One of the things I learned very quickly during my first year as a PhD student is that summer break does not necessarily mean a break from the PhD. The university becomes quieter, teaching slows down, friends who are teachers suddenly have more freedom, children are home from school and it can feel as though everyone around you has entered a slower and more relaxed season. Meanwhile, your reading list is still waiting, your writing still needs attention and your research has not received the message that it is supposed to pause for summer.

Of course, doctoral researchers can take annual leave, and we absolutely should, because rest is important when so much of our work involves reading, thinking, questioning, writing, deleting and rewriting. At the same time, summer can also become a really valuable period for research because the quieter academic calendar may create more space to focus, attend conferences, participate in summer schools, explore new ideas and finally return to some of the reading that kept being pushed aside during the busier months.

The real challenge is learning how to make progress without feeling as though the entire summer is passing while you remain trapped behind a laptop, so here are a few things I am learning about navigating the season.

Decide What Really Matters This Summer

Summer can create the illusion that there is suddenly enough time to do everything, which may lead us to imagine that we will finish a chapter, read fifteen books, attend several conferences, perfect our methodology and become completely organised before September arrives. In reality, an overambitious list can leave us feeling behind before we have even begun, so it may be more helpful to choose one or two meaningful goals that would make the summer feel productive and worthwhile.

Perhaps you want to complete a chapter draft, strengthen one section of your literature review or become clearer about a concept that has been troubling you. A shorter and more realistic list will usually take you much further than a long list that quietly follows you around and makes you feel guilty.

Take the Research Outside

Not every reading day has to happen at a desk, in the library or under fluorescent lighting. Summer gives us permission to rethink where academic work can happen, whether that means taking a book to the park, spreading a blanket under a tree, listening to a podcast while walking or carrying a notebook somewhere beautiful and allowing yourself to think without forcing very thought to become a polished paragraph immediately.

For those of us living in Scotland, sunshine can feel like a limited opportunity, so when it appears, it makes sense to enjoy it while continuing with the work. Reading outside does not make the research less serious, and sometimes a change of scenery is exactly what allows difficult ideas to settle more naturally.

Be Selective About Summer Events

Summer is often filled with conferences, workshops, exhibitions, summer schools, writing retreats and opportunities to meet other researchers, and these can be especially valuable when they introduce us to people and ideas beyond our immediate departments. However, attending everything can easily become another form of busyness, particularly when we move from one event to another without taking time to reflect on what we have learned.

It helps to choose events that genuinely connect with your research, your development or the conversations you want to be part of. Attend with intention, ask a question, speak to someone whose work interests you and make notes on anything that challenges or reshapes your thinking. Otherwise, it is entirely possible to spend the summer collecting tote bags and name badges while the actual research continues waiting at home.

Be Honest About Family Life

For parents and carers like myself, summer can completely change the working routine because children are home, childcare may be limited and the quiet hours you relied on during term time may suddenly disappear and that is putting it nicely. In my reality, my home is now the nursery and the noise and activities are none ending.  This does not mean that you have failed to manage your time; it simply means that your circumstances have changed and your expectations may need to change with them. I am actually learning to embrace the joy and excitement of my children amidst the need to desire quiet moments to work.

Some days you may only manage a few pages, one paragraph or a small amount of note organising while someone asks for a snack every seven minutes; and this is true for many of us. Even so, the research is still moving, because a PhD does not only progress through long, uninterrupted days. Small and focused pockets of work can keep the project alive until more time becomes available.

Take an Actual Break

There is a difference between resting and spending an entire day half-working while feeling guilty that you are not doing more. Using annual leave, taking a day trip, attending a family gathering or sitting in the sunshine without carrying an article “just in case” can be part of protecting your ability to continue with the PhD over the longer term.

Rest is not time stolen from the research journey; it is one of the things that makes the journey sustainable.

Summer research season may not look like the long break we imagined, but it does not have to feel heavy or joyless either. The days are brighter, the parks are open and there may be more room to think, read and reconnect with what made us curious about our research in the first place. Perhaps the goal is not to squeeze productivity out of every sunny day, but to find a rhythm that allows us to make progress while still enjoying the summer happening around us.

What has helped you navigate summer as a PhD student or researcher? Share your tips in the comments, because someone else may need the very lesson you learned through experience.

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