation of the methods and results and their relevance to my project. Since the papers I read were related to my own work, this additional writing practice helped me build a rich vocabulary for describing my own research.
• Weekly meetings with my supervisor and co-author turned out to be an excellent measure against procrastination. For example, I could not spend the whole week lost in the literature — I had to do at least something that I could bring to the discussion. These meetings were a great opportunity to talk about my research challenges, which was itself often sufficient to resolve them. Moreover, here I found motivation in times of despair: when I was fed up with my project, talking about what I did and what I thought often increased my interest in the project again.
• The big picture day : Friday afternoons were reserved for stepping away from the daily work and trying to get a larger overview of what I was doing, what the recent results meant, and where should I go next. These moments allowed me to cut through the fog and search for the direction and meaning in what I was doing. It was also the perfect time for planning my activities for the next week.

• Having a regular hobby that has nothing to do with your research. For me, it was music and dancing. What I learned the hard way: don’t stop with your hobby when you feel like you need to be working more. My hobbies helped me overcome the dark periods when I worked hard for my thesis, but the effort was not reflected in the achieved results. During these times, it is important to have something else that works, something where one can experience progress.
• Regular sport activities : The long days at the desk during my PhD were not good for my body, I felt that very clearly. My back was aching, the shoulders were stiff, even my digestion seemed to work worse than before. I had to start with regular sport to not hurt myself. Jogging, other aerobic activities (dancing :)), and yoga not only helped with my body, but as a result I felt more energized and focused as well.
• Having a social life is similar to cultivating a hobby, but here it’s about interpersonal connections that, at the end, make life worth living. Similarly to giving up a hobby, we might tend to sacrifice our social life when the work gets tough. But that’s a bad idea: when I stopped meeting friends and going out for more than few weeks, I felt isolated and unhappy. A phone call with a good friend or a Friday night out would improve my mood and make me ready for work again.

These 10 habits made a great difference in my PhD productivity and well-being. But what about you? Do you have experience with some of the listed habits? Or do you cultivate other habits that help you with your PhD life? Please, share them with us in the comments!

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5 thoughts on “ 10 habits that helped me finish my PhD ”

Thanks…I would rather call these as the 10 PhD commandments…….specialisation, not bringing work to home, daily planning are my habits…in these scale I consider myself as a 5/10 boy. Sport….sport….I have to get into it……..Friday night out….?

Haha, thank you! Friday night out was an example: find a way to socialize that works for you 😉

If it possible to make download as PDF documents it will be so readable. Thank you

Dear Moustafa, unfortunately, no pdfs of my online articles are currently available. I’m sorry! Best, Martina

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• CAREER COLUMN
• 28 April 2020

Finding motivation while working from home as a PhD student during the coronavirus pandemic

• Melina Papalampropoulou-Tsiridou 0

Melina Papalampropoulou-Tsiridou is a PhD and MBA candidate at Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, and conducts her PhD research in neuroscience at CERVO Brain Research Centre in Quebec City.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

At the moment, staying motivated can be tough. Many scientists have admitted this on social media or in online meetings. I’ve struggled to follow a consistent routine and to be productive, thinking twice about getting dressed in the morning while wondering, “What’s the point?” This is especially true when we’re surrounded by distractions at home — a place usually kept away from work.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01292-x

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How to Write a PhD Motivation Letter

• Applying to a PhD

A PhD motivation letter is a document that describes your personal motivation and competence for a particular research project. It is usually submitted together with your academic CV to provide admissions staff with more information about you as an individual, to help them decide whether or not you are the ideal candidate for a research project.

A motivation letter has many similarities to a cover letter and a personal statement, and institutions will not ask you to submit all of these. However, it is a unique document and you should treat it as such. In the context of supporting a PhD application, the difference is nuanced; all three documents outline your suitability for PhD study. However, compared to a cover letter and personal statement, a motivation letter places more emphasis on your motivation for wanting to pursue the particular PhD position you are applying for.

Academic cover letters are more common in UK universities, while motivation letters are more common abroad.

A motivation letter can play a key part in the application process . It allows the admission committee to review a group of PhD applicants with similar academic backgrounds and select the ideal candidate based on their motivations for applying.

For admission staff, academic qualifications alone are not enough to indicate whether a student will be successful in their doctorate. In this sense, a motivational letter will allow them to judge your passion for the field of study, commitment to research and suitability for the programme, all of which better enables them to evaluate your potential.

How Should I Structure My Motivation Letter?

A strong motivation letter for PhD applications will include:

• A concise introduction stating which programme you are applying for,
• Your academic background and professional work experience,
• Any key skills you possess and what makes you the ideal candidate,
• Your interest and motivation for applying,
• Concluding remarks and thanks.

This is a simplistic breakdown of what can be a very complicated document.

However, writing to the above structure will ensure you keep your letter of motivation concise and relevant to the position you are applying for. Remember, the aim of your letter is to show your enthusiasm and that you’re committed and well suited for the programme.

