Beatha Coaching

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It’s that time of year when research postgraduates tend to start their programmes, or to be transitioning from their first year reviews. So in this post I’m going to give a few simple tips for maintaining your mental health during the PhD process. Actually these tips are relevant to all academics, but there is something about the PhD that can create a unique pressure and mental exhaustion. Establishing good foundations now can save you from burnout and creative exhaustion later, but it can also become the basis for healthy patterns once you move on to academia (if that’s what you choose). Hopefully this post will also help you to more clearly identify the workplace norms in the sector that are unhealthy, and so worth avoiding.

1. Understand how you are seen

Although PhD candidates are often referred to as students, when you start your doctorate you transition into a cohort of junior (sometimes called early career) researchers in your school. The university is now your workplace, rather than an environment for personal development as it was at undergraduate and masters level, and it is expected, if not always explicitly stated, that you will take responsibility for your own health and mental wellbeing. By embarking on a PhD you are viewed as having made a career choice and to have entered the world of work. I recognise that for many PhD candidates (I was one of them) this may not actually be the primary motivation for your doctoral studies. However, the university and, more pertinently, your supervisors will nonetheless view it as such, and treat you accordingly. Many supervisors will not view it as part of their role to offer guidance or pastoral care beyond their supervision of your research. Understanding the scope of your relationship with them early on – what you can and cannot expect – is key to sustaining a cordial working environment and protecting yourself from disappointment over the next 3-7 years.

2. The importance of timing

Knowing how you are viewed by your supervisors and the university will go a long way to helping you identify what core lifestyle foundations you need to put in place. There is a real risk with the PhD that you simply work non-stop with no breaks for several years; or conversely, struggle to stay motivated and connected over such a long period of time. One of the biggest challenges with a doctorate is its length. Although you may already have done 4 or 5 years of study, PhDs are unique in asking you to focus your attention on a single project for an extended period of time. Being honest – it can be boring, and challenging, to maintain concentration for so long, especially when it isn’t going well (and all PhDs hit road blocks). In addition, the PhD usually takes place alongside other major life transitions and demands: births, marriages, caring responsibilities, illness, bereavement, house moves, career shifts – life happens, and keeping mentally inspired, active, and healthy in the way that advanced research demands is tough when your energy and attention is being pulled in so many more important directions. View your doctorate as a job (either part time or full time depending on your circumstances) and budget your time and energy accordingly. How many hours a week will you give to the project? What times will make best use of your energy and concentration (hint – it isn’t always 9-5)? How many days annual leave will you give yourself and how will you spread them over the year? Do you need to compress your work around childcare and school holidays? How will you ensure you take time to rest, exercise, and socialise each day?

3. You are unique

Which takes us to the most important point – you are unique. Doctoral candidates are often treated as interchangeable units by universities (and sadly by many coaching and training providers too…). The advice you receive over the next years, including from your supervisors, MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR YOU. Supervisors can only give from their own well of experience, and if that doesn’t match your circumstances you may find it causes you more pressure and stress to try and conform than to politely thank them and then find your own route forward. In order to stay healthy during the PhD you need to know your own body, restrictions, and priorities. Take some time regularly to assess and, if necessary, adjust, how you are working. Be aware of things like seasonal flows of energy (yes, it is genuinely harder to work in winter), colds and viruses that sap energy and morale, the effect of shifting finances on your mood. Make sure that you access all the help that a university can give you – for example, assessments for dyslexia or ADHD, relevant study skills support, counselling services, and wellness classes. Build yourself your own portfolio of support that meets your unique needs, and build yourself a working and resting routine that genuinely suits you.

