111 words: it's a marathon not a sprint.
111 words; this is how many words I need to write every day between now and next March to keep my thesis on track.
I went back to work properly this week, and it was full of mini-challanges: leaving ThesisBaby at nursery without crying ( it was close but I managed), organising access to the breastfeeding room at work (sorted with the help of my supervisor) and working out how I'm going to fit everything in; baby care, housework, writing, sleeping, eating etc and making myself sit down to study every evening after a full day of the afore mentioned stuff.
My brain feels like someone has replaced it with mash potato- previously easy to recall references have fluttered off in a haze of baby hormones and chronic sleep deprivation, and I have so much to do before our experiment next year I nearly crumpled in a heap and sobbed when my supervisor caught me up at our back to work meeting.
I came home and mid melt-down my husband reminded me that a PhD is a marathon not a sprint. Sure,I have a lot to do, but it it doesn't all have to be done today. One cup of tea and a hug later I started to think how I can pace myself for the marathon. I was reminded of an Olympic swimmer who wrote about how much they needed to improve to be in chance of a medal- it seems totally unobtainable until they realised that even though the time improvement needed was a sizable chunk of their personal best time to date, if they broke it down to each day of training before the next race it amounted to miliseconds each day.
So I divided up my thesis to each day; to keep myself on track between now and next year I need to write 111 words each day. 1 paragraph. And that includes references ;) Suddenly 40,000 words and babycare is a more manageable challenge.
Of course that won't be all I have to do- my 'to read' article pile is mid-tibia high and climbing, I have a heap of lab protocols to write out, an equipment stock-take to complete, training on new equipment and 100 other things that I haven't thought of yet but I also know that if we have a rough night (teething I'm looking at you) and it all goes to pot all I need to do is find 111 words. or maybe a graph, just to mix things up ;)
I went back to work properly this week, and it was full of mini-challanges: leaving ThesisBaby at nursery without crying ( it was close but I managed), organising access to the breastfeeding room at work (sorted with the help of my supervisor) and working out how I'm going to fit everything in; baby care, housework, writing, sleeping, eating etc and making myself sit down to study every evening after a full day of the afore mentioned stuff.
My brain feels like someone has replaced it with mash potato- previously easy to recall references have fluttered off in a haze of baby hormones and chronic sleep deprivation, and I have so much to do before our experiment next year I nearly crumpled in a heap and sobbed when my supervisor caught me up at our back to work meeting.
I came home and mid melt-down my husband reminded me that a PhD is a marathon not a sprint. Sure,I have a lot to do, but it it doesn't all have to be done today. One cup of tea and a hug later I started to think how I can pace myself for the marathon. I was reminded of an Olympic swimmer who wrote about how much they needed to improve to be in chance of a medal- it seems totally unobtainable until they realised that even though the time improvement needed was a sizable chunk of their personal best time to date, if they broke it down to each day of training before the next race it amounted to miliseconds each day.
So I divided up my thesis to each day; to keep myself on track between now and next year I need to write 111 words each day. 1 paragraph. And that includes references ;) Suddenly 40,000 words and babycare is a more manageable challenge.
Of course that won't be all I have to do- my 'to read' article pile is mid-tibia high and climbing, I have a heap of lab protocols to write out, an equipment stock-take to complete, training on new equipment and 100 other things that I haven't thought of yet but I also know that if we have a rough night (teething I'm looking at you) and it all goes to pot all I need to do is find 111 words. or maybe a graph, just to mix things up ;)
That's a good way to look at things :) small victories...
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