I am on my holidays in America just now, and I’ve brought my PhD along for the journey. It is something that I’ve done with great hesitation because I know that I won’t get as much done as I’ve told myself I will, but I also hesitated because I should be taking advantage of my holidays as a chance to have a break and live that whole “work-life balance” thing I’m always talking about.
But I am running short on time, so I can’t really afford to take time off. So I need to at least pretend that I will get a bit of work done whilst I’m away.
And so, I am hoping to do some PhDing on my holidays.
Of course, that makes me question (once again) the toxic environment of “all work no play” that many PhD students find themselves in – myself included. And it makes me realise that before starting my PhD, I was really good about taking personal time and rarely bringing my work home with me. (Well, other than on “work from home” days. But then I stopped working when the “day” was done.)
What has changed? Why do I feel the need to work all the time as a PhD student? And why do I feel so very guilty when I am not working on my PhD?
Sadly, that is a long blog post for another time. (Trust me, it is in draft mode now. I shall save it for a longer musing once I’m done with my PhD though.)
Instead, I will just use these last lines to say that I am on holiday. And that I’ve brought my PhD with me. And I know I will get some work done on it. But I also know that I won’t get as much done as I’d hoped. Because I am here to visit my family and I didn’t fly 6,000 miles just so that they could watch me write my thesis!
