2.19 sometimes you can't avoid it - how to make working on vacation suck a little less
of course, i want everyone to take completely work-free time off this summer. but the reality remains that summer is often some of our most precious time as scholars. so how do we balance the immoveable deadlines of work with the very human, very necessary time off that can also come in the summer?
this episode has some of my best tips for negotiating boundaries, setting schedules, and dropping into focus mode quickly! enjoy!
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I wish that I could promise you that you will never have to work when you're traveling or away from your desk or on vacation. But if you ever need to, because academia does not sleep. This episode is for you.
📍 Welcome to Grad School is Hard, But... A Thrive PhD podcast. I'm Dr. Katy Peplin and this is a show for everyone who's doing the hard work of being a human and a scholar. And in season two, I'll introduce you to various tools that might make the hard stuff from writing to managing your time to taking care of your brain just a little bit easier.
And make sure you check out the link in the show notes for a brand new summer planning template, all available for you for free. Now. Let's get into it.
Summer is usually a time for traveling home. Taking a little bit of a break. Being able to see people that you care about. Sitting in the sun. At least for me going to the pool. And there is also this alternate pressure. There is something so seductive about starting the new academic year. The new term with a fresh slate. And so many of us try to balance.
Work and time off during this time of the year so that we can get the best of both worlds a summer that's restful, and also a fall term or new academic year that isn't going to kick us in the butt immediately. Once it starts.
All of this is so complicated because we are often burned out after a long academic year. We're tired. We're exhausted. And we also put a lot of these human milestones, whether that's vacation with the family or time away or chores that we're going to catch up on or life projects to the summer season, too. So.
Of course, I want for you to take intentional time off over the summer. And that is a really good plan. And I wish that for all of us. However, if you can't just take two or three weeks to completely disconnect. Or you do have pressing deadlines. Let's talk about how you can balance both. How did, can you be a human and still get some things done over the summer?
The first area that I think is important is to think about setting boundaries with the people that you may be traveling with or with yourself. So step one is to communicate what you need as clearly as you can. When I go home to visit friends and family and I live about five hours away, so I don't get to see them as often as I like it is so easy to fill up every minute of my time.
With family. Visits with friend catch-ups with eating all of my favorite foods and seeing all of my favorite places. And if I need to get work done, it can be a huge obstacle because every minute of my waking time is filled. And I don't have any other brain focus hours available to do any work. So I find that it's really useful to let everybody know the impacted parties, so to speak.
As soon as possible that I'm going to need to do some amount of work when I'm traveling. Because it can help set that expectation in advance. I tend to say things like I am so excited. To be coming home or going on a trip with you are going to stay. But as you may know, I also have this really big deadline coming up.
I'm planning on working for an hour or two every morning when I get up. So between eight and 10:00 AM or between nine and 11. And after that, I'll be all yours. So two hours in the morning, but then the rest of the time is yours.
The second thing to think about is compromised. Is it easier to skip one whole day of festivities and get everything wrapped up, really get into that deep focus zone, get some time and some energy and some space to really focus. Or to scatter that work throughout your break. I like to make the bargain with myself personally, that if I worked for an hour or two every day, I can make the rest of the time present and focused with the people who matter.
With no phones or computers. But you might find that it's actually easier to just clear one day of your schedule and get that deep focus instead of trying to work more regularly. It can also be helpful to remind people that by skipping a quote-unquote low level event, you know, not the main thing, the wedding that you're traveling for, or the most exciting day of your vacation.
But by skipping something that's slightly less of a priority. You can be there for something that is a really big priority. The work is a moveable. Usually that's why you're doing it. I'm breaking the first place, but the timing of it can be flexible.
And lastly, inside of this boundary category, I really recommend that you develop a signal, your own personal signal for do not disturb. Will you be in a location where it is easy to be distracted? I know that when I try and work at home at my kitchen table, it is very difficult, both for me and for everybody else to respect that I'm working and not to be disturbed because I'm right there in the middle of it.
So develop a way for people to quickly and quietly know that you're in a focus zone without them having to ask if you're working. This could be a sign on your bedroom door that announces that when your door is shot, you aren't to be disturbed. Or wearing headphones or sometimes even leaving the space.
