Danielle Fatzinger is the current PGR Office Intern and in the third year of her PhD in Celtic & Gaelic, studying late-seventeenth century Gaelic manuscripts written in Kintyre, Argyll, their scribe, and his patrons. In this post, she reflects on the process of turning ‘off’ for the holidays…without guilt or anxiety.

When it comes to the winter holidays, it can be difficult to step away from your research. Even the PGRs getting on planes and heading back to the centres of their family have a mini-me sitting on their shoulders and whispering, ‘but you can get ahead on your chapter’ or ‘you can catch up’ or ‘if you stop researching for two weeks, will you forget how?’ (or is that just me?).

And any PGRs who aren’t able to go home for Christmas may hear these voices more often, and more strongly, than those whose friends and family can claim their attention.

It’s important, though, that we ignore those voices and turn away from our research, and that we encourage others to do the same. A healthy work-life balance is essential for physical and mental well-being, and also for us to be our best in both our personal and professional lives. Plus, the winter holidays are the lull between two semesters, and without taking a break, you may burn out faster in the spring.

One way I turn myself off for the holidays is by having some simple rules. My holiday time is a bit structured since I have international flights and cookie-baking and babysitting schedules designating it, but I still need to turn off the part of myself that feels anxious and guilty about not reading, translating, writing, or otherwise researching.

Rules for a (mostly) Research-free Holiday

Choose a date to begin your holiday and have something to submit that day.

The day before I leave the UK to fly across the Atlantic, I set a deadline. Something will be submitted to my supervisors, even if it’s not quite finished, and that will be the last thing on my research to-do list. If there are things left to do, they get bumped to next year. In my planner, I’ll then start my holiday to-do, where I can add the cookie-baking plan, babysitting days, family gatherings, friend visits, knitting projects to finish by Christmas Eve, etc.

If you can’t, for any reason, submit something to your supervisor (perhaps due to their plans or simply because you’d rather they only get finished work), find a friend, colleague, or mentor you can ‘submit’ something to.

If you are going to work, set limits.

I always add some research things to my holiday to-do list, but they are easier ones that I can do while watching TV (this year it’s translating) rather than writing. This is only because I leave the UK early (12 December this year), and I don’t want to spend 3-4 whole weeks not doing anything for my research. Cheesy Christmas movies also don’t need my full attention.

But I limit the research days, and for two weeks (over Christmas and New Year’s Day), I don’t touch it at all, and thanks to following the first rule, I have no deadlines to worry about.

Tell your supervisors what your plan is.

Your supervisors need to know when you’re going on holiday and when you’ll be back so that they don’t email you for things when you’re away. This is also a good chance to decide what will be submitted, even if it’s just a placeholder or placebo, if you haven’t already. I once emailed my supervisors an incomplete draft to signal, to them and myself, that I’d be going on holiday now, and I’d work on it when I came back.

Have a place to put your stray thoughts.

Designate a space in your notebook or favourite notes app to keep things that you think of while you’re trying not to work. You won’t need to worry about forgetting and can revisit the idea when you go back to work.

Set an automatic, out-of-office reply.

This is the easiest way to remind people, including supervisors or groups you work with, that you are on holiday and will not be answering, and to relieve the self-imposed pressure to answer any emails you get.

Have plans, events, and activities at the ready.

When family is involved, they often dictate some of our holiday plans, but if we’re away from family or home longer than a few days, there’s going to be some, or a lot of, down-time. Tempting, tempting down-time. It’s good to have some events, activities, TV shows, books, hobbies, etc., that you want to do or learn during your holidays ready in your head so that you don’t work by default. Think: what are the things I’ve been wanting to do, but that I haven’t had the time to do? Do those things, even if you feel like it’s something that shouldn’t be done on a holiday…like cleaning. I, for one, usually end up cleaning and organising, and I never regret it.

What are your rules for a research-free holiday? Do you agree with the ones above? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter or Instagram @UofG_PGRblog.

Title Image by Aaron Burden on Unsplash