Hello everyone! Apologies for the lengthy hiatus from this blog – I can promise you that writing a post was on my weekly to do list for the better part of the last six months… but here we are, six months later. I will be trying a new method of time-management to post these blogs a bit more regularly, but will discuss that more in the future (if it’s successful!). Early last week I had my first-year review, as I am officially over 10 months into my PhD (how?!?!). It went really well and all the nerves I had beforehand dissipated once I started my presentation. I got excellent feedback from my panel and good suggestions for moving forward with my research. I’m glad it’s over, as I’ve spent most of the past month writing the report (approximately 12,000 words) and developing and practicing the 20-minute presentation. I’ve been thinking about these first 10 months for the past couple days and have come up with a few reflections that I think would be helpful for those starting their PhD:
2. Step back and look at the big picture: This was something often repeated to me by my supervisors. At times I would get so bogged down in the details of research methodology (what kind of epistemology am I using for my interviews? How exactly will I analyse my accelerometer data?) that I forgot what the purpose of my research was. Taking some time every few weeks and detailing what my overall aims/objectives for the PhD are was extraordinarily helpful, as it allowed me to contextualise my nit-picky questions and details within the scope of a larger project. There are many ways to do this: free-writing about your project and diagramming each step and their goals were both beneficial for me. 3. Find a hobby that lets you take a break: as so many before me have said, a PhD can take over your entire life if you let it. When I have free time, I find myself thinking about some new path my research could go into, or creating to-do lists in my head about things I need to get done. Finding a hobby – for me, bouldering – that lets you take a real break can (and has) improve your mental health leaps and bounds. What I particularly love about bouldering/climbing is that once you’re on the wall, there’s no room to think about anything besides where you’re going next (and how not to fall off). Two hours pass and I find myself exhausted, happy and relaxed! And I’ve forgotten about all the research problems that were consuming me before I started. 4. Find friends that let you take a break: Having PhD buddies is all well and good. It’s great to have people to empathise and commiserate with, and you can learn a lot from each other. But similar to my last point, make friends that are out of academia! You won’t be able to discuss impact factors and Reviewer #2 with them, but that’s a good thing. I find that talking about research and PhDs too often leads to this spiral of “oh god I’m not doing enough and I should be working and-and-and”…. I think a PhD is partly about finding that work-life balance and fighting off that spiral whenever possible. I’ve made some great friends outside of the university, and while most of them don’t know what I’m doing besides “a PhD in some sort of health topic…”, it’s been a massive relief to hang out with them and get a brain-break from the all-consuming thoughts that constitute a PhD.
I think that’s all for now. I’ve got a few ideas for future posts percolating at the moment, so will be back in touch soon with more musings. Has anyone learned anything during their PhD that they would want newcomers to know?
1 Comment
Felicity
6/17/2018 08:47:58 am
Hi,
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Author. About.Audrey Buelo. PhD student at the University of Edinburgh. (Mostly) professional and research-related musings - with the odd cat picture. Archives
April 2019
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