What makes a bad PhD student? Do YOU do these?

In this video I will share with you what I have seen from bad PhD students write my 15 years in academia.

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▼ ▽ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – apathy
3:02 – quick results and impatience
4:48 – non-coachable "know it all"
6:27 – no initiative
8:11 – perfectionism
10:27 – Outro

[rnguyen]

The last point, perfectionism!! I'm at the beginning of my second PhD year, and I feel like perfectionism has held me back so many times already! I'm now learning to let go of things and be kinder to myself. Sometimes the biggest pressure we receive is from ourselves! Thank you for the wake up call 👏

[aditisiddharth]

I’m a month into my phd- and I’ve realised you don’t feel like you’re moving forward until you suddenly do. So u spend 90% of your time worrruing about not doing anything whilst doing a little a day

[ktsilver]

i'm really struggling with apathy as a 3rd yr - i've not been burntout but it's the loneliness, feeling that i'm behind my peers that have jobs, being behind on data collection, and other things that have taken over as a negative mindset. I think something that will help is just remembering the WHY and finding something within my research that brings the passion back. Thanks for all your videos, i've been watching them for years and always come back when i feel like i need motivation, because it's almost like you are the only person who understands !!

[inesfeknous]

The problem with your channel is that I NEED to see all your videos at the same time 😅
They're all good advises and recommandations, and since I'm a 2nd year PhD student I need all of them in my head like NOW
Normal people would spend the weekend on Netflix series while I'm trying to watch all the videos of Andy, is that called Addiction? 😂

[tonyezekiel]

You speak the sad reality in a hopeful way, which means at the end of the video we realize our mistakes and feel motivated to correct them. Thank you!

[LeeSeungrhee]

I wanna share my though about your channel (positive one!):
I like the way you talk about stuff mostly because you're very modest. From PhD student's perspective it is very good to see a modest academic talking about all of these aspects in such a friendly way. Thank you for all your advices!

[oliversavklintfalk]

Very good points, especially the last one! I'm currently writing my research proposal for my PhD application in business administration. I have already struggled quite a bit with "perfectionism", the problem is, at least for me, to judge what is "good enough"

[luminousblue]

Wise words. Especially about patience. Thank you Andy :)

[ABHISHEKJHA-uwdn]

Your videos have been such a big help, Andy. Thank you so much.

[rupeshnaik]

Thank you for making videos on this topic. With your videos i feel like somebody is always there with me. Your tips are great and working for me. I feel lucky to have you at early stage of my PhD.

[ExplanationNext]

Andy out hear spitting out facts as always!

[rafaelvaldiviamanrique]

I have been experiencing a dilemma in the past months, whether i should or not persue a phd after my master thesis. After a thoughtful rough weeks, I made my decision. I am not doing a PHD. Reasons: i dont have a clear view of my future, but i am sure my place is not in R&D. At some pint in my life, I would like to have my own business. Sure, phd before my name could gain recognition, but, in my experience, if you can sell your work properly, people won't even look at your title unless your business is in life sciences. I do not think i am doing somethin wrong here, even if I already got an offer for an open PhD position, which in my case, would be the easiest way.

[renegade]

I wrote a long comment but I think I accidentally deleted it before posting, doh!

I was just trying to suggest, that in order to expand the content on this channel, it would be great if you could do the occasional online interview with other PhD students, and graduates.

Your perspective is great, yet it could also be a good thing to also get the opinions, thoughts and perspectives of your peers. Thanks. 👍

[janswanton]

Thanks, Andy! Really sound advice, as ever!

[jasongraham]

I really enjoy your videos. Thanks so much

[komteera]

Thank you Andrew... Many realisations I had from your video and they are all true.... Keeping disciplne, patient and trying to let written works being far from perfection in time, are all I have faced right now. Great to find and watch your fab video. Thanks indeed. (^_^)

[tianli]

The first mistake, apathy, lack of motivation, is however no way to fix, if you don’t enjoy the things you are doing. The only way to fix is to find another thing I enjoy.

[Nnelshshsh]

An insight video into online distance learning PhDs in the Covid era and options for charity external funding would be great. Do students need to stay on-campus for course work and research during a pandemic for nonlab sciences or most univ. does it online? Are full-time PhD and part-time work (for a company) (if you have external funding and not from the uni.) possible at the same time? Keep it up, a great channel!

[AnushaGames]

Hi! I saw your first point about apathy, and was wondering if there is a way out of that mindset? I was faced with severe anxiety and depression when I started my phd during the pandemic, and have since then been finding it hard to get out of the rut of procrastination and not caring enough but also caring too much to the point that I keep moving my supervisor meetings out of fear.

[GJMR]

I need help because I do not understand why my supervisor ask me to do experiment that are not related to the important questions. Sometimes I think he is trying to entertain me with experiments that are not relevant and the time goes fast, I do not think is that I am not patiant.