A little bit more on that in a minute.
The next category of suggestions that I have in this area are about setting up your work conditions quickly and easily so that when your work time does come, you can drop right in. Step one in this process is to use your work rituals.
My brain, for example. Associates certain visual and taste cues with working. Yeah, I almost always will sit down in a chair, put in a piece of peppermint gum. When I'm trying to get ready to work. So when I'm traveling, I make sure I bring that ritual with me. Proper mint gum, my playlist, sometimes even a candle. If I can manage it.
Even if I'm in the busiest airport. By brain slips more easily into these work modes because it knows that peppermint gum equals go time.
It might also be useful to find a work zone. Is there a new coffee shop in your old childhood neighborhood? Does your uncle have a sweet home office that you can borrow? Are the libraries open? Sometimes you have to go to a new location to totally escape the, Hey let's make cookies right now, or, Hey, do you want to sit down and watch the new episodes of love island?
Be creative. So many places have wifi or better yet wifi and coffee, and they can help you make the most of a few hours and really reinforce that space between vacation you and work. You.
Last in this category is something that all of us struggle with and for good reason. Trying to avoid some time traps. So if you only have a few hours to work and get really important things done while you're traveling or while you're on break. Then try to avoid the time consuming tasks that don't necessarily have a huge impact and move right into the high value work.
This might mean putting in a website blocker that blocks Twitter or Instagram or the new threads or wherever you hang up. Maybe even your email. And setting up a vacation autoresponder can give you some space to respond to emails in a delayed way. Maybe you put your social media on pause, use the short work hours for the most pressing high impact tasks to make it feel like you really accomplished something when you snuck away.
Last, but not least this category be mindful. Be compassionate. Because this thing is really hard to do.
First step, take a few centering breaths. Are you having a sticky encounter when you're rushing to finish this essay before the deadline feeling guilty, maybe about missing some of the festivities, maybe you are resenting every life choice that ever led you to be at your high school library, grading student papers.
Well, everyone else is enjoying time at the pool. We've all been there. Take a few deep breaths and get re-centered. Rather than letting all of that bubble up and be a low. Or maybe high key distraction during your work sessions, it sometimes can even help to free write it. Write it out in your journal or maybe even a Google doc so that you can revisit those thoughts or not afterwards.
Be compassionate with other people too. Many of us come from backgrounds that don't totally understand all of the work that goes into a grad degree. And it can be so vulnerable to explain that you're behind on a deadline. To others, it might look like a sequence of typing activities that you are doing into various windows.
But that work is important enough for you to take time away from other things to finish it. Being compassionate with others that might not understand how important the work really is. Can help you feel not quite as attacked when those well-meaning, but probing questions and comments, start to roll in.
And last, but not least be compassionate with yourself. Missing out on a long awaited and often expensive trip or travel opportunity, it can be hugely upsetting for me. I start to feel really guilty about not finishing things earlier about having to take time away from the people who I've traveled so far to see people who care about me and that I'm not having this like idyllic holiday season.
Where I'm really making the most of every summer minute, or even sometimes I can feel guilty about not resting enough.
Having to work during the summer break or any other break doesn't necessarily mean that one high priority is higher than the other. It just means that you have a full, complex life with values and roles that sometimes overlap. We all wish that we could take perfect summer breaks and be there for every minute of all of our exciting trips and time together with our families and loved ones, but finding a way to fit the work into the whole picture of our lives.
And try new things out to support ourselves can be a gift. All on its own. And if you're looking for a little bit of structure, I really do encourage you to join us in summer camp. We're about halfway through, but you can still sign up. We are taking new members all the way through the end of August. Don't forget to use the word podcast for 10% off. Thanks so much. And I will see you next week.
📍 Thank you for listening to Grad School is Hard, but... You can find more information and resources in the show notes and at thrive-phd.com. Every month, I'll select one reviewer for a free 45 minute session with me. So please subscribe, rate, and review to help spread the word about the show. Thanks so much and I'll see you again soon!