Assalamualaikum & Hello all
(This post was meant to be published last week. However, it
slipped my mind (I am getting really old) and therefore only posted today)
How was your weekend? Mine was splendid. It was a sleepover
weekend for me with my two mates at their place involving lots of good food,
laughter and movies. It's a well-spent weekend if you ask me. No laptop
involved, no journals included and work was on 'hibernate' mode.
The point of this post is to say that PhD students are
allowed to go for holidays too!! Isn't that awesome? Ok that was lame. I am
sure we all know that for sure. Well actually I am just stressing the fact that
holidays are so important for PhD student (and non-PhD student) simply because
we are not machines and holidays will do us good. Trust me. Why? First of all,
I had 3 weeks of holiday in August and it was worth it. It was a REAL holiday
whereby I decided to detach myself from work/PhD completely (not completely,
but to a great extend).
Yes I went back in November for about 2 months but that was
not a holiday. How is it a holiday when you had to undergo a surgery and spend
most of the time either compromising the pain or worrying about how long it
would take to heal. Therefore it was not a holiday (I don’t know why I took the
trouble to justify that so seriously).
Anyway, back to my point again, the importance of
holiday. I planned my holiday to
coincide with Eid Celebration (Hari Raya Aidilfitri). It would be fantastic to
be at home with family, savoring the good food, visiting friends and relatives.
It would be splendid I thought. To cut to the chase, my Supervisor approved my
annual leave for 20 days and I went home on August 1. As mentioned previously,
I did not bring along my laptop, I was adamant that it is going to be a real
HOLIDAY. There I was, at home, occupied with Eid preparation, making sure that
everything is in place for the big day. I can bet that I was more excited than
my 3 year old niece.
I made a point to really enjoy myself and I did just that
despite the minor accident 2 days before Eid. I deserve a good time to
rejuvenate and also recharge my energy. I only checked my emails twice or
thrice in 20 days. The strategy worked really well. Upon returning, I told
myself that it is time to go back to work and while packing, I visualized the
work I have to finish, the Confirmation, Mini Conference, Ethics application
and so on. That entire image successfully erased the joyous holiday mood (in a
good way though). By the time I touched down, I am ready for the next mission. My
friends commented that I looked good fresh and energetic and they were right I suppose.
Moral of the story, Holidays should be part of your timeline
too! It is so important that you take a break from PhD every once in a while,
the best is to plan so that you have a target and stay motivated. If you can’t
afford real (big) holidays, a mini-holiday or even a micro-holiday will do.
Point is, you MUST have holidays!
Raise your hand if you agree with me :)
Thank You for Reading
Miss F.
