Day 302: 1/27/2018
For the past few days, I cannot help but realizing another important lesson from this PhD journey.
I remember when I started my PhD, I was full of energy and highly motivated. As time has gone by, I have maintained my motivation level fairly well that it keeps me going through ups and downs so far. However, it has been conversely different for this situation where I have my very first progression meeting 4 weeks after my second TAP. Four weeks is, in fact, seems like an ample amount of time for any PhD students who are on top of their studies. Well, it does not seem like that in my case this time.
There are a few reasons why I cannot keep my usual work pace. First and foremost, I did not start right. For the previous meetings and works, I always started by sitting down and planning. Deadlines were set and written down on my calendars (on my desk and iCalendar). For this time, I let the time flew by for almost a week after the TAP meeting before starting to figure out the plan for mt Progression and report form. Of course, I wasted my precious time by not planning right and thus not knowing what to do and when to do it.
Next, I inevitably felt overwhelmed when realizing how much work left to be done in so little time. With other commitments including two jobs which take a significant chunk of my time each week, it is challenging for me to manage my time in this critical time so that all ends will be met on time.
One more thing I have realized is that no matter how hard I work, I have to admit that the work will not be perfect. Learning to let go and accept this simple thought is not easy as it may seem. Given the limitation of time compared to the amount of work I have, to finish it and submit it on time is the most important task. I learned to work more strategically and to accept the fact that my work is still the work in progress and that means to allow some flaws to exist. The more I work, the more I found errors and realize that although the work will be submitted on time, I will have a great deal of work to do afterwards.
My tasks now are not only to try to finish two pieces of writing on time but to comprehend and compromise with my own inner thoughts. This is another expensive experience during this fun rollercoaster ride PhD journey.
1/28/2019 12.51 am.
