what keeps you motivated and encouraged?

Reece Bush-Evans answered on 18 Mar 2022:

Great question. I would have to say that I maintain motivated and engaged as I research areas that really interest me. For instance, I do work in escape rooms, I research narcissism in teams, and I also get to work on innovative research in the gambling field. They all help to keep me engaged!

Sophie Callis answered on 18 Mar 2022:

On a day-to-day basis, what encourages me is what I call “light bulb moments” – when a person comes to a new understanding of something they’ve been experiencing or a pattern of behaviour. This gives them a jumping-off point to start making helpful changes

Hannah Howman answered on 18 Mar 2022:

At the moment it’s the idea that when I’ve finished my PhD I get to call myself Dr! It sounds a little silly but it’s something I’ve been working towards for a really long time, and they were times when I did feel discouraged and think about leaving. This and the knowledge that there are research jobs I can apply to after I have my PhD keeps me motivated.

Michelle Newman answered on 18 Mar 2022:

A great question! Often we are working towards deadlines that are a long way in the future, so it can be difficult to keep yourself motivated and productive without having strategies in place. Being involved in research and work that you are passionate about and enjoy is really important. And working with people who inspire you and you learn things from. I also find it really important to set myself smaller goals, and celebrate when those have been met.

Jamie Chan answered on 18 Mar 2022:

Doing the things I love doing keeps me motivated and encouraged, but sometimes when I feel a bit down, exercising helps to clear my mind and reminds me why I love what I do

Keri Wong answered on 21 Mar 2022:

Fab question. Definitely events like these where I get to talk to young people, but also engaging with my students when I teach them. Time goes by really quickly during the day so it doesn’t feel like work at all!

Nadine Mirza answered on 22 Mar 2022:

This is a great question! There are definitely moments when I lose motivation or feel discouraged.
Distracting myself with activities like baking and knitting can be helpful since it relaxes me and helps me take my mind off from the work. That way I can come back with a fresh view of it.
Another thing that keeps me motivated is thinking about the work I’ve done that has helped people so far. Knowing that I’ve done something helpful already makes me feel like I can keep doing it again.

Laura Joyner answered on 23 Mar 2022:

The people around me make a real difference. Seeing friends who started their PhDs before me submit their final thesis (a huge book of all their research for their PhD) and become “Dr”s is really encouraging. We are all very open about the challenges we often face along the journey, so seeing my peers finish makes it feel achievable, despite how difficult it feels at times.

I also have a great boss who is really encouraging but also understands that I am ADHD and that I really need that feeling of motivation as much as possible. He helps me in creating lots of smaller deadlines so that I always have something new to be working on and am moving forward.

When my motivation does dip I have to be kind to myself and remind myself that it will pass and that it will come back again. Talking about my work helps. It’s very easy to feel bored of what is actually an interesting topic when it is all you think about! So getting involved in things like this reminds me that I love my work! Also, like Hannah, sometimes I just remind myself that in a year and a bit I’ll get my first bit of post with Dr Joyner written on it 🙂

Question: what keeps you motivated and encouraged?

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