What I have learnt while doing a PhD & Working full time.

Click here for what I learnt during my third year of a PhD.

You can actually get a lot done in a short period of time- Before starting work full time I would be in my office for 9+ hours a day. Although in the last year or so I was definitely procrastinating less, I still found that I wasn’t being super productive. Now I get almost the same amount of work done in 2 hours compared to what I used to get done in 9.

Just write- Writer’s block is horrible and common! Particularly when it comes to writing the discussion chapter of your thesis. I find that working full time (or if you don’t have a job, spending your time working on other things) actually helps writers block because when something comes to mind you can jot it down but you don’t get frustrated working on it for hours.

There is more to life than a PhD- Starting a new fulltime job opened my eyes to a different non-academic world.

It is okay to take your time to finish your PhD- I used to put so much pressure on myself to finish my PhD. I wanted to be a doctor while I was 25 years old (which will no longer happen). But since starting work, I have realised that there is no point driving myself to exhaustion to finish my PhD quickly. Especially when finishing my PhD relies heavily on my supervisors drafting my thesis.

I have learnt a lot of skills during my PhD- I have acquired so many skills during my PhD that are applicable to my industry job, from research skills to organisation skills, from communication skills to data visualisation skills.