Year One: 

Proposal is #1 priority. Honeymoon stage. Bliss. Feels weird to be spending your days just researching ‘stuff’. Excited about everything PhD related. Tell everyone you are a PhD student. Imposter syndrome is intense. Feel like you have all the time in the world.

Year two: 

A little bit tired and bored. Feel like literally nothing has been done. Claimed would already have chapter 1 done & definitely do not have chapter 1 done. Honeymoon stage is over but everything is ‘fine’. Imposter syndrome may actually be getting worse. Confused about how it is already second year.

Year Three:

Will I be one of those PhD students who finish in three years? Unlikely. Exhausted. Unmotivated. PhD Slump. Have got some work to show but no where near enough. Yep, imposter syndrome is still here. Did I mention that I’m Exhausted?

Year Four:

Okay- so I am going to do all the work that should have already been done but hasn’t been done because I’ve been too busy doing, I’m not really sure what, but things that have been needed to be done. Imposter syndrome is still here, but am content with the fact that no one really knows what they are doing. Drafts are actually coming along quite quickly. So bloody exhausted. Excited and terrified. Please don’t ask me when I will be done.