Colette Lappin is a first-year PhD researcher in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow in the College of Arts and Humanities. Her research areas are in moral philosophy and philosophy of economics during the Scottish Enlightenment with a specific interest in Adam Smith's moral and economic thought'.

As someone who started their PhD in October last year, I am still absorbing lots of new information and adjusting to being a researcher. For most people, studying for a full-time research degree will be a completely new experience and way of working. This is the case for those coming straight from a master’s degree and those who are returning to academia after a long break. The increased work flexibility due to a lack of set deadlines and assigned classes undoubtedly has its advantages: you can devote most of your time to your own research project. However, there can also be disadvantages such as confusion about how to structure your day and make the best use of your time, while also maintaining your mental wellbeing and maximising your productivity.

So far, I have found that my wellbeing and productivity often go hand in hand. For me, wellbeing includes confidence, effective stress management and a healthy work-life balance. Structuring my day consistently and establishing a routine in a way that is appropriate for me and my individual project has been essential for maintaining my mental wellbeing and productivity. Having a routine helps to end my day on a high knowing that I have used my time effectively.. This routine also encourages me to avoid procrastination. There is definitely no one best way to start building structure into your day as a researcher because this depends on your subject area! However, I am discovering different ways that work for me as a researcher.

My wellbeing wins:

Keeping a consistent schedule. Having a 9-5 schedule on weekdays and taking the weekends off helps me to compartmentalise and focus on different academic and admin tasks from Monday through to -Friday. Taking the weekends off allows me to wind down and keep up my hobbies. More boringly, I can catch up on different household tasks including cleaning and getting grocery shopping. Although 9 to -5 works for me, it does not have to be this set time. Some people work better in the morning, and others later in the day.
The way that I organise and build routine into my day can vary depending on my priorities for the week. However, I often use the Oliver Burkeman’s 3-3-3 method to organise my day. This method works b

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LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS METHOD HERE

This method works by:

Spending three hours on your most important task of the day. For example, working on a draft piece of writing for your supervisor or working on your literature review.
Complete three short tasks. For example, this could include cleaning, sending emails or meeting with your supervisor.
Three “maintenance activities” - these could include other things that will contribute positively to your wellbeing and productivity (Burkeman). For example, I make sure that I get at least ten minutes of fresh air or exercise each day.

While it may not be realistic to use this method every single day, I find that having this template to rely on gives me confidence to break down the variety of tasks I must complete while also including other activities that will maintain and improve my mental and physical wellbeing.

Organisational Techniques:

Here are some simple organisational habits to develop over the first year of your PhD to help stay on top of your workload and maintain your overall wellbeing:.

Using an old-fashioned physical planner helps me plan and keep track of my daily or weekly tasks quickly and easily with no stress.

A weekly to-do lists instead of daily to-do lists. I find that, unless something must be completed on that one specific day, weekly to-do lists are a lot less stressful. It means that I do not feel disappointed and lose confidence if I have not completed a task on a certain day.

Clarify expectations for beginning your research with your supervisor. Keep communicating regularly with your supervisor via email and we agree on set tasks to be completed per month.

Use a reference manager from the very beginning of your research to avoid feeling overwhelmed at the sheer volume of literature you will be wading through! There are many to choose from including EndNote, Mendeley and Zotero. I personally use Zotero because the basic version is free and easy to use. I have also begun systematising the literature using the ‘tags’ feature. You can tag your literature in different ways including by importance, topic, concept and theme. In the first year of the PhD, you will still be scoping out most of the literature, but it is never too early to start taking a note of and organising the books and journal articles you are using.

Colette Lappin is a first-year PhD researcher in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow in the College of Arts and Humanities.