From what I have discovered most of my fellow PhD candidates have full-time jobs and full-time family commitments. COVID has rendered me a full-time student and although I have family obligations, I also have full-time family support. I often wonder how my classmates, some with a thriving practice and a bunch of younger kids, can manage the same school workload as me. Mostly, I just admire their work ethic and their ability to (probably) stay up until 2 in the morning writing a paper.
But lately, with only one quarter of coursework to go before embarking on my dissertation, I am feeling slightly envious of my (perhaps) more balanced classmates.  This may be because I have been so fortunate in having so much available time to pursue my degree I am realizing that I have spent just about ALL my time focusing on my academic pursuits and little time doing other things.
In addition, with so much available time to study, I take extra time to look things up, rework paragraph construction or compose responses to questions that are the length of a full page of text. Of course, I feel that these are the academic habits I should maintain whilst pursuing a doctorate, but in some cases, I am realizing that I could achieve the same results in a more efficient way … especially if I had to.
When I was in college and then studying for my master’s degree, I had a full social life and full work schedule. Yet, I still maintained high grades. When it was time to study, I focused and got the work done.  Although I am focusing now, I do not feel the pressure of having only a finite amount of time in which to get the job done, and so I allow my mind to wander.  Soon, 6 hours has gone by, and I still have one more paragraph to write.  Because of this, I am starting to feel like my mind is nearly saturated and somewhat “mushy” for lack of a more scholarly word. And then when the evening comes, I only want to watch mindless television or do a jigsaw puzzle on my tablet. When I go to bed at night, I am already thinking about all that I need to accomplish with my schoolwork the next day. Because I have so much time to study, I am realizing that my brain is “clocked-in” to school nearly 24 hours a day!
Recently, I have begun to schedule other activities and obligations so that I am required to mentally clock-out of my studies. It may have stemmed from necessity, but my classmates who have other full-time commitments during their days, are also better able to reset and refocus their minds, making them (most likely) more efficient in tending to and fulfilling their school requirements. So maybe, the next time you feel overwhelmed by all the obligations you have to accomplish in a week, remember, that your mental timecard may be more productive when you get to clock-in AND clock-out of multiple activities.
Punch. Punch.
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything.

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