Keeping structure in the PhD process

If you are at the beginning of your PhD process or if you have become lost in the process and the work load don’t lose heart. When talking to other doctoral student who are just starting I have been asked multiple times how I manage to do this and work at the same time. And the answer is structure. I hope this post can help.

I have been able to keep on track with my PhD process while I also work. Now how to I do this without breaking? Because I’m not. The answer is structure, not just in the writing or the research but a personal structure for the whole process. There are some key elements to this.

Keep track of time

First of all I calculated how much time each week (on average) I need to put into my PhD work.  Now I’m doing my PhD in the UK and part time which means I have five years, and not three, to complete my doctoral training and research.

Keep a log

Then I keep a combined log-planner for my work. I plan ahead for each week, what tasks need to be completed and approximately how many hours I should work each day. Some days I do more work and other days less. I also plan for time off. For my log-planner I use Google Docs, but you could use any application that you feel comfortable with and which allows you to plan and keep track of what you are doing.

The good thing about keeping a log-planner in Google Docs is that I can access this from multiple appliances and I’m careful to add the 5,10,15 minutes on the train or bus when I check my email, calendars, social media (research related posts). For each day I update my Log-Planner for what I’ve actually done and move things not complete ahead to the next day. So, the planner also functions as a ‘to-do-list’. In this way I save time because I keep everything in the same place. For meetings and such I use the University Outlook Calendar, but I add a note about meetings in my log. I also add short notes and reflections as I go along, taking care to also note what went well today. I keep one log for each term and the summer and save these in pdf format at the end of each term. This way I have a complete log of what I have been doing, I can pace my work so that my work load becomes reasonable and I don’t have to feel bad or stressed when I take time off. I then have an Excel document that calculates the total time for me, but you can also do that manually. I keep track or hours for each day, each week (+ or – ) and then for the whole year.

There are a number of ways you could do this, but they key take away should be

• Plan and keep track of your time
• Work when you have planned to (not later)
• And keep a record

Example Day – General structure for my PhD Log/Planner Document

Structure your reading

The third thing I recommend any doctoral (or post-graduate) student to do is to create a record of your reading. This you can do in multiple ways. The most simple option is to have a document template for your academic reading and notes, and create one document for each title you read.

I use a database solution instead, with one entry (page) for each title. This allows me to search across my readings using keywords. Creating a structure using some digital tool that will allow you to search your notes will save time and effort when you need to reference to previous research or other literature.

Enjoying the PhD process

I may be fortunate in that I can still enjoy the process two thirds into my PhD journey. As a part time PhD candidate the expectation seems to be that I would be over worked. In general, and from other people’s comments, I understand that the journey towards a PhD is often tough and stressful. Somehow I have managed to avoid this.

I should at this point own up to often being tired and sometimes frustrated with parts of the process, but life in general can be tiring and frustrating. I have nothing to complain about when it comes to research training, or about support from my supervisors and other people at UCL Institute of Education along the way of my PhD journey. One explanation is probably found in the structures and recourses available to me at UCL, but no matter how good training and supporting structures are there is also me as a person.

I think the two key things that keep me sane and sound, while both working full time (in academia as an educational developer) and conducting my doctoral research in parallel, are daily organised routines (habits) and the happiness I feel when working with my research. I work before and after my hours of ‘regular’ work, but I exercise regularly and I take care to get enough sleep.

I manage my research time, which means I work on my research most days, but never all day. I log everything I do which gives a very good overview of what I have done and how many hours I have worked. This means I can allow myself to stop even if I didn’t finish something I had planned to do. My planning is usually over-optimistic about the time required to do something. I know this about myself, and as long as I do the hours I have decided to work this particular week, that will be fine. This happens regularly and then I adjust my planning (to-do-lists) for the up-coming week. It’s about being systematic in work habits and not just the research project. So, I think key is to form habits of consistent time management. That includes time to sleep, eat, exercise, family and friends.

The other key ‘thing’ I think is my love for the research process. I may be fortunate in this, but I have found that I’m happy working with my data and writing. The closest I can come is the feeling I had as a child when playing and being completely immersed in that experience. Often I have to stop what I’m doing because my body says ‘stop’, but my mind wants to go on. I don’t know if this makes sense to you, but this feeling is very powerful. However, I do not wait for the feeling to surface before starting to work. It is the other way around – I start working and then after a while the feeling of flow, of play, of happiness, surfaces.

I recognise that we are all different, and that what works for me might not be a good solution for someone else, but if you are about to start working towards a PhD, then organising your time will be helpful. Stay fit, eat well, sleep, exercise (walks will do just fine) and have fun!