Being Clear About My PhD Problems

 I was messaging with an old friend, and she naturally asked about the progress of my PhD. After updating her, I told her that I will get there one day, but don;t know know if I will be running or crawling past the finish line. On reflection, I would give anything to be crawling right now, simply because I feel like I am writhing. Walking and running seem like unrealistic ambitions at the moment. At the same time, I must be honest about my current situation. Yes, my motivation levels are not particularly high, but my main problem is I am wrestling with a conceptual riddle. I am not whiling away my time watching Netflix in bed. I show up at the office every morning, and stay there till evening. Most of my working happens in my mind and doesn't make its way to paper because of the nature of the problem. Consequently, it may seem like I am not doing much but that is not true, The wheels in my mind are turning. Maybe not as fast as I want them too, maybe they are squeaking too much but they are turning. It is important to remember this whenever I feel like a lazy slacker.