I knew it was coming. It happens to all of us eventually, but I still wasn’t prepared. And now it has finally happened… I have descended into THESIS MADNESS!! (DUN dun dUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!)

I have prepared for the long evenings ahead by furnishing my office with a Slanket (that’s a blanket with sleeves) and Office Slippers (That’s just some comfy slippers I keep under my desk) and emergency rations of tinned soup and instant porridge. I have figured out my best writing times in the day. I have even taken up a cheap, portable and creative hobby to help me unwind when I need a break (more on this in a later post, hopefully).

But even with all this, I am starting to notice the signs of stress. I am getting a lot more irritable – people who before were just slightly tiresome are now downright infuriating. I have had to bite my tongue a few times recently to not snap at someone I am finding intensely boring or rude. I find decision making harder, which means just little things like meals become an agony of indecision. I have mood swings. One day I can wake up with a spring in my step and be skipping to work and hugging everyone I meet, and then have a sudden energy crash so forming sentences and smiling at people is too much to ask and I have to go home, slob in front of the telly and avoid human contact. I haven’t started grinding my teeth in my sleep yet, which is a stress marker I have noticed in myself before.

I’m trying to counteract it. I know all the things you are meant to do to avoid/reduce stress. Some of them I am doing, some I’m fudging a bit, and some are just things I can’t manage right now.

Eat healthy foods – I don’t often have time or brain power to cook from scratch any more, but I have bought a bottle of herbal vitamin stuff that I try to drink every morning. It tastes a bit like Jagermeister and a bit like blood (so I guess it has iron?). Get regular exercise – I used to cycle to work and back very day, climb once a week, do yoga class once a week and at home occasionally, and occasionally go for a hike on the weekend. Unfortunately I now do none of that. I don’t even take the stairs at work an more, I call the lift. I occasionally stretch while I’m walking 20 paces down the corridor to get tea. Cut down on alcohol (easy, no time to go to the pub), caffeine (no way, I’m far too addicted to tea), sugar (need my sweet treats for writing motivation, so probably eating more sugar than before). One out of three aint bad? Take regular breaks – does staring out the window wondering why I’m doing this count? It’s a break for my eyes! Peer support – there were 4 PhD students in my group who all started together in my year. We are all planning to be finishing and submitting at the end of this year or early next year. We are collectively panicking about jobs, moaning about writing, stressing about supervisors etc. So peer support definitely there. Yay!

Generally I’m trying not to give myself a hard time. This was always going to be a difficult and stressful part of the job. I have happily accepted that I will gain weight (thesis fat, as it is commonly known), spend more than my budget (sometimes buying a luxurious bath bomb or an exciting Lego set really perks up my week), and probably neglect my friends and family, trusting that those who are truly good friends will know what I am going through and not be offended if I don’t reply to messages, bail on plans and forget to call them for the next few months. I promise next year you will all get extra great Christmas presents, but this year it might be gift cards.

In conclusion, I am going to be a bad friend, snippy, lazy and badly dressed until approximately January.

Please be patient.

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Do you have any stress busting tips? How did the thesis madness get you? Share your experience in the comments.

Further reading:

This blog features a way to put amusing ‘inspirational’ quotes into your thesis.