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comment by histo_toxic
histo_toxic  ·  3395 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Any other first-year PhD students out there?

As I near the end of my PhD, I would add the following advice. Don't undervalue your creative time or your sleep. By creative time, I mean hiking, dog walking, making a bird house, etc. Make time for our mind to wander. My research direction became clear to me while I was daydreaming on a family vacation. Subsequent dog walks have set me up for a good five years of material.

As far as advisors go, I quote Arthur C Clarke: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.





caeli  ·  3395 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Thanks for the advice!! It never fails to astound me how clearly you're able to think when you're not putting any pressure on yourself to think clearly :).

And that quote is awesome! I just realized my advisors are actually pretty diverse age-wise. My primary advisor is early-mid career (got tenure a couple years ago), one of my secondary advisors is a brand new assistant prof, and my other secondary advisor is close to retirement.