“I am resolved to write on…”
Goldsmith, O. The Bee, No. 4 [1759]
The bigger picture
A funny thing happens once you turn 50. You suddenly become aware of time and realise that it is moving quicker than you want it to. I am 53 years old and time is flying by. This may not be the best time in life to change careers and engage in a PhD. But here I am, so let’s go.
All my life, I have done jobs that put money in the bank and food on the table for my family. I started working at 11 years old when I had a job delivering pop and another job with the coal man.
The jobs that followed ranged from the Army (were I obtained my trade as a mechanic), to oil and gas (onshore drilling), to finance and project management. I had a responsibility to provide for my family. They have gone on to make me very proud with the type of people they are and the careers they are happy in.
Now that they are all set up in their relationships and careers, I spoke with my wife and we discussed the possibility of me having a career change and to complete my academic journey. We believe that it is the right journey for me to take but the time (always the time) will not wait for me. I have to get a move on.
Preparation and planning
With time ticking away, I cannot be dilatory and this meant a schedule would be required. My schedule is full. I arise at 5am and walk my dogs. After getting ready for the day, I walk just over a mile to the train station and am at my desk in university before 9am.
This may not be the most efficient use of time, but the walk (to and from the train station), really is a necessity to collect your thoughts.
I work on my PhD from 9am – 5pm. I have a short break for lunch, which is currently spent reading ‘Capital’ by Karl Marx (just to see what the opposition is up to). This is not relevant to my thesis or subject matter, but there is a perspective contained in the book that may have a socio-legal angle for my discussion.
I get home about 6pm, take the dogs for a walk, spend time with my wife, dinner and then I study for my solicitor exams until 11pm. I break these blocks of reading and studying by writing for this website and I take the dogs for their final walk when I need a break. At 11pm, I work out and stretch. I have never slept 8 hours a night and therefore, the 5 – 6 hours of sleep I get, works great for me. Again, this may not be the best use of time, but this schedule works for me. I am searching for ways to improve my schedule but right now, it works for me. As Benjamin Disraeli said, “there can be no economy where there is no efficiency’.
The question though, is what do I do between 9am – 5pm?
The 9 – 5 treadmill
I have never received any training in academic writing. Therefore, I am playing catch-up, and this means that the inefficiency in my schedule rears its ugly head within my writing.
The subject matter I am researching is new to me. I have a surface understanding of the content but no in-depth knowledge. Therefore, I have to read and comprehend everything, whilst annotating the literature before writing up my notes. This is time consuming and somewhat inefficient.
Notwithstanding this, it is the best way for me to understand the material and to be able to write it up in my own words, confident that I have a solid grasp on the details and arguments of the literature.
By doing it this way, I do not have a spare moment to waste doing anything that does not get me closer to my goal. Therefore, every day, I set my desk up by 9am and I sit down to read and write. On a Friday afternoon, I plan what material will be required for the following week and ensure that I have it to hand on Monday morning.
This prevents me from wasting time, procrastinating or pretending I am busy researching for reading material on a Monday morning, when I should be reading and writing. The other benefit I garner from this strategy, is that I know what I am doing first thing Monday morning, and this sets my week up for success.
The one thing you will require
Initially, the excitement of starting your PhD and sorting out your schedule, helps you power through the heavy reading that you have to do to enable you to write every day. Thereafter, the day-to-day toil begins to act like the sea on a beach. Every day the waves wear on the beach, and so it will be with the PhD student. The daily toil will slowly become a burden.
I asked PhD students who have recently finished their studies or who are about to complete their PhDs how to cope with this feeling. In nearly every case, the word used was perseverance. The Oxford dictionary definition is:
‘…the steadfast pursuit of an objective’.
This was evident to me this week at a writing retreat. The university hires a space off campus for PhD students to gather and write all day. It is an excellent idea as it focuses my mind to write all day. I can set myself a target and work towards it.
On our most recent writing retreat, it was held on a Friday. The faculty staff had to leave early but the students could stay until 5pm. Within a couple of minutes of the staff leaving, every student apart from me and one other, packed up and left.
I understand that the sun is shining, it is a Friday afternoon, it might the culmination of a long week. Whatever the reason, the moment eyes were not on most of the students, their perseverance had disappeared. When the university provides you with a wonderful opportunity, pays for lunch and supports you as much as they can, you have to take advantage.
When I get the feelings of packing up, or the words just are not coming or I do not want to do the reading, I persevere, I have to. I have to write, write and write.
Final thoughts
The PhD is a challenge to my emotional and mental health. It is essential that I plan out as much as I can to overcome this challenge. One of my self-imposed challenges, concerns time. I do not think I am ever going to finish in time. On my current writing schedule, I know I will finish in time, but the thought of not having enough time makes me persevere. This is a curse and a blessing.
It is essential for my emotional and mental well-being, that I can take a break from the PhD. I do this by treating my PhD similar to a 9-5 job. I study for solicitor exams of an evening, and I attend math tutorials during the week. Of a weekend, I do not look at any of my PhD material at all.
The weekend is spent resting and relaxing. I still have to do all the usual family things, along with walking my dogs, household chores as well as my hobbies of sailing and being a cricket umpire.
It is essential that I spend my weekends away from the PhD. It allows me to prepare for the next week so that I can write, write and write.