I've heard from my PI that he thinks I will be graduating next spring/summer, which is such a light at the end of the tunnel. That and reading about your post-PhD have been the only thing keeping me trudging along, especially with my PI asking everyone to start giving their 110%... Any tips for getting through the last year? I just feel like I've been running on fumes before, so idk how I'm going to be giving 110% until my thesis defense.
Hey K.T.! Omg, time flew! I can’t believe you’re already on your last year. Congrats on all your hard work and reaching the final year! I totally know how you’re feeling right now. The last year is the toughest in many ways, especially when dealing with not burning out. I’m glad my post-PhD tales are helping you, and hopefully I can offer some mores words of encouragement here!
Take more breaks. You’re at a point akin to an old phone that is slowly getting battery-wear and needs to be charged more often throughout the day. You may find yourself working more and more, so to balance, take more and more mini breaks throughout the day. It also helps to plan enjoyable things during these breaks so you always have something to look forward to, and they can be as small as watching another episode of your current show or taking a nap.
Prioritize your health and well-being. Whatever system is working for you--keep doing it. It’s easy for us to sacrifice the things that keep us healthy when we have a lot of work to do (eg. when our PI is demanding 110%), but it’s especially crucial to keep our health at top shape during these demanding times.
Work with your PI to compromise, probably now more so than ever. You may find yourself needing to put your foot down and saying no to projects that are unrelated to your dissertation (and some PIs may not be doing this maliciously--sometimes they don’t realize everything you have going on). Related, I would advise not to take on any more new students to train, unless it’s guaranteed to help you with finishing your dissertation (eg. someone dedicated to doing time-consuming data analyses).
Delegate more to other members of the lab (eg. junior and/or more permanent members). Not only will this free up your energy and time in the lab as you phase towards focusing on writing your dissertation, but it’s also part of passing down your knowledge for a smooth transition once you leave.
Make a timeline of major tasks and proposed deadlines. This is something my PI had me do continuously throughout my last year--she recommended I print out a calendar of my remaining timeline and to work backwards from my expected defense date so I could get a sense of how much time I had for each task, when the last possible date would be to run any large time-consuming experiments, etc. And then as my experiments were planned out, I could work forward and adjust other deadlines (like my defense date) accordingly. The timeline was definitely not set in stone in any way though--I was constantly revising mine--but it did a) help me get a better sense of how my time could be best structured, b) make the big black tunnel of the unknown future less dark and stressful, and c) show me that “one year” may sound like a long time, but when broken down into experiments and deadlines, it’s not that long at all! Related, this timeline also gave me an answer during job interviews for a ballpark of when I might be able to start.
But still remain flexible and take everything one day at a time. You can change your timeline--you can extend your defense by a few weeks--but you can’t change your priority to your own health and well-being, or just unexpected curve-balls for that matter. And when the weight of the future feels too overwhelming (which may happen more and more often during the last year), forget about it all and just focus on what you need to do right now, be it the next step in your protocol or the next line of your dissertation. Grad school is very much like climbing a mountain, and the best way to reach the summit is one step a time, and with plenty of breaks along the way.
Have a buddy who’s going through the same exact process in your support system. There is so much comfort and power in knowing you’re not going through tough times alone. Sometimes there’s no better relief than hearing “omg same here”. It’ll also help during the dissertation process, as they can be a 2nd pair of eyes to help you edit, or someone to help figure miscellaneous things out like what format to use for your dissertation, etc.
But don’t compare yourself to others. It’s inevitable that some of your colleagues in grad school will graduate before you, and some will graduate after you. I know the thought will always be there, but we have to remember that everyone is on their own uniquely tailored path, so it’s like comparing apples to oranges, and doing so can only lead to bad vibes. (And we don’t have time for bad vibes, do we!)
Consider any extra obligations very very carefully (including those outside of grad school). You may have to ask yourself: “Is this the best use of my time right now?”
Related, I do not recommend starting a full-time position before you’ve defended. Writing your dissertation and preparing for your final defense is already a demanding full-time job in itself, and there just simply isn’t enough hours in the day--or energy--to do that and start a new position at the same time. Two positions that I interviewed at (including the current one I’m at now) asked me if I would be willing to start while I was just working on writing my dissertation, and I’m sooo grateful my PI talked me out of it (as I probably would’ve had to push my defense back by like 2 months if that were the case!) I have more advice on writing a dissertation here.
This too shall pass. I know it sucks right now. But time will always move forward, and effort will never betray you. You know that you have it in you to keep climbing this mountain, because look at how far you’ve come!
Good luck! I’m super proud of you, and I can’t wait for the day I can call you Dr. K.T.! And I’m always here for you if you ever want to talk about anything ❤️