Dear Dr. Ruth,

I am a PhD student with ADHD. I’m writing my dissertation.  My perfectionism is kicking in which triggers my procrastination. I have an overall lack of motivation and a general anxiety problem, too. Can you help me?

Signed,

Overwhelmed PhD Student

Dear Overwhelmed PhD Student,

The demand on our attention and energy at the dissertation stage of the PhD journey intensifies. Your dissertation requires an immense amount intellectual work.

At the same time mental and physical energy is spent keeping up with work as well as home life.

The confounding demands  are pulling you in different directions. No wonder you feel anxiety, lack of motivation, and overwhelmed.

Let’s take a step back and understand what is happening. The first step in managing  perfectionism, procrastination, anxiety and motivation is …

Self-care

Even though our brain is the main player in intellectual, we can’t neglect the body-brain connection.  In other words,  when you want your brain to do its best work a good place to start is the body’s health.

 In order to optimize your brain’s work the body really matters.

Three main culprits of sabotaging self-care.

Lack of sleep is a big deal.

Some experts compare the cognitive impairment brought on by sleep deprivation equivalent or worse than being intoxicated.

The less quality of sleep you get the less you are able to think effectively and efficiently.

Here are some quality sleep tips for dissertations writers.

This is what I personally do to improve my quality of sleep. 

• Regular night time routine.  No caffeine after 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. About one hour before bedtime, I turn off the digital devices. Sip sleepy herbal tea close to bedtime. Hot tub baths if I need help relaxing.  You get the idea.
• During the night. If I wake up, I’ll count backwards from 50 to get back to sleep. If my thoughts are racing trying to  solve tomorrow’s problems, I will pray and trust God will help me with tomorrow’s challenges.

It takes a while to retrain your body and brain to fall asleep and stay asleep. Be intentional about getting quality sleep.

Lack of exercise.

The benefits of exercise are all over the internet. Just look that topic up on podcasts or social media. 

This is what I did to improve my exercise. While I was on the last leg of my PhD journey, the stress took on a new high which debilitating the effectiveness and productivity in my life. That’s when I joined a boot camp type exercise program called Camp Gladiator. (I am not promoting CG. I am just telling you what I did to get moving.)

I paid a monthly membership fee and met with a friendly trainer and other brave souls at 5:30 am. We would work out for one hour.

And for that one hour, I couldn’t think about my dissertation work because it took all my focus to do the exercise. It was challenging. After that hour, I was drenched in sweat and felt great. Then I went home, showered, ate and started my day. exercise benefits your productivity as a PhD student.

Here are some quality tips to get going with exercise:

• Join an exercise program for structure and buy-in.
• Accountability comes with working out in a group with a trainer.
• Work out hard.

My stress was still there but it was not the loudest member of the choir anymore.

Lack of proper nutrition.

Again there is so much information out there about nutrition.

I cut out just one unhealthy thing at a time. One month I stopped consuming sugar as much as possible. I stopped drinking colas and stopped adding sugar to my coffee or tea. Another month I stopped eating French fries. Another month… you get the idea. Just one thing per month.

Healthy eating contributes to your academic success.

Simultaneously, I added one thing per month.  For example, I started eating salads just twice a week. Another month I directed my intention to drink more water. Another month I added healthy snacks to my routine like nuts, or non-sweetened yogurt with whole grain granola.

Here are some tips to healthy eating. It’s just what I did.  

• Make one healthy choice each day.
• Say “no” to one unhealthy choice each day.

In summary, nutrition, exercise and quality sleep are the stepping stones out of the land of overwhelm.

Warmly,

Dr. Ruth

P.S. Get  ADHD dissertation help. I can coach you through the gap of where you are and where you want to be.