Cos I'm not AHRC funded and my Uni are just helping me out, I don't have any restrictions on how many hours a week I can work. But I agree with you SixKitten, that I wouldn't want do more than 2 days per week if I was studying F-T.

I also like the sound what you're doing Pea, teaching and a bit of freelance-y stuff, cos the ability to juggle your life/PhD/work balance instead of having it dictated to you seems like one of the pros of the PhD lifestyle to me!

So feeling a bit better about it now, thanks

Sixkitten - how many hours a week do you work? And do you think you COULD do the full time PhD alongside your part time job if you wanted to?

It seems like most people think its best to only work a few hours per week during a PhD, if at all...! Oh dear!

What do you guys reckon about part-time work and full-time PhD study? Do you do it? Do you find it OK? What type of jobs do you do alongside your study?

I've been doing my MA full time and working 18hours a week in a call centre for the past year, which has been busy but do-able. Do you think it would be much different for a PhD? (My PhD will be in literary studies type-stuff)

I have no AHRC funding, you see, and while my Uni can give me an incentive award for the first year, it aint enough to get by on without work. Am a bit loath to switch my PhD to part-time as the prospect of signing up to do anything for seven years seems daunting!