To help you write a motivation letter for a PhD application, we have outlined what to include in the start, main body, and closing sections.

How to Start a Motivation Letter

Introduction: Start with a brief introduction in which you clearly state your intention to apply for a particular programme. Think of this as describing what the document is to a stranger.

Education: State what you have studied and where. Your higher education will be your most important educational experience, so focus on this. Highlight any relevant modules you undertook as part of your studies that are relevant to the programme you are applying for. You should also mention how your studies have influenced your decision to pursue a PhD project, especially if it is in the same field you are currently applying to.

Work experience: Next summarise your professional work experience. Remember, you will likely be asked to submit your academic CV along with your motivation letter, so keep this section brief to avoid any unnecessary repetition. Include any other relevant experiences, such as teaching roles, non-academic experience, or charity work which demonstrates skills or shows your suitability for the research project and in becoming a PhD student.

Key skills: Outline your key skills. Remember the admissions committee is considering your suitability for the specific programme you are applying for, so mention skills relevant to the PhD course.

Motivation for applying: Show your enthusiasm and passion for the subject, and describe your long-term aspirations. Start with how you first became interested in the field, and how your interest has grown since. You should also mention anything else you have done which helps demonstrate your interest in your proposed research topic, for example:

• Have you attended any workshops or seminars?
• Do you have any research experience?
• Have you taught yourself any aspects of the subject?
• Have you read any literature within the research area?

Finally, describe what has convinced you to dedicate the next 3-4 years (assuming you are to study full time) of your life to research.

How to End a Motivation Letter

Concluding the motivation letter is where most people struggle. Typically, people can easily describe their academic background and why they want to study, but convincing the reader they are the best candidate for the PhD programme is often more challenging.

The concluding remarks of your motivation letter should highlight the impacts of your proposed research, in particular: the new contributions it will make to your field, the benefits it will have on society and how it fits in with your aspirations.

With this, conclude with your career goals. For example, do you want to pursue an academic career or become a researcher for a private organisation? Doing so will show you have put a lot of thought into your decision.

Remember, admissions into a PhD degree is very competitive, and supervisors invest a lot of time into mentoring their students. Therefore, supervisors naturally favour those who show the most dedication. Your conclusion should remind the reader that you are not only passionate about the research project, but that the university will benefit from having you.

Finally, thank the reader for considering your application.

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Motivation Letter Format

There are some basic rules to follow when writing a successful motivation letter. These will mimic the standard format for report writing that the supervisor will be familiar with:

• Use a sans serif font (e.g. Arial or Times New Roman),
• Use a standard font size (e.g. 12pt) and black font colour,
• Keep your writing professional throughout and avoid the use of informal language,
• Write in the first person,
• Address your motivation letter to a named person such as the project supervisor, however, this could also be the person in charge of research admissions,
• Structure your letter into paragraphs using the guidance above, such as introduction, academic history, motivation for research, and concluding remarks.

How Long Should a Motivation Letter Be?

A good rule of thumb for PhD motivation letters is to keep it to around one side of A4. A little longer than one page is acceptable, but two pages is generally considered too long. This equates to approximately 400-600 words.

Things to Avoid when Writing Your Motivational Letter

Your motivational letter will only be one of the several documents you’ll be asked to submit as part of your PhD application. You will almost certainly be asked to submit an Academic CV as well. Therefore, be careful not to duplicate any of the information.

It is acceptable to repeat the key points, such as what and where you have studied. However, while your CV should outline your academic background, your motivation letter should bring context to it by explaining why you have studied what you have, and where you hope to go with it. The simplest way to do this is to refer to the information in your CV and explain how it has led you to become interested in research.

Don’t try to include everything. A motivation letter should be short, so focus on the information most relevant to the programme and which best illustrates your passion for it. Remember, the academic committee will need to be critical in order to do their jobs effectively , so they will likely interpret an unnecessarily long letter as in indication that you have poor written skills and cannot communicate effectively.

You must be able to back up all of your statements with evidence, so don’t fabricate experiences or overstate your skills. This isn’t only unethical but is likely to be picked up by your proposed PhD supervisor or the admissions committee.

Whilst it is good to show you have an understanding of the field, don’t try to impress the reader with excessive use of technical terms or abbreviations.

PhD Motivation Letter Samples – A Word of Caution

There are many templates and samples of motivation letters for PhDs available online. A word of caution regarding these – although they can prove to be a great source of inspiration, you should refrain from using them as a template for your own motivation letter.

While there are no rules against them, supervisors will likely have seen a similar letter submitted to them in the past. This will not only prevent your application from standing out, but it will also reflect poorly on you by suggesting that you have put minimal effort into your application.

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Tress Academic

#35: PhD motivation running low? Here’s the cure!

December 10, 2019 by Tress Academic

Is it getting harder to be excited about your PhD? Perhaps you struggle to find the enthusiasm to start another work day – especially when nothing seems to be going your way. You might be suffering from one of the most common syndromes among PhD students: a lack of motivation. Although it may feel like your work is coming to standstill, DON’T BE FOOLED! There are many ways to get your motivation to come out of hiding, if you know what caused it disappear in the first place! We’ll help you to understand the causes and the cures for the motivational slumps, so you can stay on track and keep smiling until your PhD is in the bag!

