The Hardest Phase Of The Phd

I late ran a poll on Twitter, quest people for their sense on what they considered the hardest stage of the PhD. The results, as well as personal stories, are quite interesting. For 45%, the goal of the PhD as well as the writing stage are the virtually hard stage - I had expected this pct to move higher (say 67%), based on my perception.

For myself, the hardest stage was at the goal - non the actual writing, merely the patience I needed until my promotor had fourth dimension to read my draft. Patience is a virtue, merely unfortunately non ane that I possess...