Don’t discount the role that friends play in your PhD

Now more than ever, you’ll need to draw on a full range of support as you navigate your PhD.

But what does that support look like?

There’s the academic support, of course. That’s where your supervisors, department and PhD-colleagues come in. They’re there (or should be there) to keep the intellectual juices flowing and keep you on track as you read, research and write.

But there’s also the non-academic support. It’s equally important. As I’ve said before, you’re more than your PhD and your PhD shouldn’t take up your entire life. From that, it holds that a non-academic support network is just as important as an academic one.

So reach out to friends, family and loved ones and don’t discount the enormous role they can play in keeping you on track, in balance and feeling fulfilled. They’re not there to give you advice on theory, literature, methods, or structuring chapters. No, they’re there to give you emotional, human and pastoral support.

Reach out to them when you need a shoulder to cry on, or when you want emotional guidance. Then offer it to them when they’re looking for the same.

Success in your academic life will come much more easily when you have success in your personal, emotional life, so nurture both with care and diligence.