Finishing Up Your PhD During the Early Postpartum Period
June 2016: In the thick of dissertation writing and also RECUPERATING from birth
Just a quick note before you head into the blog post. Are you an academic who is trying to finish up your PhD program while also balancing new parenthood? My planning course, plan(it)*, can help support you as you figure that out. Check out the link for more info.
A while back I received a comment from a reader asking about my postpartum experiences while finishing up my PhD. One of the things this person asked about was how I managed my schedule during that time… so this post is all about what I did to manage my schedule while I was finishing up my PhD during the early postpartum period.
Ellie was born at the end of May and my job start date was mid-September, which meant I was on a bit of a tight timeline for finishing up my dissertation. I was feeling a lot of pressure to make sure I defended by the deadline for summer graduation, which was early July. If I didn't meet the deadline, I'd still have my job but my salary would take a $10,000 cut for the first year. Given that my starting salary was a bit on the lower side already and we were moving to a high cost of living area, this didn't feel like a doable situation. I'm sure we would have made it work if that did happen; however, I wasn’t interested in having to figure that out. Here's what the overall timeline looked like.
Early May: Graduate research assistantship ended. Only focused on dissertation.
End of May: Induced. Ellie born via c-section.
End of June: Final draft of dissertation due to committee.
Early July: Defense date (scheduled a day before the graduation deadline). House went on the market.
Early August: Graduation.
End of August: Moved from Ohio to Oregon.
Mid-September: Started faculty job.
If I had to do it this way all over again, would I? Absolutely not! But I got through it.
In an ideal world I would have finished everything up before Ellie's due date, but life happens. Getting my brain to focus on my dissertation pre-birth was super difficult. I was consumed with (very anxious) thoughts about childbirth and all the things that could go wrong, which wasn't conducive to thoughtful focused dissertation related work. I was able to do less taxing (for me) things like planning, so while I struggled to finish up my dissertation pre-baby, I did make progress on things that would help me get to the finish line after Ellie arrived. Here are my tips if you find yourself in a similar situation.
Make a list of all the important dates between now and graduation (or your new position)
Ideally you’re figuring this out before baby’s arrival. There’s usually a ton of paperwork associated with your dissertation, figure out what needs to be submitted when, along with when your defense needs to happen. If there are things that need to happen for your job, add that in too. Also include tentative doctor’s appointments (for baby and yourself). While you won’t know exactly when the doctor's appointments will happen until they're scheduled, having a general idea of timing will help you identify your capacity each week.
Create a tentative plan/timeline for what needs to happen and when
Also something to consider tackling before baby arrives. Take all of those important dates and add them to your calendar (or wherever you keep your schedule). Create a plan to get your dissertation submitted and your defense materials prepped based on those dates. Put all the tasks from your plan on your calendar. Be sure to incorporate rest and breaks (easier said than done, I know)! If you're able, give yourself time after birth to not think about your dissertation. I gave myself a week 😞 after coming home from the hospital to not do anything with my dissertation, which was over in the blink of an eye.
Find out what happens if you aren’t able to defend before the deadline or if your defense goes awry (especially if you’re working with a tight timeline)
Again, something to think about before baby arrives. You have no idea what postpartum life is going to be like until you’re in it. There’s no guarantee that everything is going to go smoothly or according to plan. Having an idea of what your options are if things don’t pan out the way you thought they would can help lessen some of the stress. Better to address it than ignore it (at least that's what helped me!).
Prep, prep, prep
My final pre-baby tip, prep anything that can be done to make life easier once baby arrives (especially through your defense date). Mike and I took a weekend and filled our freezer with meals we could pop in the oven once Ellie arrived. We stocked up on basic household supplies (I was a little obsessed with having enough toilet paper…) and diapers so that we didn't have to do any emergency supply runs during those early days.
Delegate and take help when it’s offered
If you’ve got someone else in your life who is willing to help out, let them! Figure out the things that you don’t 100% need to do, and give them to someone else. For example, Mike helped run admin related errands for me like printing dissertation drafts and dropping them off to various people. If family and/or friends are offering help, let them help!
Create a daily list and put it somewhere you’ll look
We had a list of everything that needed to happen each day and who was going to do it (based on that timeline I mentioned above). The list started out in our shared calendar, but I quickly found that my postpartum brain and electronics did not mix so we switched to a piece of paper on the fridge. We wrote a new list each day based on the initial timeline I created, plus anything new that came up.
Set alarms on your phone
To ensure that the super important things get done, use your phone’s alarm as an additional reminder (and set multiple!). While I wasn’t a fan of google calendar during the early postpartum days, my phone’s alarms worked well.
Expect cognitive changes
Don’t expect your brain to necessarily work the same way after baby arrives. Things that worked well pre-baby might not work at all. Sleep deprivation mixed with hormonal changes and stress can do a number on your thinking. I tried to get the best sleep I could prior to my dissertation defense (which was likely still pretty terrible sleep). While the presentation portion of my defense went well, I really struggled with the Q+A. It was hard to listen to the questions, pull relevant information from my brain, and then respond with a coherent answer. I remember at one point just wanting to close my eyes and sleep, and also cry. Pretty sure every single person at my defense (all women) had at least one child. They all knew I was 6 weeks postpartum and could relate to what I was going through. While I’m not sure there’s anything I could have done to make this easier, I think having some awareness and compassion for myself would have reduced some stress (maybe?!).
Let your infant drive your schedule
Let go of being in any sort of control over your schedule and let your infant be the driver. I got really good at typing while nursing and working in short bursts while Ellie napped, always making sure that I knew exactly what I needed to work on next so I could pick back up at a moment’s notice.
Pay attention to your mental health
There seemed to be so much focus on postpartum depression (which is certainly warranted), but I think I was so primed for depression that I didn’t think about the other ways that my mental health might be impacted, and that it doesn’t have to happen right away. I was initially so thrilled to not be pregnant and nauseous, and also preoccupied with my dissertation that I ignored the anxiety that was slowly creeping in. I continued to ignore it, even after having a panic attack during our drive across the country, until finally a midwife I saw in Portland for a postpartum check up asked me a very innocuous question about how the birth went. I burst into tears and everything came pouring out. Whoever you trust, check in with them about how you’re doing, and encourage them to check in with you even if everything seems fine.
Be kind to yourself
Becoming a parent, finishing up a PhD, starting a new job, moving to a new city…any one of these things is really difficult and draining. Put them all together and you’ve got, what feels like, an impossible feat. While it might not look exactly like you imagined, you can get through it, step by step.
