Proper Working Time

I remember a conversation PhD students had last year. The question arose:

“How long a PhD student should spend for the research and how long they can have as a holiday.”

The general understanding we all had was that we, as researchers and scholars, don’t have a holiday. But as we are human beings, we should plan our work hours well. Until last year, I didn’t put any holiday in my schedule. There was no distinction between Christmas and term time. I checked my emails 24/7 and read articles without thinking if it was a holiday or a weekend. One piece of advice was delivered to all of us.

Without a well-structured research plan or rest time, this marathon would be exhausted before it finished.

Finally, I tried to put Christmas on my calendar. I informed my group members that I’ll have my holiday until the end of December. It would be only 1-2 weeks, but I already feel pushed to work and stressed not to work as lazy behaviour all by myself. One of my friends advised me that resting also requires practice. Everything is practice. Living itself is a practice.

In a way, it is obvious. If we have never lived our lives before, we should practice learning how to do it.

I hope I can fully rest this time without being stressed.