some operating procedures for phd
I find that I waste a lot of time on social media, playing chess or on news websites instead of doing research.
Despite whatever maybe the motivational issues of doing a PhD, I find that hunger has a huge role to play in the overall productivity of conducting research or just plain studying.
In India, schools normally have a canteen, and even near the schools or workplaces there are many hawkers who provide low-cost meal options at all times of the day, so that a student or a scholar can take their meals and be energised for the required tasks.
But here in Australia, there are not many low-cost meal options. Although there are some medium-cost food truck options and local takeaway centres, one of the biggest constraints in Australia is the timing of these vendors. Most vendors are servicing the lunch tradie crowd, while some enterprising immigrants are servicing the dinner or late-night hunger pangs. Most servos or fuel stops have pie or roll options which traditionally serve the breakfast rush.
But the above paragraph might have already alluded to one of the problems, which is cost; the other problem is proximity. Most vendors are a car drive away and not a walk away.
So, to be productive in the PhD, one of the SOPs (standard operating procedures) I created is that the day needs to be split around the 3 or 4 meals that you have. And every time block is a countdown to the next meal. i.e you need to work backwards from the next meal time in order to stay productive.
In my infinitely vagrant mind, I find myself getting lost in social media or news websites, and I lose track of time. The biggest result of this is panic. A panic of what to do, what to eat, where to eat, and huge pangs of regret for not having planned the day, every day. It's a vicious cycle that I have been experiencing for almost 2 years.
So, this new SOP of realising that I need 4 meals a day, and then being ok with the spend of money and time to procure the meals, and a rough plan of where from, really helps to stay productive. Deprioritising meals results in a ruination of the whole work-week and not hitting any deadlines.
Might be a bit late for me to come to this realisation, but better late than never. When did you realise that you need to organise your life around your meals?