What does it look like when you hit a wall? A mental stamina wall? For me, I can start zoning out. My brain is too packed with information and trying to figure out everything that I can figure out to figure it out and then plan how to get it done makes me end up not having the ability in those moments to figure anything out. Ha! I literally then, can’t figure out what to type, what to write, what I am supposed to be doing, or even process a new piece of information.
What I have witnessed in others are inability to communicate cohesively, inability to comprehend the simple information, a lack of motivation, extremely long work days that are unproductive, distant stares, inability to speak, eyes rolling, and even fainting. Seriously.
Other times, I hit a wall, when I’ve been going nonstop super hard working on a project, paper, or grant and have used up every viable brain cell that I could access so much so that there’s no way that I can keep that level of intense work going again. So, my brain and body won’t work unless I take a respite and recoup before moving on to the next priority item on my list.
But why do we get to these places of hitting a wall and losing precious time that we could have used in a more productive way? Productive here does not necessarily even mean work. Productive could mean taking a nap. Spending time with friends or family. Checking out a series on Netflix (yes the whole 5 seasons, 18 episodes each kind of shows).
What if instead of allowing ourselves to go so hard that we ultimately hit this mental and emotional wall, that we worked to avoid it altogether by ensuring we have routinely have necessary downtime?
Well, what is downtime? It looks different for each of us. But at the simplest level it’s taking the time to take a break from the intense hustle and bustle of a graduate program.
For example, on a daily basis; schedule some moments to take a break and refresh. This could be a walk at lunchtime around campus, an afternoon short coffee break with a friend, or a hard stopping point of no work after 8pm *change the time here accordingly. Your brain, body, and soul need the refresh daily so you can keep performing throughout the day in the most impactful way.
Monthly or periodically. Consider getting away to visit family for a long weekend or holiday. Meeting up with friends. Joining a new group to rollerblade or make pasta from scratch? IDK. Something that is more of a prolonged space in time for you to take several days away from the routine of it all and embrace that there’s more to your life than just your dissertation work ahead.
I’ve often heard that without a plan you plan to fail. Or something to this effect, but I share that because one of the ways to help prevent hitting these walls is to value these down periods high enough that they make it on your priority list.
Schedule them like you would any other meetings or appointments, or put them down as task for your to do list.
And then…do it.
See what happens when you take time for yourself and spend the weekend around family that is the least bit concerned about the nuances of your every day dissertation problems. See what happens when you feel good about taking time to step up your baking game from frozen waffles to from scratch cookies.
Spoiler alert!
What happens is that that simple refresh and time away will do wonders for your soul. Your return back to the normal routine and rigor of your dissertation work will be met with much more motivation and productivity.
Until next time,
Renã AS Robinson, PhD
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