I'm supposed to be having a week off. And I feel like work is always on my mind! My hubby has taken his only week of leave he has until xmas, so we were planning to stay at home (cos we can't afford anything else) but go out to town etc and take some time off. thing is, I feel SO guilty. Plus the fact I have a conference next week, and feel nervous about that. My sup rang me yesterday at 8.30 am and expects me to be doing work - even though if I had been able to afford to jet off somewhere she wouldn't dream of ringing me!

bleugh! stressed! feeling guilty! rubbish!

(sorry just wanted a moan)

Hey Sneaks, I know exactly how you feel. Even when I suspended for 6 months due to illness, I felt guilty that I wasn't working on the PhD. I think this is something that is very common with PhD, because no amount of work ever feels enough. I guess it's due to the nature of the beast, in that there are no clear "well you finished these module and you have to pass 10 modules in total" or whatever we had as structure in UG and Masters.

I am definitely looking forward to the day when I don't have to feel guilty about doing something other than work.

On the holiday front, can you guys go for days out? We try to make a day off a proper day off by going out (to pick your own fruit for example!) for the day. It really helps to refresh yourself.

Hope your holiday perks up :)

Hey sneaks, I know how you feel, I'm awful for working when I'm meant to be taking time off. I'm taking next week off on doc's advice because I am absolutely exhausted, I can't sleep, and my bipolar is kicking off again. But I know it will be soooo hard not to think about work! I would make sure you have something nice planned for each day- days out don't have to cost a fortune if you plan carefully, and at least if you're out of the house your mind will hopefully be off work, or at the very least you won't be able to get to it! Don't feel guilty- I always do but this time I know if I don't have a break I will crash and burn very soon so I refuse to feel guilty this time! Enjoy the rest of your week! Best, KB

Oh sneaks, that's so frustrating! I know how you feel though, I always find it really hard to forget about work if I'm actually at home rather than going away somewhere. The guilt is a monster! And your supervisor is bang out of order for phoning you when you're actually on holiday!

The idea of days out sounds good to me. I like to go for long walks when I have a day free - just shove a bottle of water and some snacks into a bag and set off from my place, I'm really lucky that I live near the river and can follow a footpath along the banks and out in to the countryside for about six miles (well, the path goes further, but there's a really nice pub six miles away that's the perfect target destination so often that's as far as we get....) Are there any nice walks like that you could do? I find it really clears my head of everything that's stressing me, and it's free (well, until we hit the pub...)

thanks for the advice, I went to the wonderful world of primark this morning - sounds awful, but it was at the seaside! and we don't have a primark near us, so got to stock up on plain vest tops and save some cash. We've also been to town - its a bit hot for me to go out in the day at the mo though, I'm like a vampire!

Just heard that I have got an interview for the job I applied for eeek - super scary, but at least my cv doesn't make me look like a COMPLETE moron!

Many congrats on the job interview!
matildaL

thanks! I'm pretty petrified now though - its going to require a lot of prep, but is encouraging!

Excellent news on the job interview :-) I think guilt is part of this whole thing and we need to try and fight it lol - you are entitled to some time off, enjoy it with hubby :-) Lol at primark, we don't have one near us and I always have a splurge when I go near one :-) Just enjoy yourself, the PhD will still be waiting and you'll have had a rest from it - in no other job would we be expected to work 52 weeks a year or we'd burn out, I bet your sup has the odd holiday! Don't answer the phone, ignore it, ignore your uni email and have some fun, you've worked for it :-)