4. Build on solid foundations

Having said which, there are some non-negotiables that all humans need, especially those doing intense cognitive work that keeps them in doors and static for long periods of time. So here is a list of foundations you need to have in place in order to maintain mental and physically wellness:

• Daylight – we can’t function without it. Sleep, concentration, energy, our immune system – they are all tied to getting natural daylight. If you live in the northern hemisphere or are a poc you should also consider taking a daily vitamin d supplement (especially if you are a woman in perimenopause or menopause when calcium absorption starts to go down). If spending time outside isn’t something you are used to, start with these two points in the day: 15 minutes in the morning within 2 hours of waking – this helps to naturally regulate your cortisol levels and kick your sleep cycle into a regular state; and 20-30 minutes in the middle of the day when the light is brightest – try adding a short lunchtime walk for example.
• Hydration – simple question, are you drinking enough water? Especially if you are working in an air conditioned office or taking a lot of public transport, you will become dehydrated more easily. Hydration is essential for every organ in your body, including your brain. Although caffeine is great to help with motivation and mood, without balancing it out with water your attention and energy will go down not up. Keep water on your desk and if you struggle to drink, set a timer to remind yourself to have a big gulp every half hour.
• Nutrition – yes, you need to eat. And here is where giving advice can get a little dicey. If you have a history of disordered eating, then you know what you need so skip this section and move on. Otherwise, think about your brain as an organ that needs feeding and give it some sustenance. Don’t skip meals, don’t replace them with cereal bars. But fundamentally, food is food. Go and eat something.
• Move – this is the sticky point for most PhD candidates. The major tendency I have seen is to stay imobile for long periods of time, and then overdo exercise in a short burst later on. This risks injury, and I also think it derives from a certain mindset about research work that is worth challenging – that you have to sit still for long periods of time to get a PhD done, or do it ‘properly’. Thinking somatically, this is not the way to complete a PhD healthily. The body informs how the mind works far more than the mind impacts the body (remarkable but true). If your body is stiff, sore, cramped, lethargic, and heavy from sitting still for long periods of time; and if your eyes have been tunnel vision focused on a laptop for hours – all these symptoms are exact mirrors of the physical impacts of stress and anxiety. So when the brain notices these symptoms and assesses them, it responds accordingly. We don’t feel good, something must be wrong, I need to reduce complex intellectual processing and move to a survival state to get us back into health. Putting it simply – sitting still for long periods of time REDUCES your ability to write and do research. So – move. Again, if you have trouble with this, set a timer. Get up at least every hour for ten minutes or so and move around. Take simple stretches, go for a walk, do star jumps, run up and down the stairs. Even better, head outside and go round the block to get some daylight too.
• Sleep – yes, the other non-negotiable for being human. Feeling stressed and anxious can derail our sleep patterns, as can hormonal cycles, temperature changes, and illness. Let’s just get back to that earlier point – the PhD is a looooong journey, and you can’t stay healthy for 3 years or more without plenty of sleep. This is where the early morning daylight can come in handy too – get those 15 minutes first thing and you start the internal clock on melatonin production. Remarkably, 12 hours after you see daylight your cortisol will have dropped and melatonin risen to the right balance to get you nice and sleepy and ready to wind down. If you find switching off at the end of the day tricky, try a few of these tips: avoid caffeine after 2pm; lower the lights, or switch to candles in the evening; turn off screens an hour before bed (and no phones in bed); take a low sensory shower or bath with soothing scents; drink herbal teas and make a mindful moment out of it; practice simple yoga stretches or progressive muscle relaxation and breathwork on or in your bed; brain dump into a notebook before you turn in to stop your mind ruminating; listen to a soothing audiobook or nature sounds in headphones in bed.
• Play and sociability – in other words, having fun and being with people. The PhD is exhausting and you carry the research alone most of the time. But you are not your PhD – it may be important to you but it is still a job not your identity. Don’t stop making time for hobbies, for fun with the people you love, for seeing friends and family. Above all, don’t take it too seriously (and don’t take yourself too seriously!). Doing something silly and frivolous every week is one of the best recipes for mental health there is. And being around positive, affirming people literally actives mirror neurons in the brain and lifts your mood.

If you are just starting out on a PhD, if you are a year or two in, or if you have now finished and are trying to adjust to life in academia, remember that the responsibility for managing and protecting your health, time, and wellbeing, lies with you. No-one else will do this for you. So take a step back, review what you struggle with, and what you hope to get out of this current season, set some manageable goals, and make a plan for wellbeing that acknowledges your unique needs. It is entirely possible to complete a doctorate and come out the other side healthy, mentally positive, and will a high quality contribution to knowledge, whatever anyone else tells you.

If you are a PhD candidate or early career researcher and would like support, I offer reduced price coaching packages and a low-cost monthly membership. Get in touch using the form below and let’s see if I can support you.