Sherran Clarence

PhD; Honorary Research Associate, Rhodes University

Managing Editor, Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory

PhD fatigue: I barely trust my own brain right now

I have written and finally submitted the first draft. But reaching this milestone has meant working every day, for the last month or so at least. Which means I have not really had weekends or evenings to just chill out, and even when I have been chilling I have been unable to get my mind to stop running over data and possible conclusions. So, I am more tired than I have ever been.

What if my thesis is not the most awesome thesis ever written?

I'd like to start with a confession: I didn’t write the Most Awesome Thesis Ever Written, even though I wanted to. I got some things wrong in my thesis, and I didn’t really push myself as hard as I could have in the analysis of my data. While I am proud of what I achieved, I'm convinced that I took it a little too easy on myself.

A letter to my dissertation, after our breakup

It’s been just over 2 months since you left my life. I have been filling up the time with holidays and family and more recently work again. Although I was relieved when I said goodbye to you, I miss you. But more than that, I think I miss the me I was when we were together.

Why, again, am I doing a PhD?

Sometimes doing a PhD can feel like a form of madness when you are working and mothering small needy people full time. Why on earth would I take on such a huge time- and soul- and brain-consuming project when I already have several demands on my time, soul, and brain already?