Make no mistake, the PhD is a very demanding period of your life. You’re working on many difficult tasks, always aware that things can go wrong, with supervisors who all have high expectations, and dish out heavy criticism whenever they sense a momentary slip-up.  Many different tasks demand your attention at any given moment; like working out your research project, experimenting, analysing data, and apart from all of that, you still must attend your graduate courses, present at conferences, and publish your results! That’s a lot to tackle alongside a high workload. So it comes as no surprise if this adds up to you feeling demotivated every now and then. Rest assured, no PhD student is super motivated and happy all the time. The ups and downs are just a part of the entire PhD process. 

Motivation changes over time

It’s normal that motivational levels of PhD students naturally change over time. We see a lot of PhD students at the very beginning of our course “Completing your PhD successfully on time” that are walking on sunshine in the first weeks of their PhD! When they’re asked to rate their satisfaction with their PhD, they’re close to 100% because they’re just so happy that they got the chance to do a PhD, after receiving a grant or scholarship or successfully beat other competitors for a PhD position, that they feel a bit like they won the lottery!

Was it the same for you in the beginning? Well, then you also know that the feeling does not last. Because after a while, reality kicks in and you realise that not everything is as perfect as it seemed at first. This is often when one’s motivation starts to adjust to a normal level, but is still pretty stable. Later into the PhD, your motivation often continues to shrink. This is when there’s still an awful lot of work to do, with difficulties creeping up all around and no end in sight. But guess what? As the day of your submission approaches (even if it is still in the distant future), motivation often picks up again, once you start to gain confidence with the results of your research, or get your first papers published and a general feeling of – I’ll probably get through this one day – begins to sink in!

Don’t let low motivation drag you down

Apart from this usual fluctuation tendency in a PhD, low motivation is always a warning sign from your psyche telling you ‘uh oh something’s wrong here’ – so don’t ignore it. 

It is very important to spot the early signs of low motivation, because at this stage, you can do a lot to get out of it quickly! And the sooner you take the necessary steps to get out of it, the better. In contrast, if you wait too long to act, then you might become really depressed and the situation is much more difficult to tackle. 

With this blog post, we want to help you reflect on the reasons you might be feeling de-motivated – as this is often the key for improvement. As we put our heads together,  to try and help you understand the problem, we also put together great tips on how to get out of a motivational low – all specific to the underlying reasons! Check out or free worksheet “How to get out of low PhD motivation?” So here’s the message: You don’t have to accept low motivation – it’s all within your power to change! 

How to spot low motivation?

These are the typical signs of a PhD student who is at a motivational low:

• You’re not as excited as usual to come to work, or when you think about your PhD.
• It takes you a long time to get started and when you do, you postpone difficult or important tasks related to your project. 
• It takes you longer than usual and feels more difficult to finish something. You’re not happy with what you produce and your overall progress slows down. 
• You deliberately look for distractions. This might take shape as aimlessly browsing the web or social media platforms (for more on combatting social media addition, see our post #14 “Social media/www distractions at work: 5-step cure!” You might also distract yourself with work-related tasks that are not challenging but still give you the feeling of doing something, e.g. getting involved in the organisation of scientific events at your institute, or busying yourself cleaning up, sorting through emails or reorganising your workspace …

Whatever form it takes, we know that this behaviour always has a root cause. So we’ve broken down for you the five main reasons for low motivation that we see time and time again with PhD students:

Reason 1: Stuck in a boring routine 

You may be in a situation where you have to do a tedious or boring task for a considerable amount of time. We know the typical routines: Maybe you are coding and you have nothing to do but coding for whole days, and you know it’ll go on like this for weeks on end. Or you’re spending seemingly endless hours in the lab, running gels, so your day is sliced into 15 or 20 min slots. Or you’re working with antibodies and have 2-3 h incubation times, which is not much better. Or you’re sorting through data to  find a few meaningful correlations that will prove your PhD work as worthwhile … It’s no wonder that your motivation plummets and you can hardly pull yourself together to continue the slog. 

Probably, you generally like working as a researcher, and most of the tasks come easy to you. But this type of routine would wear anyone down! So your motivation slips with certain repetitive tasks that you don’t like, are boing, or simply overwhelm you. 

Reason 2: There’s no end in sight

Your research is in full swing and you thought by now you’d have more clarity and confidence about your project, but instead you are getting more uncertain and confused by the day. You may have some results already, but you are unsure which aspects of it to use for your dissertation, or if you can use them at all. You’ve no clue whether you are making progress with your PhD or not. All you see are loose ends everywhere: ideas that you did not follow up on, half-finished paper-drafts, and incomplete side-projects. It seems like you’ve lost track of it all, you’re going around in circles, with your head spinning, and your motivation is way down. 

