Don't panic about not having stretches & swaths of time ahead to write forever.
It takes a tiny (and I mean TINY) bit of planning, focus + accountability to set yourself up.
Focused, intentional work can yield A LOT in even just 30 minutes.
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BTW, in those 8 months of writing of writing those 6 chapters, I only worked max 6 hours a day. I kept all my mornings, evenings + weekends free, slept a full 8+ hours every night, ate proper meals.
I want you to know it IS possible to have balance & still get shit done!
3/
See my next tweet/thread for a breakdown of how I planned + worked in those last 8 months of my #PhD
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* meet/call/zoom non PhD friends/family at least once a week
* try a new recipe/bake once a week
* see one art exhibition a month
* Set a leisure reading challenge (like @goodreads annual book challenge)
* knit a blanket for a friend's new baby before their birth
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* do your fave workout 3 x a week
* set a daily step goal ('bonus points' for getting those steps away from your lab/dept eg in nature/gym/neighbourhood walk)
* get to bed every night before 10pm
* get 8 hours sleep a night
* do one 5-min meditation (e.g. @Headspace or @calm)
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EVERYONE I knew who completed their #PhD before me had a miserable time in the last stages of writing up. I dreaded having to struggle too but those last 6 months ended up being the most fulfilling, happy time of my PhD 1/
I voiced my dread/fears to my supervisor. She shared that she loved writing up; that it was a wonderful time of seeing her research come together + gain confidence in her own voice/findings. She was the first person to suggest there was another way to write/wrap up the PhD...
2/
... that wasn't characterised by only misery, struggle, overwork, pain.
I took that vision/possibility into my writing up year and I too loved it.
I loved seeing disparate threads come together, new ideas emerge, my own voice+perspectives get stronger
3/
First, a note: I fucked about a LOT the first 2-3 yrs of the PhD. Then, had 2 bereavements + 6 straight months of health issues which put me out of action. So I ended up writing most of the thesis only in my last writing up year.
I cut it close but I got it done.
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1. I looked at everything I had to do + planned backwards: How many chapters over how many months. I broke the writing plan down into months, and then into weeks.
I had an idea of how I work and how much I'm able to do within a week, so I kept it realistic.
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But I’m also…
a former education journalist
a former magazine writer
a life coach
a tarot reader
a daughter
a girlfriend
a friend
a public-speaking award-winner
a spiritual practitioner
a weight-lifter
....
.... #phdlife#phdchat 1/
Every single one of those ‘identities’ carries its own weird quirks, interesting characteristics, insecurities +anxieties, skills +capacities, fun, worries, likes+dislikes.
But also, each of those parts of me are entwined with all the other parts...
2/
I was never *just* an academic
I was a PhD student who also had lots of writing experience as a journalist; whose spiritual, witchy side always nudged her to trust her own research intuition; who used her yoga practice as valuable reflections on her researcher positionality
3/
Just gonna say it: if you're doing a #PhD for the prestige, reputation, just to say you're a Dr, it's going to be that much harder to sustain motivation or to feel really passionate & joyful & in flow with your work 1/ @PhDVoice#AcademicChatter#phdlife#phdchat#AcademicTwitter
You're in it for the long haul w/ a #research project. You gotta actually give a shit about the thing you're researching & invested at some level in creating change & being of service to the world through your work.
2/
In many ways, the research isn't all about you. It's about the potential change/improvement/solution you're in the process of discovering which could literally change the world, society, people's lives. Focusing only on YOUR prestige, title etc is not enough 3/