Calling all who work from home

ManannanMacLir

Those of you that do most of your PhD research from home rather than on campus...how do you find it? How do you make it work for you? Any advice to share? Please mention your area of study too.

Ostrom

I'm social science - I moved home to finish last May and have been working at my thesis since. I find it much easier than working on campus, as I taught on a good few courses across different departments and colleges, and usually didn't get much research done when in my office (and you do need a clear head, and a clear day to do anything thought-intensive).

I work a standard day, usually 9-5 (or within an hour each side, i.e. 10-6), a couple of hours on weekends, and I usually fiddle with my spreadsheets / stata datasets after hours if I feel up to it. I'm on track to finish on time (hopefully), and couldn't have done this without working from home.

I thought having things like the xbox and guitars around would make it unbearable, but it works well - I pick them up for a few minutes break if I need to then get back, and I haven't really touched the xbox since I started writing. The trick is to strictly regiment everything - like right now is my lunch hour, and I take the same hour every day (12:30 - 1:30, no internet outside these hours), and I go for a walk between 3:30 and 4 each day.

I set a minimum quota of writing per day (which is reasonable, and one I usually exceed so I feel I've achieved something each day), and I finish each day with a few lines outlining briefly where I need to pick up the following morning. Compared to previous jobs (academic and non-academic) its been my most productive.

maupat

Hi,

I'm doing a part-time Masters by Research in the Arts and Humanities field.

During the week I am lucky that I can grab an hour every day (approx.) at work to get some work done.

However, I work at home on the weekends. I find working at home more relaxing and productive once you put a routine in place that suits you personally. Once you have established this you know that this time is dedicated specifically to your research every day/weekend e.g., I find that I usually make breakfast on a Sat morning then begin working from 9.00 to 12.00 or 1.00 and would usually get another hour at least in in the evening (so 4-5 hours on a Saturday). As for Sunday would normally do 1-2 hours. I always have a short list of tasks to be done at each instalment. As with the previous poster I also make a list at the end of what needs to be done next time.

All of this is time dedicated to writing/drafting only. Outside of this I have spent and will spend varying lengths of time reading or gathering information (e.g., taking photographs is a big part of what I'm doing at the moment). No doubt you will spend a certain degree of your time reading, doing field work etc. This will need to be taken into account too.

Hope this helps

ManannanMacLir

Really interesting to hear your experiences. Thanks! Anyone else feel like pitching in?