This type of motivation loss often hits home many months after you started the PhD. Your work gains complexity as you go, and not all results make sense. You may adjust and deviate from your original plan to follow different paths, but not all of them lead to success. Now you are in a phase where you are reading more and understanding better what others in your field did before you. But as you gain knowledge and insights, you also become much more critical of your own work and progress. For you, it feels like there is no clear win or breakthrough in sight that would give you the ‘green light’ so you finally know you’ll be able to manage it all and get your degree in the end. 

Reason 3: Unacknowledged work 

This has a lot to do with the nature of PhDs and the working culture in scientific institutes: Although you may be part of a team, most of what you do for your PhD in the end is done in isolation. That means you’re probably lacking positive feedback and stimulation. And because you’re still in research training and on a steep learning curve, you get the full brunt of criticism from colleagues. Your supervisors or PIs may be quick to point out any shortcomings or flaws in your work, but less practiced at giving out praise! Have you every heard anyone in your lab saying ‘Wow, you did an absolutely amazing job with this, congrats!’ Nope. This may lead you to think negatively of your own achievements, doubt your abilities, and be quite demotivating! 

We have all experienced how this works: If we get positive feedback or a praise, we’re super happy and look forward to continuing with our work or even work harder. But if we are heavily criticised or if critique dominates and nothing positive is mentioned, we are hurt and demotivated. Sometimes this is so extreme that we’d rather stop working on a task and take on something else entirely. 

Reason 4: Overworked and sleep deprived 

It can happen to anyone: Your recent experiment or field campaign was much more time intensive than expected, there was a deadline for a conference paper that you wanted to submit, and you were also desperate to work on a proposal that would give you more funding for your PhD. As a result, you got into a habit of working very long days, even on weekends,  and your last real break  was a long time ago …

It’s no surprise that after weeks or months in ‘emergency overdrive’, you feel drained and exhausted. And although you initially thought you’ll just put in some extra hours temporarily, this has in fact become your standard mode of working. You got used to that high-intensity schedule and you had little to no time to recover! Demotivation creeps in, because – after all – you may be a PhD student, but you’re also a human being! 

Reason 5: Uncertainty about the future

Do you get a funny feeling in your stomach when you  imagine the time after your PhD completed? Do you feel the anxiety creeping up and freezing you to the spot? You’ve probably heard rumours from other PhD students who had difficulty finding a position afterwards and in your worst nightmares you picture yourself unemployed and broke…! So the thought of your ‘life-after-the-PhD’ and all the questions that come along with it are hanging over you, deflating your energy and shrinking your motivation to push ahead with your PhD – because what use is it?

Uncertainty about the future is one of the big recurring worries of PhD students. (Max-Planck survey link). As a PhD student, you have been within a university for such a long time that life beyond the ivory-tower is virtually beyond your imagination. Everything outside academia may seem scary and you have no clue which of your skills will be valued by employers. And even something familiar like continuing with a post-doc seems intangible and remains in the very distant future. Not surprising that your motivation to move on stalled. . .!

How to get out of it?

Help is around. For all these five possible reasons for your motivational low we come up with hands-on advice, tips and suggestions what you can do to overcome the motivational low and get your PhD back on track. Check out our free worksheet “How to get out of low PhD motivation?” for all the help that you need. 

Conclusion:

 It is normal to lose motivation at critical parts of your PhD. But it is also easy to combat if you recognize the signs early and treat yourself properly. Consider yourself another working part of your project that you may need to adjust as things move forward. You can’t always expect to get your best quality work if you are running on empty. So slow down, take stock, break up your routine now and then with something you love, get input from the people who care about you and rest! 

If all our tips sound like we’re speaking a foreign language to you – you need to sit down and plan some changes in your week immediately! This time is always going to be a challenging one, so make it easier for yourself and take a moment of zen to see the past, present and future as part of an amazing journey that you can – no – will successfully finish! Our suggestions in our free worksheet “How to get out of low PhD motivation?” will definitely help you on your way! 

Related resources:

• Worksheet “How to get out of low PhD motivation?”
• Smart Academics Blog #14 “Social media/www distractions at work: 5-step cure!”
• Smart Academics Blog #37: 5 ways to boost your energy as a researcher!
• Smart Academics Blog #55: 7 signs you need help with your PhD
• Smart Academics Blog #59: Overwhelmed by PhD work? Here’s the way out!
• Smart Academics Blog #72: 1000 things to do – no clue where to start
• Smart Academics Blog #100: PhD success stories that motivate!
• TRESS ACADEMIC course “Completing your PhD successfully on time”

More information: 

Do you want to complete your PhD successfully? If so, please sign up to receive our free guides.  

