Waiting to finish grad school

Hi everyone,

Im just about to finish (hopefully!) grad school after a long two (approaching 2.5 years) years. I am happy with what I've done and my prof seems fairly satisfied with it so far. Though can't say I haven't been through a long period where I constantly felt depressed. I felt this way mostly because of how slow things (and still are) were moving along and my research objectives weren't that well defined. I would have to agree that it was partly my doing (and it is a learning experience after all) but also because I found it difficult to find some guidance even from my peers at times.

Things are starting to look up now that I'm approaching the finish-line, whatever the result may be. I've been starting to look for jobs as such and I think I've found some goals to aspire towards. However, I feel I'm in a waiting game right now as I've submitted my thesis for final corrections and with things already moving at turtle-speed, I'm ironically finding it a little tough to do other things with my time besides applying for jobs (which is boring) and following a more daily routine (than i used to compared to when i was in the midst of doing research).

I've thought of doing the extra-curricular projects but i tend to be less of a multi-tasker sometimes; and so i'd prefer to leave those activities for when i feel more stable in my life. I figure once i submit my thesis for defence, I get about two weeks to prepare, which should be enough for making up a presentation and doing a little review. It's been almost a month since I handed over my thesis for corrections and so any thoughts on how to make good use of the time would be appreciated.

The second thing that sometimes pops up in my mind is the guilt of just waiting a lot of the time and not doing any more research work. i feel that once i get some feedback, i will be able to be more productive on that note but for the time being, I've done everything on my part that needs doing. is it normal to think this way? or am i just overthinking about it?

It sounds like you're so used to working hard on that thesis, that you don't know what to do with your time now that's it's about finished. I remember when I handed in my undergrad thesis - I just tried to enjoy some time off and did things that relieved some of the stress and worry about the upcoming defense. Maybe get into some healthy habits such as exercising or taking walks, reading a good (non-academic) book, go out with friends - or if you really want to work on something, see if there is a lab that you could help out in to strengthen some relationships with profs and peers before graduation. Building a strong network will help during the job hunting process, as well as after you find a job and consider advancement.

Keeping yourself busy sounds like it's an important way to keep your mind off of your depression, since you say it relates to the slow process with your thesis. But that doesn't mean the busy stuff has to be academic or stressful, unless that's really how you want to spend your time. Maybe even take a walk down to the college counseling services office and make an appointment to chat about some of your feelings with a counselor.

I'm sure you'll do fine with the finalization of your thesis and defense, and I wish you luck with finding a satisfying job. It must be exciting to be so close to the end!

Thank you @getting by, Alaskah and jamiee for the quick responses!

i think lately im just trying to get through the days as quickly as possible until crunch time (ie about two weeks before defense). at crunch time, i plan to take it one day at a time. but until then, i should find other ways to keep myself busy. i did in fact read a non-academic book/novel this month (after a long time) and it def helped! maybe i should do that again.

i haven't directly approached any job agencies but will plan to do so soon.

once again, thanks for the responses!