Doing a PhD can be hard. You're in this weird in-between stage where you don't really know if you're more of a student or more of a professional. And you're not really sure where you best fit in. You don't have any deadlines, yet are expected to finish things "on time", to always be "on track", and to never lose sight of the end goal. But no one really tells you what it's all supposed to look like or how you even get there, which then leaves you in a circle of overworking for little pay, chronic imposter syndrome, and a worry that you're constantly behind...
Sound familiar? Well, maybe only some or none of these things ring true for you, in which case: you rock! But if you feel like all of the above at times, then, well... you rock, too! I think as PhD students we tend to put A LOT of pressure on ourselves. We expect expert-level work from ourselves, but ignore that we have way less experience or, well, funding than the inspirational published researchers we compare ourselves to.
I think one of the hardest parts of being a PhD student isn't actually conducting the research, data coding, or manuscript writing. I struggle most with the question: what next? We all know jobs in academia are scarce (especially when you're not that into teaching). And positions available that are limited to 12 months, that depend on obtaining funding, and then pay you less than you are worth just don't seem all too attractive or secure. Especially for all the hard work you do to get there.
I don't really have a solution to all (or any) of this. But I think sometimes it's just important to remind ourselves that we are actually doing okay. That we can enjoy the PhD and don't need to have the "after" bit all planned out. We don't need to be ahead of schedule all the time. We don't need to work faster than our fellow PhD students. We just need to do our best work in the time we have and set reasonable boundaries. I, for example, started closing my work laptop at 6pm, whether I've finished working through my list for the day or not. I have to admit that I don't manage to stick to this rule every day, but I try to most days. And NO WORK ON WEEKENDS! That's a big one! Take the weekend to rest and reset. Monday will come soon enough. And someone once told me: "It doesn't matter how long you work for after hours or how much ahead you are of your to-do list. The next day will always come and bring new challenges and more work that you couldn't even have imagined. So, when you're done for the day, actually let yourself be done. Tomorrow will bring more work for sure, you can always count on that.".
With that in mind: Let's take breaks, rest, check-in with ourselves (and others), learn to say "no" to things, and never forget how far we've come! Doing a PhD is hard. You will get stressed, you will get tired, you might even feel anxious at times. But we don't have to have it all figured out yet (I know it feels that way sometimes). We do have time to learn, time to grow, to ask questions, and ask for help. Never forget to look after yourself in between all the work! And know that you're probably doing way better than you think!