© 2019 Tress Academic

Photograph by Ethan Sykes at unsplash.com

#PhD, #Motivation,  #MotivationalLow, #Demotivation, #DoctoralStudy,

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Motivational Quotes for the PhD Journey

The PhD journey is a long one where it’s easy and normal to feel unmotivated for certain stretches of time. We all need a little inspiration to perk us up during those days. Jenny Mak offers you four handy motivational quotes for when the going gets tough during your PhD…

“Success requires Action”

We all procrastinate. It’s something that is easy to do especially at the beginning of your PhD when it feels like you have a lot of time. But to be successful—by this I mean successfully finishing and submitting your thesis—it’s not enough to say that you want a PhD, you also have to do the work. Doing the work means sitting down at your desk, butt firmly stuck to chair, and just doing it. It helps to set yourself concrete goals like writing 500 words a day, and trying your best to meet that target every day.

“Progress, not Perfection”

Perfectionism often gets confused with having high standards. For me, this has meant that I’d revised a chapter countless times before sending it to my supervisors for feedback because I felt that it just wasn’t right. But here’s the problem: the “right” version doesn’t exist. It’s an illusion—painfully shattered when you get back said chapter with lots of critical comments from your supervisor. Conversely, something that you think is “average” might actually be good enough for your supervisor. It’s good to have high standards, but don’t kill yourself over them. “Good enough” tends to be good enough. Check out Petra Kolber’s TED talk titled “The Perfection Detox” for some sharp insights into the perils of perfectionism.

“Eat the Elephant one bite at a time”

I don’t remember where I heard this quote. But it came handy in the late stages of my PhD when I felt tired and frustrated that no matter how much and how fast I was writing and revising, there still seemed to be no end in sight. Finishing a thesis can feel like having a huge elephant in front of you that you’re supposed to eat in its entirety. Of course, if you mainly focus on how massive this elephant is and when you can finish eating it up, you will feel overwhelmed. But if you take the elephant bite by bite, and not think about how much of it is left, one day the elephant will be all gone. The same goes for your thesis: break it down to small actionable tasks and do one task after another, until it is done and ready for submission.

“Enjoy Climbing the Mountain”

Doing a PhD is extremely challenging work. While we do it for the intellectual stimulation, sometimes we might wonder: why do we put ourselves through such difficulty? If you need a reminder of why you have chosen to do this, here is a quote by Tadashi Yanai , the founder of Uniqlo, which I have found helpful: “I’m never really satisfied with anything because the world is ever-changing. If you keep climbing up, then you see another, higher mountain. You climb up that peak and see another. I will pass away eventually because that is life. But I am climbing mountains because I enjoy the process of climbing a mountain.”

What challenges have you faced in your PhD so far? What motivational quotes did you find helpful when you had to face these challenges? Tweet us at  @ResearchEx , email us at [email protected], or leave a comment below.

Jenny Mak is a PhD researcher in the English and Comparative Literary Studies department at the University of Warwick. Her research looks at embodied experiences of globalisation in contemporary world literature. She has a background in creative writing, journalism, publishing, and sports training.

Image:  dandelion-dewdrop-flower-close-3094349  /  cocoparisienne /  CC0 1.0

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2 thoughts on “ motivational quotes for the phd journey ”.

Whenever I feel like want to give up on my PhD, I always remember one beautiful quotes from Alex Wassabi that he mentioned in one of his vlog. His quote sounds like this: ” We know what will happen if we give up, but we don’t know what will happen if we don’t”.

Excellent, motivational!

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• 18 March, 2021

The PhD journey can be exceptionally challenging and stressful, and it is not unusual for PhD candidates to sometimes feel so overwhelmed and demotivated that they feel unable to continue with their research.  If you find yourself in this state, take comfort in that fact that you are not alone – there are doctoral students in disciplines and universities across the world who have experienced or are dealing with many of the same feelings.

Take heart that there are always ways of dealing with these blocks and stressors that can help you begin to feel better about your research again. Sometimes, all it takes is a slight tweak to your work routine, a fresh, alternative perspective on your research or the adoption of a few new practices or activities to get you back on track. Consider some of our suggestions below for reviving your PhD mojo.

1. Talk to someone

Don’t try to struggle through these difficult moments alone. Find someone to talk to. This could be someone more senior to you who can offer guidance and advice, such as your supervisor , a mentor or another academic in your department. They should be able talk you through your current situation or offer practical solutions for dealing with whatever is causing you to feel demotivated and stuck.

Alternatively, you might find it helpful to talk to other PhD students , either from your own department or a different discipline. By speaking with others who are on a similar journey to you, you may gain tips and solutions for addressing similar challenges. In turn, these conversations might prompt you to think and talk about your research in novel ways that can provide exciting new perspectives and ideas to incorporate into your work.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of empathy and solidarity . You may find a lot of relief and reassurance just from speaking with other people who understand what you’re going through and who are willing to share their own experiences. Remember that you are not the only PhD student who feels this way and the researcher community can be a valuable source of support and understanding to help you get through a rough patch.

2. Read or watch something you love

If you’re finding it hard to progress with your own research or writing, find inspiration by reading research and writing by other people you admire.

You might want to return to a journal article or a book that has always excited you about your area of research. Revisit old writings, theories or discussions that first got you interested in your subject or return to material that has been a constant inspiration for your own work. This type of inspirational material doesn’t have to be limited to academic texts.

