The Year Countdown

If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen my post the other day about how it is officially a year until my PhD is due to be completed. Although hitting the year count down is stressful, as it feels that I have a minimum 47 years worth of work left, it has also given me motivation (& is helping me get out of ‘the slump’).

I have already felt like that in the last two weeks or so, I have been much more productive, so I wanted to list a few things I’m going to do to try to help me reach the year deadline.

1. Use my calendar religiously- I have always been organised with my diaries and calendar, however as things get busier it is getting easy to forget things. I make sure I put all deadlines, to do lists, and social events straight into my calendar. I am also still finding time blocking to be so helpful.
2. Be in a routine- I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago about how I have been trying hard to get a routine back, and it has honestly helped my PhD productivity so much.
3. Say no to things– I have always tried to fit a lot into my life, in terms of jobs, volunteering positions, blogging, adventuring, and seeing my friends and family regularly. Whilst, I still want to do lots of things, I am starting to realise that I need to say no to some of them.  I only have the same 24 hours in each day and as my PhD starts to take up more of them, its either saying no, or not sleeping….
4. Sort out what needs to get done- I have recently been trying to work out what I actually need to do to finish my PhD. Whilst writing it down is overwhelming, it is essential to ensure that I can keep on track.
5. Actually work longer- It sounds obvious, because it is obvious. I am actually going to be spending more hours in the day on my PhD- working later into the evening and working on the weekends. Whilst it sucks, I personally think prolonging my PhD will suck more. And whilst I am going to work longer, I will still be fitting in adventures, social events, and self-care into my weeks (trust me!)