Hello everyone - longtime reader, newtime poster!

As I am embarking on my 2nd year PhD after a year out (maternity), I am staring to wonder whether I am not taking on too much.

I am a fulltime student with teaching duties (6 hours a week) and a bursary. I also am a mum to 2 gorgeous children (one has just started school, the other has just turned one) and I live on my own with them quite a distance way from Uni (roughly 1h30 train commute).

I really love my thesis, my sups are relatively supportive and the little voice inside my head tells me I can do it, but when I think of the sheer amount of work, organisation and dedication required to climb this particular mountain, I get scared. I

know some PhDers who don't have other commitments spend at least 10 hours a day, 7 days a week working on their theses (nowhere near what I do) and still think it's not enough. I work for 6 hours solidely during the day and another couple of hours during the night when the children are in bed, but don't do much during the w/e and also have to get lessons ready. I have an important panel coming up, and have to submit a substantial amount of work in the next couple of weeks, and I'm getting nervous just at the thought of it!

Has anyone done it? Have you got any tips? Any thoughts much appreciated!

Hi here_and_there

It can be done. I know that there are several people on this forum that have only been able to contribute a few hours per day to PhD due to personal and health circumstances, and still managed to get it done.

Have a look back at some of my older posts and you will hear my tale, and top tips for making the most out of the few hours that you have available.
I truely believe that 6 hours a day is PLENTY, even with no work at weekends ( i have never worked at weekends...I try to see my PhD as a job, not a lifestyle!)

You can do it!
Good luck...and keep us posted when/if you have time.
matilda
x

It is tough for us mums but it is doable. I work full time as an academic with a 14 hour a week teachign load, plus preparation, plus marking. I also live about an hour and a half (only possible by car - by public transport it is about 3.5 hours) from the unveristy where I work. My children are older (11 & 9) and I think that it is more difficult as they get older - with littlies nurseries /childminders have much longer hours whereas schools(even with aftercare) are less flexible. They also have more things out of school (sports matches on saturday mornings etc). My PhD is part time (self funded) and just gets squashed in when I can - mostly in the gap between university term time and school breaking up. I have found that I have had to be far more focussed than I would be if I were full time - I don't have the luxury of going off on tangents that might be interesting but might prove fruitless.

You don't mention what subject you are in - I am in social sciences but need (overseas) fieldwork which so far has formed the basis for family holidays. Next summer though I'd like to go out to the states to collect my primary data and I've found a way that I think I could do it by volunteering in a national park (which would give me accomodation and a meal allowance). BUT that would mean three months away - not sure whether I can / want to do it.

You do have the advantage that your children will be in bed early so you can get some PhD time then. You just have to grab the time when you can - you can read on the train (I did most of my part-time MA reading on the bus to work). If you can have some space in teh hosue wher eyou can leave your work then taht helps because you don't ahve to waste time getting stuff out or putting it away - by having a desk which is left alone I can grab 20 minutes here and there (while food is cooking) because the work is all on my desk.

Good luck but rememebr at the end of the day it is only a PhD - your children are far more precious.

Thanks so much for your replies and positivity (is that even a word?!!). I am in Humanities, so plenty of scope for idleness and procrastination unfortunately!!

Good luck to the both of you, and Matilda, I will be trawling the forum for your older posts - I am intrigued...

[quote]Quote From Here_and_There:

Thanks so much for your replies and positivity (is that even a word?!!). I am in Humanities, so plenty of scope for idleness and procrastination unfortunately!!

quote]

But also you can fit bits in at home etc rather than having to go to the lab.

I reckon anyway that lots of people over estimate how much work they do by counting how many hours they were in the library without taking off the time taken by getting coffee, chatting with a colleague, reading e-mail, facebook/PGForum etc, getting another coffee, looking for a book, going out for a fag, back on facebook/PG forum, getting lunch and so on. If you are focussed and expect to do 55 minutes in every hour I reckon 6 hours a day is plenty.

Hi all

I just thought I'd come back to give a quick update, and maybe get some positive vibes from the optimists amongst you.

After a few nightmarish weeks of virtually no sleep (teething for the baby, night terrors for the oldest), huge childcare issues (childminder had an epiphany and has decided to open an art cafe in Wales - queue panic at finding last-minute reliable replacement and see 2 precious weeks of work go in smoke) and prolongued bouts of daytime TV watching (no excuse for this one!), I now have to cram in 3 weeks' worth of work in 2 days.

Submission for full chapter redraft is on Monday. Can this be done? (Please say yes!!)