The past few weeks have been busy with PhD work, work-work, home life, injections in my neck (fun times) and everything in-between. I’m not complaining though. Being still isn’t really for me. However, I have realised that I do need to plan in moments of calm amongst the (organised) chaos. I’ll see how that pans out!

What have I been up to in PhD land? Online courses, literature review work and wishing that 18 year old me had paid more attention in ‘A’ Level Sociology. Thirty years creates quite a lot of hindsight. But, 18 year old me had a great time at college and got to university, despite the frequency of time spent down the pub…I digress.

Luckily for me, being an ARU student gives me access to a wealth of online courses via Epigeum, as well as the excellent content provided by the university itself. In the past fortnight I have completed courses on research methods in literature review and social sciences; research planning; research skills; and becoming an ethical researcher. Plus, live sessions introducing me to life as a PhD research student, how to access library resources and refining my proposal. The resubmission of my proposal is slightly daunting. Cutting something in half, yet somehow adding to it is no mean feat. I do appreciate the value of the task though, as it is helping me to focus.

I have set one day aside, away from work, to study. This has been slightly scuppered already, with author events via my bookshop, but I have clawed back time over the weekend and evenings.

Next steps? I have supervision tomorrow, to discuss the proposal and try to get my brain around the construction of a usable Gantt. Other items on my ‘to do’ list are to choose an ERN to start documenting my research in a more systematic way; take some time to familiarise myself with the electronic archives at ARU and read this:

Until next time.