I can't believe I've been a PhD student for more than a year now!

My ‘Months in the Life’ have been pretty sporadic recently – but I’m starting off 2019 as I mean to return to this monthly rundown of what I did in my PhD. 

WEEK #1:

• After a brilliant break over Christmas and New Year’s, I felt a little lost with where to start, in the huge pile of work I had to do.
• Luckily, I started off the year with the SLSA Postgrad Conference at the University of Warwick. This was a great way to get rid of those Christmas cobwebs, and the sessions were all so informative and interesting. ALSO, most importantly, there was tea in my hotel room.

WEEK #2:

• And then I really had to get down to work! I redrafted my introduction chapter, read lots of journal articles, and wrote various paper proposals.
• I also visited The Women’s Library, LSE for the first time in months. Going back to an archive again was such a treat! (I know. I am fully aware  of how geeky that sounds!)

WEEK #3:

• I started drafting the first substantive chapter of my PhD, which was nerve-racking and very slow progress!
• I also had a meeting with my supervisor. As usual, it was very helpful and really helped me to focus on what I had to prioritise for work.

Copious amounts of caffeine was essential this week.

WEEK #4:

• Met up with some law friends, wrote more of my chapter, transcribed archive material, sent off conference paper proposals, arranged a talk for International Women’s Day, AND read some more large books. PHEW.

I thought after all that work I’d treat myself to a nice January walk!

BONUS JANUARY FUN:

I got an awesome belated Christmas present from my lovely uncle and aunt that really made me smile. Can you spot a theme?

Laura Noakes (@lauranoakes) is a PhD student at the Open University School of Law. This story was published on January 31, 2019 on Laura’s blog, ‘The Portia Post’ (available here) and has been republished here with her permission.