Stress isn’t as negative a word as it is made out to be. During PhD everyone goes through stress of some kind or other. Eustress or as well call it good stress can help to focus the mind better. Remember that to learn it is important to move out of the comfort zone, so some amount of stress is inevitable and good too!
But stress can also be destructive. When does that happen that instead of helping you to focus, it can have the opposite impact where by even doing the simplest of things can become challenging and difficult?
When you are a PhD scholar and you go through the phases of stress, you must know where to stop and identify the warning signs which should not be ignored. So here are some signs of stress that should not be ignored at all:
Feeling incapable of performing and working hard
Constantly feeling overwhelmed with the pressure
The lack of capacity to focus
Loss of control over activities around
Finding the easiest of tasks as difficult
A perpetual fear of defeat or failure
Physical and mental exhaustion
Just trying to push your limits or working harder may not help to make a difference, it is important to address the foundation of the problem and eliminate it from the root itself.
It is ok to slow down: With lot of work to do and under pressure, this is the most difficult thing to do. Take out time to think and try to simplify what you are trying to do by prioritizing and setting a schedule to take up the most important thing as first.
How easy is it to prioritize? Well, prioritizing is a step by step process and easy to do. Ask yourself these few basic questions:
At one point of time, how much of multi-tasking are you doing? List down all your activities
If one thing was to be focused upon, what would it be?
If you had to further break down that task into sequential steps, how could that be done?
When in a problem, try to resolve it rather than letting it hover over you. This can be done by having a more solution oriented approach than a problem oriented one.
Take things easy, sorting and de cluttering your physical as well as mental surroundings is a way to distress and work better!