Alternatively, you could branch out and read something completely different – for example, a new theory in your field or writing from another discipline.

Or, take a break from academic work altogether! Check out podcasts, magazines, online blogs for new, refreshing ideas, perspectives and styles of writing.

3. Turn to your research journal

Writing in a research journal to record your reflections on your research or to reflect upon the challenges you are facing can be very helpful for sorting through exactly what is causing you to feel demotivated or stuck.  Keep this as a safe space just for you to work through the issues that you’re struggling with. Use it to ask yourself questions, articulate what feels wrong and clarify what you need to move forward.

You could use mind mapping methods, drawing, free writing or any creative tool that will help you to be open and honest with what you are going through. You might find that the practice of getting your frustrations down on paper is enough for you to release some of your stressors and move on. Or, it could help you identify exactly what your obstacles are and what you need to move forward.

4. Make (tiny) notes

Even if you still don’t feel motivated enough to return fully to your research, try to reignite your creative thinking by working around the material you’re reading or watching. Write down useful quotations, jot down first impressions or ideas from whatever you’re reading, or write very short thought pieces to reflect upon any new material you’re engaging with. You  never know where these ideas might lead you . It might spark some new thinking and incite you to pick up some aspect of your research and start writing again . Or, even if you don’t use these ideas straight away, they might come in useful at a later time.

5. Don’t chase the motivation

This option may seem contradictory. After all, isn’t the whole point to find new motivation so we can keep progressing?  However, trying to force yourself to be motivated when you’re feeling exhausted, fed up and overwhelmed can be counterproductive, and end up causing more frustration. Motivation is not something that can be manufactured just because you want to feel motivated.

Instead, sometimes the best thing you can do when you’re feeling really stuck and stressed is to take a break from the PhD altogether . Ensure you catch up on rest. This does not just mean physical rest, but a mental and emotional break away from thinking about the PhD altogether.  Allow yourself to find relief and enjoyment in other activities that you enjoy, even if it is something that is not at all academic, such as sport, crafting or baking. Getting enough rest and distance from your PhD will help you move into a more relaxed, receptive mental space and be open to new creative ideas and solutions.

So, go out and have some fun! It’s the most productive thing you can do for yourself.

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8 Most Effective Ways to Increase Motivation for Thesis Writing 

Writing a master’s or doctoral thesis is a tough job, and many students struggle with writer’s block and putting off work. The journey requires not just skill and knowledge but a sustained motivation for thesis writing. Here are eight essential strategies to help you find and maintain your motivation to write your thesis throughout the thesis writing process.

Know why you lack motivation

It’s important to understand whether you’re just avoiding writing (procrastination) or if you genuinely don’t feel interested in it (lack of motivation). Procrastination is when you delay writing even though you want to finish it, while a lack of motivation for thesis writing is when you have no interest in writing at all. Knowing the difference helps you find the right solution. Remember, not feeling motivated doesn’t mean you can’t write; it just might be less enjoyable.

Recognize external vs. internal motivation

In the early stages of your academic journey, things like job prospects or recognition may motivate you to write your thesis. These are external motivators. Over time, they might become less effective. That’s why it’s important to develop internal motivators, like a real passion for your topic, curiosity, or wanting to make a difference in your field. Shifting to these internal motivators can keep you energized about your thesis writing for a longer period.

Develop a writing plan

As you regularly spend time on your thesis, you’ll start to overcome any initial resistance. Planning and thinking about your work will make the next steps easier. You might find yourself working more than 20 minutes some days. As you progress, plan for longer thesis writing periods and set goals for completing each chapter.

Don’t overwhelm yourself

Getting stuck is normal in thesis or dissertation writing. Don’t view these challenges as impossible obstacles. If you’re frustrated or unsure, take a break for a few days. Then, consult your advisor or a mentor to discuss your challenges and find ways to move forward effectively.

Work on your thesis daily

Try to spend 15-20 minutes daily on tasks related to your thesis or dissertation. This includes reading, researching, outlining, and other preparatory activities. You can fit these tasks into short breaks throughout your day, like waiting for appointments, during commutes, or even while cooking.

Understand that thesis writing motivation changes

Realize that thesis writing motivation isn’t always the same; it changes over time. Your drive to write will vary with different stages of your research and life changes. Knowing that motivation can go up and down helps you adapt. When you feel less motivated, focus on small, doable parts of your work instead of big, intimidating goals.

Recharge your motivation regularly

Just like you need to rest and eat well to keep your body energized, your motivation for thesis writing needs to be refreshed too. Do things that boost your mental and creative energy. This could be talking with colleagues, attending workshops, or engaging in hobbies that relax you. Stay aware of your motivation levels and take action to rejuvenate them. This way, you can avoid burnout and keep a consistent pace in your thesis work.

Keep encouraging yourself

Repeating encouraging phrases like “I will finish my thesis by year’s end” or “I’ll complete a lot of work this week” can really help. Saying these affirmations regularly can focus your energy and keep you on track with your thesis writing motivation .

