This week on the SGSAH blog, guest blogger Jenny Brown shares what life is like being a PhD researcher and a parent, how her children helped her navigate the switch from full-time career professional to part-time researcher, and gives you three pieces of advice for how to navigate PhD life.

There were all kinds of reasons behind my decision to switch from being a full-time career professional, working in museums, to signing up to being a part-time PhD student about a year ago. Some were personal, others professional. Like many others, coming back to work after coronavirus had changed my priorities. As a parent of two young children, I wanted to find a healthy balance of family, life, and work. Professionally I was looking for a new challenge, but one which would allow me to keep that balance.

Honestly, I wasn’t really looking for a PhD. But when the CDA (Collaborative Doctoral Award) advert dropped into my inbox, something just clicked. Here was an opportunity that would take my current knowledge and experience, and at the same time really stretch me intellectually and open new doors. Leaving the security of a permanent role was a big leap, and I’m hugely grateful for the support of family, friends and colleagues who encouraged me to grasp the opportunity.

Life twelve months down the line

My typical day starts with the school run, which is an exercise in working under pressure. Some mornings everything just seems to work, other mornings I am trying every trick I have to get both girls up, dressed, fed and out the door on time.

Once they are safely at school and nursery, I give myself time to switch gears from parent to researcher. This might include the walk back home or to the car, hanging out the washing or a meditation or relaxation exercise. It always involves making a cup of tea before I head upstairs to my “study”. Then I open my notebook.

I like a physical notebook. I take notes from training, but also jot down ideas from my reading as I find that writing by hand helps me make connections and articulate my thoughts. At this time of day though, I’m looking for the notes I made last night, or last week. The ones which remind me where I’d got to, what I was thinking and what my next steps ought to be. I try to focus on these tasks for the first few hours of the day, when my concentration is highest.

Around lunchtime, I will head out for a run or walk. We’re all well aware of the health benefits of exercise (mental and physical) but for me, there’s the added benefit of seeing other humans. My family commitments mean it’s often easiest to work from home, so I miss the company of other people.

Towards the end of the day, I will make sure to do some writing. This can be summaries and reflections on my reading as well as the notes on progress and the way forward. This is crucial for me, as I never know when I will next sit down to work. In the last few weeks, suspected scarlet fever (false alarm, thank goodness) and a sickness bug have meant my daughter couldn’t go to nursery, and I was unable to work.

I try to keep emails and admin for the last hour because around 5:30, the doorbell will start ringing on repeat when the kids get home. Wherever I’ve got to, it’s time to stop. It’s time instead for homework, making dinner, getting kids washed and ready for bed. And eventually, sleep. Most days, I’m not far behind them!

Challenges and Benefits

Life with kids is unpredictable. It can be really challenging to have to break off mid-flow, hence trying to wind up the productive stuff before the kids get home. And I have no idea when my plans for the next day might be lost to common childhood illnesses. The joy of the PhD is its almost infinite flexibility in these situations.

When the going is good, I try to “bank” a few hours against the unexpected. Travelling by train and overnight stays for the PhD are awesome for this: I try and get as many hours done as possible. Whilst a poorly kid is sleeping, I might get a couple of hours reading done but it is an emotional strain to juggle both roles in this way. Finding out your own limits is really important. For me, kids trump research.

The up-side is that combining parenting and PhD-ing comes with regular time away from your research. However you manage your research time, there’s a good chunk of each day where you are thinking and doing other things. That 5:30 doorbell is my signal that it’s time to put the books down. It’s not exactly rest and relaxation switching back to parent mode, but it is a long way from the history of agricultural improvement, innovation and the dissemination of knowledge. Particularly as a part-timer, there’s plenty of space for reflection.

Making the shift from work to study has at times been hugely disorientating. After 20 years as a professional, I moved into an arena where I didn’t have the same touchstones of familiar expectations and responsibilities. I didn’t know the acronyms or have the same terms of reference. I’ve had to work hard to remember what I’m bringing with me, not just relevant research skills and experience, but life stuff. Knowing how to sound out and manage your supervisors, solid communication and collaboration skills, being able to break down a project and manage progress towards intermediate targets. Knowing when to switch task because your head or heart just isn’t into this today, but you can take something else forward.

In some ways, being a parent is what has anchored me through this major career change. My kids have been the constant through the changes and remind me why I am doing it. As I have grappled with the disorientation and disruption, trying to role model a growth mindset for them has been good motivation.

Three Slices of Advice

Firstly, self-care. If you’re used to working in a big organisation (or even if you’re not) don’t forget things like making sure you have a good workstation set-up are now your responsibility. You don’t want to end up creating physical niggles that can have long term repercussions. Take breaks to stretch and exercise. Equally, if you have caring responsibilities, work out your limits and your boundaries. A lot of the time we put pressure on ourselves to get everything done – I know I do. When you need to be primary carer, try to find peace with it. A lot of unhappiness comes from wanting things to be different from how they are, and the resulting stress works against you in the long run.

Secondly, it is much harder to hide procrastination in a PhD. At work, competing priorities, shifting deadlines, and relying on input from others can all delay projects, or appear to. Here, it’s just you and the work. Be honest with yourself and learn to spot when you are putting things off. Find out how you manage that. If you can crack that, it’s a huge skill for life and work.

Finally, particularly for those coming from the workplace: remember what you’re bringing. You’re going to make a lot more mistakes than you’re used to because you are learning something new. You might not have done that for a while. They call it The Learning Pit at my daughter’s school: you already have plenty of strategies for climbing out and reaching your goal. Keep going.