Hi Folks

Is anyone willing to share their time management tips?

I am at the corrections stage of my full time PhD, I also work full time, have a part time voluntary job and NEED to go to the gym at least a few times a week to keep my stress levels under control and I'm struggling to fit everything in.

I've more or less done this throughout my entire PhD with the exception of the gym but when I stop going to the gym I notice a serious decline in my mental health and I can't forego that for anything else again.

I'm struggling to get motivated to work on my thesis since my viva and when I get home (usually around 8 or 9pm) I'm shattered and I've got into the habit of just taking the rest of the evening off which I don't really have time for.

I've cut my commitments down as much as I can, I can't give up either of my jobs or anything like that but just wondering what other people's tips and tricks are for getting the maximum amount done in short bursts of time?

Can you shift your sleep pattern so that you wake up a few hours earlier and do your thesis then? I find that after a long day I can't focus whatever the situation but super focused in the morning. If you do 30mins-1 hour before work you might be able to consistently do small chunks.

When I was doing my correction, I was also working full time. I would leave for work at 6 am and would not get home until 8 pm, after cooking dinner I was in no mood to look at corrections. I had an hour lunch break in work, I would grab something quick to eat and then do by correction for 45 mins, within two weeks I had them done. Can you do the on a lunch break .. not ideal but might help ?

Hi Dr Crabby

I am also working on my corrections whilst working full time and have various other commitments. I also submitted my thesis whilst working full-time and found the only way that I get anything constructive done is to have a very detailed plan. I have 2 months to submit my corrections, which total about 25 individual tasks of varying complexity. I have made a schedule for myself which includes all of my extracurricular activities as well as each task I need to complete. I have allocated a specific day over the next 2 months for each task, scheduling in the more simple standalone items for the 1 hour I can commit on 2 working days every week. Then I reserved the more time-consuming tasks for the half day I can commit each Saturday and Sunday. This may seem OTT but it seems to work for me! EV