Remember, the amount you write can vary each day. Some days you might write a lot, and other days less. The key is to keep writing, even if it’s just rough ideas or jumbled thoughts. Don’t let the need for perfection stop you. Listening to podcasts where researchers talk about their writing experiences can also be inspiring and motivate you in your writing journey.

Paperpal is an AI writing assistant that help academics write better, faster with real-time suggestions for in-depth language and grammar correction. Trained on millions of research manuscripts enhanced by professional academic editors, Paperpal delivers human precision at machine speed.

Try it for free or upgrade to  Paperpal Prime , which unlocks unlimited access to premium features like academic translation, paraphrasing, contextual synonyms, consistency checks and more. It’s like always having a professional academic editor by your side! Go beyond limitations and experience the future of academic writing.  Get Paperpal Prime now at just US$19 a month!

Related Reads:

How to make your thesis supervision work for you.

• 6 Tips for Post-Doc Researchers to Take Their Career to the Next Level
• How to Write a Conclusion for Research Papers (with Examples)
• Presenting Research Data Effectively Through Tables and Figures

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7 ways to help your student stay motivated

After a long semester, it can be challenging for many students to stay motivated through finals. Here are a few tips you can use to help your student make it to the finish line. 

1. Evaluate expectations 

Every student wants to do well in college. However, it’s important to remind your student that they may only be able to do the best they can with the resources, time and energy they have. For instance, it may be unrealistic for your student to expect to ace every exam, perfect every presentation or nail every group project. 

Take some time to talk with your student about expectations by asking questions like:  

• Do you think your expectations are realistic? 
• Where might these expectations be coming from? 
• Are your expectations impacting other areas of your life (e.g., mental health, friendships, etc.)? 
• What are the realistic impacts if you don’t ace this test, project, class, etc.? 
• Is this something you will feel strongly about in a week, a month or a year? 
• What might good ‘enough’ look like for you? 
• How might you adjust your expectations to be more adaptable? 
• Do you know where you can go for additional support? 

Asking your student these types of questions can help them reflect on what matters to them. While talking with your student, remember to listen with empathy and validate their feelings. Keep in mind that some students may just want someone to listen to them, while others may want practical help. Ask your student if they are open to advice before offering it. 

2. Change the narrative 

Your student may not realize it, but the way they speak to themselves can help (or hinder) their progress when working through stressful tasks. For instance, they may find themselves saying things like, “Ugh, I need to get through this assignment faster.” 

This type of self-talk can increase stress and create unnecessary pressures for students to perform in a certain way. If you notice your student speaking negatively about their progress, challenge them to change the narrative to see if they can take a gentler approach. For instance, you could encourage them to say something like, “I’ve got this, and I can make time to finish this later.” 

This shift in self-talk can help students practice self-compassion, which can be particularly beneficial to staying motivated. Remind your student that this technique isn’t foolproof. Changing the ways your student speaks to themselves might not always spur them into action, but it can help them be kinder to themselves (and others) in the process.  

3. Avoid ‘stress bragging’ 

Stress feeds off stress, especially when students are gearing up for the end of the semester. During this time, it can become commonplace for students to talk about how little they’re sleeping or how many cups of coffee they need to get through the day, among other sacrifices. This type of comparison is often referred to as ‘stress bragging’ and can negatively impact your student’s mental health (as well as those around them). In many cases, this sets the expectation that in order to be successful, your student must sacrifice a piece of their own well-being. 

Instead of engaging in ‘stress bragging,’ encourage your student to prioritize self-care as part of their study plan and encourage others to do the same. Remind them to listen to their bodies and make sure their basic needs are being met by using the HALT method. 

• H : Am I hungry? 
• A : Am I angry? 
• L : Am I lonely? 
• T : Am I tired? 

If your student answers yes to any of these questions, it’s time for them to address their needs. When basic needs go unmet, it can make studying even more difficult. For instance, if your student is feeling ‘hangry,’ they may start to lose focus or lash out at their study partners or friends. Similarly, if your student is tired, they may not be able to concentrate until they get rest. In fact, studies show that sleep is one of the best predictors for academic success. 

No matter what your student might need, encourage them to check in with themselves throughout the day, especially during high-stress times.  

4. Take breaks 

The end of the semester can create or magnify stress in your student’s life.  Using the Pomodoro method is a great way to help your student focus on a single task at a time while providing structure and built-in breaks. 

Here’s how it works: 

• Set a timer for 25 minutes to work on one task. 
• When the timer goes off, take a 5-minute break to walk around, grab a snack or chat with a friend. 
• Repeat this cycle three times (25 minutes working with 5-minute breaks). 
• After completing all four rounds, take a 30-minute break. 

Remind your student that this method is just one way to help them get through assignments in a mindful way. However, they may also need to set boundaries around things like how much time they are willing to commit to a single assignment, how late they’re willing to stay up or how much responsibility they’re willing to take on for a group project. 

