for six months in, I am doing great

The down side of being enrolled in a half-timme PhD program which doesn't have enough funding is that I constantly feel that clock ticking. In the UK a PhD is meant to be done in three years, which means that as a half time student I can take six. However, the funding my advisor got as part of her Durham start-up package was only enough to cover four years of half time tuition, which means either I need to be done in four years, or I need to find funding to make up those last two years. As a result I have been feeling like I am not making as much progress as I should have by now.

Today I met with my advisor, who assures me that I am doing fine. I am working hard on the science I need to do for my first paper, and it looks like I will have enough data to be seriously writing that paper by early next year. I should be able to have it submitted before my first "annual review" comes up in July (which will be 1.5 years since I enrolled, and thus the equivalent of nine months into the project.

I can do this. It just takes time, energy, and effort.

And appropriately timed distractions for when I need to recharge my batteries. Really looking forward to Kingdom University this weekend, it will feel good after working 8 to 10 hour days this week. I may or may not actually attend any classes, I will decide that on the day.