I’m burnt out and leaving academia. How do I finish my PhD?

The problem Dear Nature , I’m a particle physicist in the third year of my PhD programme in Central Europe. When I began working in academia, I was really motivated, interested and passionate about doing research. I wanted to become a professor and build a successful career in my field. Over the past few years, I’ve pushed myself hard, sometimes working 10 or 11 hours a day, five or six days a week. For months, I didn’t realize that I was burnt out, but looking back, the signals were there. I felt physically exhausted and I knew that I needed a holiday. While I was working, thoughts would pop up such as “maybe this isn’t for me” or “I don’t belong here”. I kept ignoring the signs until eventually, about eight months ago, I broke down. I had very limited mental energy to perform my research. Eventually, I couldn’t even enjoy activities outside research, such as watching a film, or concentrate on simple things, including taking out the rubbish. My girlfriend and some of my friends even pointed out that something needed to change because I wasn’t able to function properly in daily life any more. I reached a point of severe burnout, which led me to question the academic system and my own goals in it. Since then, I’ve made the decision to let go of my dream of becoming an academic and look for careers in industry instead. But I still have a year to go in my PhD programme and I don’t know how to find the motivation to continue. …