Week after week the struggle remains the same. By the end of every week you feel that you have spent a lot of time glued to your desk attempting to write and teach. It is exhausting or rather it is daunting. Every weekend you have committed to yourself for going to a gym or healthier food or more sleep. But when we talk of its application, these are unfulfilled promises. Is it news for you that a healthy lifestyle is imperative for a good research? Wellness is crucial for a healthy life but all the more crucial for a healthy PhD life.
Wellness comprises three areas:
Healthy food
Physical work out
Mental Relaxation
Healthy Food: Healthy food may mean including more and more of fruits and vegetables in your diet and bringing down the proportion of processed food and sweets. How to get healthy eating synchronized with your PhD schedule? Focus on eating clean. Have lots of fluids, say no to packed food. Remember if you give rubbish to your body, it will give rubbish to you. Do not strain yourself to bring in a drastic change in your schedule but just focus on three healthy meals in a day.
Physical Work out: As researchers, our schedule is largely sedentary and our body does not approve of it. To move around every few hours and make some physical activity a part of your routine is essential. Begin with setting a timer for every two hours where by you could take a stretching or walking break is always a good help. Attempt at finding exercises that work best for you.
Mental Relaxation: The thinking cap is always on for a PhD researcher. Networking with people, researching, referencing, assignments, teaching and son on are the list of tasks on people’s mind. There is no end to the pressure. Turn off all the chatter that is there in your mind, switch off from all the hassle and find ways to relax your mind. Making this as a habit is the best treat you can give to yourself.
A healthy life style is a means to reach the destination in a smoother way. Any step that is taken towards wellness in lifestyle is an indirect improvement in the quality of your work. The change that it will bring will surely reflect in your work and a healthier relationship with the people you meet enroute.
