Working while doing a PhD

A topic that keeps coming up in discussions in person or mostly on social media is that of funding while doing a PhD.

It differs from university to university, program to program, country to country. If there is funding available, if the program you enter is funded or not, if you decide, like myself, to do a PhD on your own which does not belong to a specific program – you find your own supervisors, and as far as I know, I am not entitled to funding so far.

This post has not been written to complain, or state that working and doing a PhD is harder than doing a funded PhD, because the funded ones are not programs where you just sit around getting paid and decide on your own what time to study or write or whatever. People on funded PhDs still have to attend some courses, do work for their universities, be on call if there is a substitute needed anywhere. They just might have a bit more flexibility as to when they do certain things, but generally it is not less effort. And sometimes, very often actually, the funding is not enough.

To give you a bit of context, in my PhD program we only have to attend a few courses both in order to get a specific number of ECTS points, but also ones that we believe will help us currently and in our academic careers later on. And I must say, we are spoilt for choice! We have amazing courses that we can attend with top-notch professors and most of them are free of charge. Whenever there is a cost, our university covers it. Other than the courses, I have meetings frequently with my supervisor and generally he is available all the time if we need something. It took me ages to find him, but he is absolutely the best! Read more about finding a supervisor and getting into a PhD program here.

Then the rest is all up to me. I am doing a cumulative PhD – or PhD via publication as it is also called, and I have to study a lot, write a lot, all in my own time; time that needs to be strictly planned, as I work four jobs – I teach Business English and am a student counselor in two business schools and my other work is online private lessons that I teach from my home. On weekdays, I have some free slots throughout the day, as usually my private lessons are spread from the morning until the evening, in order to accommodate my students and the times and days that are convenient for them. A great point here – my students and I are in the exact same situation – we all work and study at the same time, and we discuss this very often and get ideas from each other on how we combine our studies and work.

In those free slots, apart from preparation, grabbing a snack or eating a meal, I also need to fit in some studying. What I do is that, as much as I study or write, be it an article or this blog or notes or whatever, I calculate that time in my diary every day – so sometimes in one day I might do one or two hours, another I may do more. If a student cancels, I try to use that time for my PhD or rest. At the end of the week I calculate all the hours and make a weekly total – and at the end of each month I make a monthly total.

I am definitely not a hero or here to tell the world look how amazing I am – I am far from that – it is just to share my own experience. I am thrilled to be able to do a PhD in such an amazing institute such as the University of Zurich, and it was my choice to do it, so I am enjoying it every step of the way.

Here are some tips – and if you have any too, please share them below, I would be very happy to learn from you and how you are doing it!

• If one week you do a lot of work for your PhD, and the next much less, please do not feel bad or criticise yourself about it. Even if it is half an hour in one day that you manage to squeeze in, that is fine! Burnout is not something we should strive for. Do as much as you can, when you can!

• Try the tip with writing down the hours you work – it is so satisfying to see how many hours you have put towards your PhD at the end of the month! If the hours in a month are not so many, still congratulate yourself and go for a better result the next month.

• Try to find people who are in the same situation as you, either in person or online. It helps to talk about how each person copes with work and the PhD – avoid any downers, though; motivation is what you need 😀

• Get as much rest as possible when you can and do not feel guilty about it. Rest should not be equated with guilt – you need it and you should get it. Spend time with your family, do sports if you like them, go for a walk, eat what you like and in general take good care of yourself. You are not helping yourself if you do not take time to rest and you could damage your health if you are not careful. Naps, food, quality time!

• Be proud of yourself that you are working and helping yourself and/or your family and loved ones, and managing to do something tremendous like a PhD!