How do you survive a PhD?

Non-Negotiables

Prioritise self-care

• Seek joy in everything you do
• Find things that make you happy - hobbies, sports, family etc
• Take rest when you need to

Work-life balance

• Keep a structure, i.e. aim to work 10–5 every day if you can
• Don't take work home with you (unless you love working from home, but still keep it separate)
• Use your holidays/leave - take time off routinely and use it up

Seek guidance

• Get help before things snowball out of control
• Learn from people around you
• There is no such thing as a silly or stupid question

What We Wish We Knew

Organisation

• Stick to a consistent system for managing your work. I use Obsidian, for example
• Use a reference manager like Zotero/Endnote
• Keep your samples, files and notes well-organised (i.e. start files with the date in DDMMYY so you can sort old to new easily). There is nothing worse than needing one specific thing and not being able to find it anywhere
• Make detailed and clear notes, future you will thank you
• Make regular backups of your data, you don't want to lose stuff because of an errant water bottle or computer crash

Working

• Avoid scope creep - your project will be able to go in so many directions, so it's important to pick one and focus in
• Write consistently in small amounts, especially methods etc. Will help you a lot later
• Be considerate of your colleagues - aim to make their lives easier, not harder
• Stay on top of your reading in your field. LinkedIn and BlueSky can help, or finding relevant journals etc
• If you want to do something, do it well. There is no point in doing an experiment and cutting corners if that means you'll have to repeat it later

Community

• Be curious of the science around you, even if it's not directly relevant to your work
• Attend your department seminars and talks, they're super helpful for broadening your knowledge and for networking
• Think about opportunity cost, and how much adding something to your plate will cost elsewhere. This goes for attending conferences, taking on extra work etc.
• Giving talks at smaller things is great if you are offered it, especially things like lab meetings or department events. It can really help your confidence to do it at something small first
• Don't be afraid to say hello to people, even if they're a super famous big scientist. They were once in your shoes, after all

Personal Life

• Have hobbies outside of the lab, something to live for beyond your work 🙂
• Use your holiday, I will say it again, don't burn out, science will be there when you get back, you are more important. Same goes for taking sick days
• Build and nurture a community - find people around you both in and outside of work. Birmingham has a PhD society, for example, to meet other students across the uni
• Don't take science personally, stuff fails all the time, if you tie it to your self worth you will crumble
• Don't lose who you are as a person, you're more than your PhD

Have Fun!