Six (and a half) months have passed since my PhD viva.
It’s been a weird old time. I’ve been sitting at my desk, Monday to Friday, getting on with an ever-changing to-do list: applying for jobs and research fellowships, writing a book proposal, revising a journal article draft. There’s always been one deadline or another around the corner.
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I’ve been getting back into the swing of writing lately. It’s been a fair few months since I last sat in front of a blank page. I took some time out to rest after submitting my thesis, and the final stretch of my PhD was much more about editing and formatting than writing. After a…
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Reader, the final countdown is fully under way. There are now just under four (4) months until my submission deadline and things are getting intense. I have LISTS and SPREADSHEETS and WHITEBOARDS and a very strict schedule for getting each section of my thesis edited, proofread, and (gulp) finished. Thinking about actually submitting the thesis…
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*Post written on 30 November; publication delayed in observation of the UCU strike digital picket.* Academic Writing Month is officially over! At the end of my last post, I set out my plan to make some serious progress in November. I made a spreadsheet with intimidating daily writing targets and challenged myself to get to…
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My submission timeline just got a whole lot shorter. Until a few weeks ago, I was planning to submit my PhD thesis at the end of my fourth year (September 2020). I figured I’d use all the time I have available to make the thesis the best it can be. My new plan is to…
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My workday always begins with this mug. When I take my first sip of coffee, surrounded by the fairy lights and motivational postcards of my workspace, my brain knows that it’s time to get writing. I write until my thoughts get foggy. Some days I can do three or four hours; other days I manage…
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A couple of weeks ago, I completed (and passed!) my Mid-Year Review. A Mid-Year Review (sometimes known as an ‘upgrade’) is a compulsory part of my PhD programme. It takes place halfway through the first year of doctoral study, and involves submitting a sample of written work (mine had to be 5,000 words in length, plus 2,000 words…
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I’m generally not one for New Year’s resolutions. I am, however, very much into finding ways to improve my work and lifestyle throughout the year. I enjoy reading about ways to increase productivity, and I tend to spend (too much) time browsing through Pinterest looking at things that’d make my home, wardrobe, or food more exciting. This…
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The last few weeks have been totally bonkers. Since I last posted, I’ve completed on a house purchase, moved in, and got stuck into redecorating. I’ve been to a wedding in Mississippi and sampled some of the many delights that New Orleans has to offer (beignets, anyone? <3). Throughout all of this I was…
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This post is all about a topic that’s been hovering around the front of my mind since September: organisation. It’s perhaps not the most thrilling of subjects on the surface of things, but becoming more organised is a quest of mine at present. During the past few years, I’ve considered myself to be a fairly…
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Ella Hawkins 