PhD Diary, Week 1: First things first, make a timetable

Source: Self-produced

My first week as a PhD student was an interesting one; learning how to manage my time without strict boundaries in place has been a learning curve. My background as a mathematics teacher and foundation year lecturer has trained me to be somewhat rigid with my time, whether that be via explicit teaching timetables and 1:1 meetings or self-imposed I need to get this task done to get it out of my mind-type restrictions. However, as a PhD student, I need to retain information long-term. Therefore, I resorted to old behaviours and created a timetable, briefly describing my various commitments and allocating a sensible amount of time to study.

This is of course adaptable and subject to change, though an outline of a timetable forces me to focus on certain tasks as and when I need to. I would highly recommend that every student creates a timetable to support their studies. I have provided links to various time management resources that I like below. Feel free to check them out.:

• Creating a timetable using Microsoft Excel. Excel is my favourite tool to use when creating a timetable. Plus, there are tonnes of templates available to you on their website.
• Pomodoro technique. This is always a go-to on many time management suggestion lists. Basically, you work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. repeat this 4 times and then take a longer break. The duration of each working period and break is entirely up to you. Here is an article which better describes the process. If you like the sound of this technique, here is a neat timer that helps you count each period. It seems Italian tomatoes are better for you in more ways than first expected!