The Part-time PhD and Wellbeing
Glass Half Full: The Part-time PhD and Wellbeing
Hannah Speed is in her third year of a part-time PhD in history, researching ‘Women’s life-writing and the suffrage campaign in Scotland c.1890s-1990s.’ Hannah is keen to hear ideas about wellbeing as a part time PGR in the comments. She is also interested in setting up an informal part-time students’ group. If that’s of interest to you, please get in touch with Hannah directly at h.speed.1@research.gla.ac.uk.
I enjoy being a part time PhD student , but it has meant that I’ve had to prioritise my wellbeing. Many part-time PhD students juggle multiple commitments; from caring responsibilities, to managing a health condition or disability, to working and building a career. Everyone’s experience will be different, but I want to share three wellbeing tips which have worked for me,and hope that they also resonate with you. .
Accepting that you have less time in the short term
As a part-time student,you have less time in any given week or month to devote to your research. You need to manage your time, and even more importantly your energy, to reflect this. I like to plan at least a semester ahead so I can see where the peaks and troughs of work in both sides of my life are going to be. If I know I’m going to have a busy period to hit a big deadline for my job, I aim to plan my research so that I’m not trying to write my annual progress review submission at the same time!
Your PhD is usually something you’re personally passionate about and love to work on, and since the PhD structure is fluid, it can be tempting to constantly be working on it. I’ve been trying to set some boundaries around my work to give myself proper breaks.
How you take these breaks can be totally flexible and personal to you – it’s not realistic for me to treat my PhD like a 9 to 5 job. I sometimes work on weekday evenings or weekend mornings, but never on weekend afternoons which are my protected time. I use my email signature to explain that I’m part time, and which days people can expect me to be working. It doesn’t matter what your personal schedule is, so long as it works for you, has regular breaks carved out, and the people you’re working with understand it.
2. Making the most of the long term
On the flip side, one of the real luxuries of the part-time PhD is that you have several more years to do your research compared to full-time students. This is great for managing your time and energy. I know that personally I struggle to say ‘no’ to opportunities because I’m just so interested in everything academia has to offer – conferences, writing PGR blog posts (!), volunteering, training and more. I try to remind myself that I have many years to play with, and that if I’m too busy now , I can just add opportunities to my list of things to try out next year.
Many part-timers also relish being able to think about the PhD in slower time. I enjoy having space to reflect and mull things over, and I plan my weeks to take advantage of that. I might write something on a Monday then leave it until Friday to edit with fresh eyes, or let thoughts and ideas evolve in the back of my mind during my non-study days. On that note, it’s also worth saying: try not to compare your progress to full-time students; you’re never going to win that race! Learning to enjoy the process and the slow pace of study has really improved my relationship with the PhD.
3. Building your community
Finally, it’s important to acknowledge that studying part-time can be lonely. Part-time students are in the minority and might not have lots of time to spend on campus enjoying office camaraderie or all the usual research events and seminars. One thing which has really helped me is meeting other part-time students. Once I started asking around, I’ve been able to find plenty of part-time researchers in my school and my funding body. It’s lovely to share experiences and be reassured that other people are going through the same thing.
As work commitments limit how much time I have available, I try to prioritise when I want to be on campus. For me, the Centre for Gender History is my main research community, so I try to flex my work hours to make sure I can attend their postgraduate events and research seminars and see my fellow gender historians. Having a university support network like this is great for when you need a bit of a boost.
I hope that these tips help you make the most of your part time PhD.
Blog post by Hannah Speed a third year of a part-time PhD in history student at the University of Glasgow
