When I started my PhD, I decided to create an ongoing note on my phone to document my reflections on navigating academic life and things I've learned. Here they are.
Notes from the first year of my PhD
It’s behind you
Spice up your relationship with your previous achievements, give them some TLC, tell them you’re thinking of them. Sometimes your greatest success is behind you.
Taking time for yourself isn’t a sign of weakness
I thought that if I was visibly tired, busy and over-worked then that would somehow justify the importance of my work to the external observer. But taking time for yourself isn't a sign of weakness.
You’re only doing a PhD so you can be a student forever
If you get comments from people doing "real" 9-5 office jobs in "The City" about how you're "putting off life" by doing a PhD, you're not alone.
The Unapologetic Academic 