The Worst Thing to Focus On When Starting Your Ph.D. Program

...is on how quickly you want to be done!  

This line of thinking will do nothing good for you.  It will only pain you because the separation is so real and the future is so distant.  Graduate school, will be at least year of your life (assuming you don't drop out earlier of course).  This time will be time you can never get back.  So it is best to make the most of that time!  Okay, okay, for many students, that just isn't practical. 

So...How Can You Make The Time Go By Faster? 

Find ways to divert your attention from that far off end goal--graduation.  The most straightforward way to do that is focus on all the work you're SUPPOSED to be doing.  Know that what is required of you from your institution (or often times your advisor) is the minimum. You must seek to go beyond that.   And in order to do that, you must allow yourself to be consumed by it. 

If you're able to do this, you'll find that your time in graduate school will blow by.  And if it doesn't blow by, you'll at least get more out of it than you would have!