How to be Productive When You're Just Not Feeling it (PhD Edition)

We all have those days during a PhD where everything is a struggle. Maybe you’re feeling a bit wiped out and under the weather, or sometimes everything seems to be working against you lab-wise – equipment is fully booked, students are in the lab, cells are not ready… 

Regardless, a PhD makes you feel like you should be working ALL the time, and that if you’re not churning out data daily then you must be a failure. The fact is though, this is just unrealistic, and life gets in the way.

On those days where you just want to do nothing, but also something, or when there are unexpected delays with your main experiments, here’s a few tips to help you be productive. 

1. Catch up on your work-admin – now is the time to get through your to do list and complete any orders you have to do, work through your emails, book conferences, finish your ethics reports etc. These are small things, but they get forgotten about on busy days and are still important for progression in your PhD!

2. Read, read, read – being up to date with current publications and literature is at the heart of being a researcher, yet often it goes on the back burner. When you can’t/don’t want to be in the lab, read around your subject area to help you shape your own research. 

3. Write, write, write – if you’re nearing writing stage, or you have some paper deadlines to complete, use these times away from the lab to chip away at your writing. You could start writing parts of your literature review or even methods; maybe try to write short notes on papers that you will eventually use in your literature review (I’m sure you’ll thank yourself at a later date).

4. Data analysis – being busy in the lab or doing fieldwork can result in mountains of raw data. Investing time to learn how to analyse your data using various programmes can be very helpful for some projects. When you’ve got a desk-day, get analysing!  

5. Plan ahead – if you have a lab based PhD, not being in the lab can feel so unproductive. Plan your next set of experiments, plan the next few days, get some calculations done, and get equipment booked. Alternatively, you could even prepare for your next supervisory meeting or devise yourself and your supervisor a rough time plan for the next few months. 

6. Sort lab-admin ready for your experiments – for lab work to run smoothly there is a plethora of things to think about, for instance, are your stock solutions and media made up, are your things autoclaved, are your tips even racked??? Get these done on your down days so they are ready for your busy days. 

There is literally ALWAYS something you could be doing, however small, that will contribute to your project, and more often than not, it is the small things that form the backbone of your PhD. Don't underestimate these things as they can be of equal value to generating data. 

If you have any tips to add I would love to hear them, so comment below!