Why Busy PhD Students Get Less Done (The Doing vs Being Problem)

Most of us wake up and immediately start doing. We check our phones, run through our to-do lists, rush through breakfast, power through work, handle the chores, and then collapse into bed, only to repeat it all again the next day.

Sound familiar?

Here's the uncomfortable truth: all that doing might actually be keeping you from everything you want most.

We've Become Human Doings

We were designed to be human beings yet somewhere along the way, society rewired us to celebrate speed, output, and constant productivity. We now live in a world that glorifies busyness. And when busyness becomes our default setting, we disconnect from who we are, why we're here, and what truly matters.

The result? You work incredibly hard... and go sideways.

The Two States: Doing vs Being

Understanding the difference between these two states is the first step to changing everything.

When you're in a doing state, you tend to be reactive, goal-obsessed, task-driven, and constantly busy. You plan, organise, push, and control. There's nothing inherently wrong with this — action is essential. But when it's all you do, it depletes you.

When you're in a being state, you're more responsive than reactive. You're insightful, self-aware, and values-driven. You rest, reflect, and trust. You're not afraid to fail, and you're not white-knuckling every outcome.

Think of it this way: doing is masculine energy — it's about putting energy out. Being is feminine energy — it's about receiving energy back. Both are necessary. Yet most high achievers are operating at 95% doing and wondering why they feel so exhausted and stuck.

What the Best CEOs Know That Most People Don't

Research into 500 of the world's top-performing CEOs revealed something surprising: they don't start doing until around 10:30am. Their mornings are spent in silence, reflection, meditation, gratitude, and visualisation. They're not idle — they're operating from a place of deep clarity and intention before a single task is tackled.

This is strategy.

A strategy you can implement into your PhD life.

What Happens When You Lean Into Being

Here are five powerful things that open up when you create more space for being:

1. Insight — When you pause, you gain perspective. New ideas emerge, solutions reveal themselves, and you reconnect with your values. This clarity is worth more than any extra hour of grinding.

2. Time — Paradoxically, being gives you more time. When you're clear on what matters, you stop wasting energy on what doesn't.

3. Ease — Being requires very little effort. It doesn't need special training or equipment. All it asks is that you let go — which, admittedly, is the hard part for most of us.

4. Energy — Doing drains you. Being restores you. Even five minutes of stillness can refill your tank in a way that hours of productivity never will.

5. Growth — In a being state, you reflect, reconnect, and remember who you are beyond your task list. This is where real, lasting growth happens.

Small Upgrades, Massive Impact

You don't need to overhaul your entire life. You just need one small shift. Here are some simple practices worth trying:

• Start your morning with silence before reaching for your phone
• Write three things you're grateful for before opening any work
• Visualise your goal from a place of it already being achieved
• Go for a walk, water the garden, or simply sit with your coffee — without multitasking
• Before bed, plant a question in your mind for your brain to work on overnight
• Read something uplifting before sleep rather than scrolling or watching TV

The acronym SAVERS from Hal Elrod's The Miracle Morning is a brilliant framework for this: Silence, Affirmations, Visualisation, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing. You don't need to do all six — start with one.

The Invitation

Being isn't something you achieve. It's something you allow.

That distinction matters. Because most high achievers try to optimise their being the same way they optimise everything else — by turning it into another task to complete perfectly. But the whole point is to release the grip.

Less pushing, more presence. Less noise, more clarity. Less proving, more peace.

Make one decision today about how you'll bring a little more being into your day — and commit to it. Even the smallest shift, done consistently, creates extraordinary results.

You were never meant to be a human doing. It's time to come back to being.