There are three months until the start of the new academic year and the Michaelmas term. On one side, it seems quite a long time but on the other, it will pass by quicker than you think.
Many researchers want to take a break and have time off but equally they want to make sure that they move forward with their work in some respect. In many ways, it’s about staying connected to the research and having some kind of thread going through the months leading you to the start of the new academic year.
Here are some tips that can be useful when planning your summer:
· Starting from the result: Where do you want to be at the end of September?
Asked differently: What would you be happy with? What would you call a good summer?
Think about all that you would like to accomplish in the next three months that would put you in a good position prior to the start of October. Is there any reading, writing, researching or networking that you want to do? If yes, make a list of all ideas and thoughts that you have. Use a mind map if that works for you. Put everything down on paper without judging your thoughts or being critical to any ideas that come up.
· Creating a bigger picture and taking action: Make a plan
Now that you know what you want to get done you have got more clarity. The next step will be to work backwards from the end of September to today – How many weeks are available? How much time off do you want to take? Is there a week or two where you won’t do any work? After this, realistically map the weeks and days that you could use. If you have another research or consulting job that you do side to side with your own research, get clear how much time you want to dedicate to both (e.g. 2-3 days to consulting and 1-2 days to PhD work).
· Getting granular!
It’s vital to have a bigger picture and understand where you want to be in three months’ time but the next key step is to break the plan down and look at individual months, weeks and eventually days. You can have a brilliant bigger picture but if you don’t take small steps every day to get there it will just remain an idea or a vision that won’t come true.
What this also means is breaking your goals into smaller doable tasks. For example, if you say that you want to do some reading during the summer – What does it mean? Which books or journals do you want to read? Have you got a list? If you want to focus on writing a piece of research or an article, start with creating an outline and make a list of all the things that you want to do to get it done. Then you can start allocating specific tasks to specific weeks and days. What matters is to set clear parameters for your work – be clear when you want to start your working day and finish it, specify a day ahead how many working blocks you want to do and allocate tasks to them.
· Checking in every week
Incorporate into your week some reflection. This will help you to increase your self-awareness. Look back at the whole week that passed by and take stock. What did go well? What did you achieve? What did not go according to plan and how are you going to redesign the schedule for going forwards to make it work next week?
· Being kind to you and enjoying what you do
The general thought around PhDs is that they are hard. Often, even before you embark on a research journey, you are told to get prepared for hardship and challenges. Sure, doctorate is a demanding, complex and intellectually stimulating experience that brings blocks and problems – all of these are solvable though. It is part of the process, but you have a choice over how you deal with them – and vitally how you re-frame what happened.
Crucially, there is also space for joy. When you are feeling down and research doesn’t produce the results you wanted reconnect with your intention – Why did you start the PhD? Look for solutions, change perspectives and talk to other people around you – PhD colleagues, other academics and your supervisors. This research community will often help you to reflect and redesign your steps. Remember that you are not on your own in this – there is help and support available, but you need to take action and ask for it.
When are you making your summer plan?