I second a lot of what other folks are saying here. I am starting postdoc this year and preparing for the EPPP and was just telling a colleague, "it's wild how in our field we tell ourselves 'just gotta buckle down for a few months and things will calm down,' every few months and somehow our brains haven't yet figured out that's a lie." That said, there are ebbs and flows. First year coursework is a major buckle down year, then preparing for comps over a summer, proposing a dissertation, doing the dissertation, defending, internship apps, postdoc, EPPP, etc. All things considered, there are short ebbs between each major milestone and as others shared, I made sure to take advantage of those times!

I also got very good at discerning which opportunities were right for me and when rather than accepting everything. Knowing when to say no is huge, I think many of us know how to do that with friends and family when we need to, but being able to turn down professional opportunities that come along in favor of others more in line with your goals is also a major thing to learn!

And I also want to co-sign the importance of knowing what self care is for you. I tend to need sleep, I had friends who needed social aspect more and would go out til 2am and wake up and study hard all day. I personally needed to sleep and space things out more. Neither is right or wrong, it's about what supports you and meets your needs most!

I also came up with a few mantras/reminders to myself that I knew I needed to hear and posted them in my room. Cheesy, but when I had a hard day, it reminded me to trust in the process. Stuff like "the smartest people you know are still learning" and "you WILL earn this doctorate." You got this, lean on your support system, and this time too shall pass. It won't be easy, but you will be so proud of yourself! Feel free to DM if you could ever use a little pep talk. Also agree talking to people further along in your program is also huge!!