My project note template ends with a question I answer every time I reach the finish line of a project: What would I do differently next time? Because the question sits in the template, I don’t have to remember to reflect. Without this prompt to myself, the lessons from one project are easily forgotten once I’m on to the next.
There are things I wish I had done differently during my PhD, as well as many things I am happy that I actually did. But when I thought about this question for my PhD project and process, I was surprised about some of the smaller things that surfaced. Besides the usual advice such as trust the process and exercise more, the following small but important things came up on the list of what I wish I had done (more of) in the PhD process:
- Timelogged in the beginning: I would have liked to timelog in the beginning of the PhD process to have a more accurate picture of where my time went and how much I worked versus how much of my time went to things unrelated to the PhD. I logged my time only much later in the PhD process and found that the flexibility of my PhD hours meant that my deep work suffered the most, dying a death by a thousand small things creeping in from admin and personal life. Something I had suspected for a while I could suddenly see in the timelog. This made it easier for me to act on and adjust so I could better protect my deep work hours as a necessary part of getting real momentum on the essential aspects of the project.
- Timelogged in the beginning: I would have liked to timelog in the beginning of the PhD process to have a more accurate picture of where my time went and how much I worked versus how much of my time went to things unrelated to the PhD. I logged my time only much later in the PhD process and found that the flexibility of my PhD hours meant that my deep work suffered the most, dying a death by a thousand small things creeping in from admin and personal life. Something I had suspected for a while I could suddenly see in the timelog. This made it easier for me to act on and adjust so I could better protect my deep work hours as a necessary part of getting real momentum on the essential aspects of the project.
- Installed a stand-up desk: It’s not that I didn’t know how much better for the body it is to switch between sitting and standing at the desk when working many hours straight at the computer. But during the PhD I just couldn’t find a stand-up desk frame that could carry the VERY heavy load of my wooden tabletop. Since it’s a very beautiful tabletop in solid walnut, however healthy an option it is to stand up at my desk, I just couldn’t get myself to change it. Beauty is not to be underestimated, but looking back, I would have chosen the stand-up desk. My body would have thanked me.
- Installed a stand-up desk: It’s not that I didn’t know how much better for the body it is to switch between sitting and standing at the desk when working many hours straight at the computer. But during the PhD I just couldn’t find a stand-up desk frame that could carry the VERY heavy load of my wooden tabletop. Since it’s a very beautiful tabletop in solid walnut, however healthy an option it is to stand up at my desk, I just couldn’t get myself to change it. Beauty is not to be underestimated, but looking back, I would have chosen the stand-up desk. My body would have thanked me.
- Read more fiction: In the beginning of the PhD process I was still reading fiction as part of the whole keep-sane-and-enjoy-the-reading routine, but as the knowledge creation process and all the projects-inside-the-project got more and more intense and (cognitively) time-demanding, it slipped out of my daily routine. This might be natural. Habits and practices that are good for us can sometimes get pushed out by more work, which then makes the whole project more overwhelming. I wish I had kept reading fiction. It’s a way for me to decompress, imagine other worlds and perspectives, but also to get inspiration for bringing more storytelling into my academic prose.
- Read more fiction: In the beginning of the PhD process I was still reading fiction as part of the whole keep-sane-and-enjoy-the-reading routine, but as the knowledge creation process and all the projects-inside-the-project got more and more intense and (cognitively) time-demanding, it slipped out of my daily routine. This might be natural. Habits and practices that are good for us can sometimes get pushed out by more work, which then makes the whole project more overwhelming. I wish I had kept reading fiction. It’s a way for me to decompress, imagine other worlds and perspectives, but also to get inspiration for bringing more storytelling into my academic prose.
- Taken more photos: Much of doing a PhD feels as if it happens solely in the head. Of course there is much more to it: space, process, people and experiences are just as much part of the journey. Having proof of that helps you remember, both during and after the PhD process. I would love to have had more photos of the day-to-day work situations and experiences during the PhD time.
- Taken more photos: Much of doing a PhD feels as if it happens solely in the head. Of course there is much more to it: space, process, people and experiences are just as much part of the journey. Having proof of that helps you remember, both during and after the PhD process. I would love to have had more photos of the day-to-day work situations and experiences during the PhD time.
These points are not in themselves revolutionary for how the PhD project turns out, and I know there are so much great advice out there in the style of ”things I wish I had done during my PhD”. It’s definitely worth your time to look into I would add.
But sometimes these incredibly small things can in their own way make an intense knowledge project a little bit more enjoyable.