5. Revel in the small victories 

While it may feel silly, encourage your student to spend some time basking in the success of small (or unconventional) victories and milestones. For instance, they may celebrate completing a study guide, finalizing citations or hitting the half-way mark on a presentation.  

Taking time to acknowledge, appreciate and celebrate their efforts can help them stay motivated to push through.  

Here are some suggestions you can give for how to ‘celebrate.’ 

• Your student can have a nice dinner by cooking their favorite meal or ordering something special from their favorite restaurant. 
• Your student could schedule a couple of hours off to relax, recharge and spend time with friends or enjoy hobbies. 
• Your student can practice expressing gratitude for those who have helped them study or who have supported them through stressful moments (including themselves). 

6. Take a deep breath and relinquish control 

It’s normal for students to feel like they must perform well, especially on final exams. However, it’s important to remind your student that their value and self-worth are not defined by their grades. Let them know that being good or bad at something (like studying or test-taking) has nothing to do with who they are as a person, friend or son/daughter. They are still a kind, smart, capable person even if their grades don’t perfectly reflect those qualities. 

It’s also important to remind your student that what they’re feeling right now isn’t the way they’ll feel forever. If your student is hyper-focused on their current circumstances, encourage them to imagine how they may feel in a week, a month or a year from now. More likely than not, as time passes, their feelings or situation will feel less dire. 

Finally, encourage your student to relinquish control over the outcome. Once they’ve submitted an assignment, that’s it. Remind them that the outcome is in their instructor’s hands. If your student tends to ruminate over what might have gone wrong or things they may not have finished, remind them that it's okay to take a deep breath and appreciate that it’s over.  

7. Ask for help 

Asking for help can be difficult, even if your student knows they may need it. However, it’s important to remind your student that their friends, family, peers and professors all want them to succeed.  

More importantly, your student doesn’t have to go it alone. Instead, encourage them to reach out to resources on campus for support. They can also reach out to their instructors for help or to clarify project expectations. 

Campus resources 

Academic resources, tutoring services.

CU Boulder offers a wide variety of tutoring services. Some are specific to classes, departments or groups of students, while others are available campus-wide. Many of these services are free to use. If your student isn’t sure where to begin, encourage them to check their syllabus and ask their instructor for help and referrals.

Writing Center

The Writing Center provides free one-to-one tutoring sessions with professionally trained writing consultants, individualized guidance and feedback, and time-saving skills for writing and presentation projects. The Writing Center is free to all CU Boulder undergrad and graduate students. 

Grade Replacement Program

This program allows degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate students to retake a course in which they earned a low grade to improve their cumulative GPA. 

Disability Services

Disability Services provides students with disabilities reasonable academic accommodations, support and other services. They also offer free workshops that are open to all students. If your student needs help navigating test accommodations, they can reach out to Disability Services. 

Wellness resources

Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) provides free drop-in consultations through Let’s Talk. Counselors are available in person at multiple campus locations to help provide insight, solutions and information about additional resources.

Peer Wellness Coaching

Peer Wellness Coaching is a free service that can help your student set and achieve their goals. Peer wellness coaches are familiar with various topics, including stress, time management, study habits, academics, self-care, sleep and more. 

AcademicLiveCare

AcademicLiveCare allows students to access free, unlimited health services online.  

Please note: AcademicLiveCare does not provide crisis or emergency care. 

Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) provides free group workshops to help students learn how to manage anxiety, develop coping skills, take a break and make meaningful changes in their lives. 

Mental health crises

If your student is experiencing a possible mental health crisis or needs urgent, same-day support, Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) is here to support them 24/7. Encourage your student to call 303-492-2277. Calling ahead allows providers to triage their concerns so they can address them more quickly and effectively. 

Student Support and Case Management

SSCM assists students who may be impacted by challenging situations by helping them connect with campus partners, community resources and other support systems. If you’re concerned about your student, you can make a referral online.  

Figueroa Wellness Suite

The Wellness Suite is a great place to rest and reset. Whether your student needs a nap, wants to pick up free health and wellness supplies, or if they just want to find a quiet place to study, the Wellness Suite provides a relaxing environment for students. 

Note-taking strategies every student should try

Note-taking is a valuable skill that can come in handy throughout your student’s college career and beyond. Whether they’re trying to learn new material, prepare for an exam or simply get through a fast-paced lecture, these tips can help your student strengthen their note-taking skills.

6 tips for overcoming test anxiety

If your student experiences anxiety or has a difficult time making it through exams, here are some tips that can help them tame their anxiety when taking quizzes, tests and exams. 

Tips for navigating important conversations with your student

Sometimes things don’t go the way they think they will when it comes to our students. When this is the case, we may find ourselves having important (potentially challenging) conversations. Here are some tips you can use to navigate these conversations with your students in a productive, healthy way.

4 things to do if you’re concerned about your student

While we all want our students to have a positive college experience, many students may find themselves facing circumstances they weren’t expecting. If you’re concerned about your student, here are a few things you can do to support them. 

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