5. Pacing yourself, importance of breaks, disconnecting from work
Insights
When work is going well, we often have the inclination to overindulge in it.
When we are ‘in the zone’, we want to ‘make the most of it’.
There is sometimes a genuine worry behind this: “What if this momentum doesn’t come back again?” We might as well ride out the wave while the tides are high or so the thought goes.
While giving into such impulses can be beneficial in the short term, this is a disastrous strategy in the long run. Remember that PhD is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to pace ourselves in such a way that we can run the entire course, without succumbing to burnout.
One way in which I implemented this insight this week is as follows: I had two papers to read in a span of two days. I was quite efficient with the first reading that I finished it fairly early on the first day, with a good amount of time to spare. But I did not start the second reading - despite ‘being in the zone’, despite all the momentum I had built up. I just took the rest of the day off, only to return to work the next day.
The trick, it seems, is not making the most of being in the zone, but to practice getting into the zone as and when you want or have to.
Ideas
Out of all the PhD advice that’s out there, this one has got to top the list: the importance of taking regular breaks.
At whichever stage of PhD you might be in, it is important to ‘schedule’ breaks of varying lengths at various levels of regularity - as seriously as you schedule work deadlines or meetings with your supervisor.
Particularly after the coursework and proposal stage, PhD can start to seem like one long, indeterminate, never-ending episode in one’s life. At any given hour in a day or time in the week or season of the year, you are doing nothing but working on your thesis or so it may seem.
One way I have found helpful in this regard is to sync your personal calendar to the academic calendar of your institution - where there are clear weekly, mid-semester and semester breaks. This helps you set clear work boundaries that signals to you when you are supposed to work and when not. And that’s the first step towards striking some semblance of a work-life balance in this long-winded journey.
Inspiration
At one point, I used to take pride in being a ‘workaholic’. Though I no longer do such silly things, I have genuinely struggled to completely disconnect from work.
I have caught myself making lists, drawing plans, checking emails, scheduling meetings even during my supposed ‘breaks’.
This can be all the more challenging in a PhD, where your work and life bleed so much into each other.
This coming week is a mid-semester break at our institute and the biggest question I am faced with is this: how can I disconnect from work, without any kind of guilt, regret or fear?