I am aware that most of my family and friends don’t understand what I “do all day” as a PhD student. I also know that many of us PhD students constantly worry about the amount of time we spend on our studies. Many students I speak to they aren’t doing the right amount or even the same amount as others (not that that is a good measure of anything!). So, here is a standard week of my PhD life – it is not the way others should do it, just the way I do.
Every day I wake up at whatever time Little Man decides and we do the usual breakfast and self-care stuffs before the school run. This usually involves lots of talk about Bluey or dinosaurs and chugging down a caffeinated drink (me, not him).
On Monday I get into the home office early to make sure I don’t accidentally fall into a book, TV, or productive procrastination of organising a draw in our kitchen that really doesn’t need to be organised right now but still looks super appealing.
I used to start my days with emails but it is the death of my creative and productive energy for the day. Now, I start with whatever I am focused on for the week.
This monday, I had two meetings with other researchers, to do some collaborative work, share ideas and generally catch up. I finally gave Steven (my first supervisor) a daft present for his birthday, finished my ethics application edits and sent them to said supervisor for a look over.
Tuesday, I had a meeting with my academic mentor straight after the school run. My mentor sessions are a way for me to brain dump all the various things I have going on and sort out my priorities. Talking to someone really makes me hone in on my focus for that day and week (sometimes longer if my brain can handle it).
I had a meeting with another healthcare researcher, to share themes from our work and discuss healthcare access more broadly. I did emails for a time before another meeting, this organising the intersectionality panel at this years Portsmouth Pride with four other members of faculty from the University of Portsmouth.
On Wednesdays, I usually body-double with another PhD student. They do similar work elsewhere in the UK and I think we found each other through LinkedIn (cue them messaging me to correct this!). We catch up for a bit before we set our intentions for the day’s session. This week I looked at the questions for the intersectionality panel and looked into some places to publish my study 1 paper. I usually have a break between study and wheelchair basketball which I coach in the evening.
Thursdays I go to yoga straight from the school run (this is so good for my wonky body). I come back and do some light housework before some light study. This week I decided to write more for my PhD journal and I did a whole lot of moving Word documents about and making plans for my longer work day on Friday.
I organise my group supervisions and co-researcher meetings for once a month on a Friday. It’s a nice way to round off the week and set myself up for the week ahead. Although I have sometimes been a bit sleepy by the end of supervision at 3pm. The other Fridays of the month I try to finish off some bits from my ‘what’s going on list’ (my demand avoidance simply does not allow for a ‘to do’ list).
Friday studies are followed by after school club and an eventual collapse in the front room to play dinosaurs with Little Man.
Sometimes in the evenings I will do what I call “small brain” work – emails, admin, formatting. The kind of things I can do whilst watching wrestling.
I don’t tend to work on the weekends, however, I do make the most of Writer’s HQ writing retreats which happen one Sunday a month. They act as “big brain” work time for me – structured sessions, with lunch and snacks, in a quite space filled with others, most of whom are creative writers.
Some weeks my schedule will look more hectic, some weeks my body and brain can’t do what I want, so it is slower. And of course there is such a thing as annual leave, family and !
I also see thinking time as a legitimate part of research which should not be scoffed at. Ideas, process and analysis needs time to percolate. Reflexive thematic analysis (my main method) is based in taking things slowly and looking at things from as many different angles and sides as possible. It intentionally takes time and I love that.
My advice for other PhD students, listen to your mind and body, follow your flow and act accordingly. Your week won’t look the same as other people’s week and that’s okay.