Life outside your PhD
Unlike a regular job, where there are usually clear boundaries between work and personal life, your PhD is always there in the background. You’ll need to define these boundaries yourself. It’s important to spend time with your loved ones, but also try to build to a network of people who understand the PhD journey and can empathise.
When you feel like your world is limited to your desk, lab or the library, remember to take a break. Go out and get some fresh air, talk to your friends and family, or pick up a hobby. Your health and wellbeing is what truly matters in the end.
- Fatma, Post-doc
A PhD is the equivalent to running a marathon: it is long, difficult, exhausting and you wonder a thousand times why you are doing it. This means you need to have something in your life that, at regular intervals, can serve as an incentive and a way of replenishing your energy. Extra curricular activities are particularly useful for this. If there is something you love to do, keep doing it. Working hard does not mean you have to forget about who you are.
– Ana, Year 4
I am so glad I took advantage of the Languages For All (LFA) classes. When I felt frustrated with my research, I would practise my languages. It took away some of the guilt of "not working", because I was still doing something with a goal in mind. It was also nice to have a structured class once a week, instead of making my own timetable.
- Victoria, Year 2
