Upon realising that I am now an adult, living away from home with my own source of income (ish) and with free will (arguably), I’ve decided to turn things upside down. Maybe not that dramatically actually. Let’s say sideways… 

During my trip back home, which I discussed in length last week, I underwent a 1-hour time difference, which I’m sure most people wouldn’t be too bothered by. Neither was I, which led me to think: what if I just worked according to a time set by myself? Nothing major, still keeping the same working hours, just operating two hours behind the rest of the UK. 

At first it was seamless. I decided to stay up late the night before, excited for the new lie-in I had just now afforded myself. Yet, I did not feel as good the next morning. Despite my own illusion that all else would remain the same save for the position of the sun in the sky, my habits did not come as easily. Whereas I used to think of the early morning as time to myself, everyone else was now already awake and getting on with their daily activities whilst I was still in my jimjams and they weren't feeling so comfy anymore. 

My silly little experiment left me with a rather consequential insight. Even though I am conducting my research, for the most part, alone, I still rely on a plethora of outside factors to keep me in check. These include family, friends, colleagues, and my supervisor. Not only do I rely on certain beats in the day to keep a reference point for progress, but I also lean on specific shared experiences. These are conducive to establishing commonalities that can help me relate to others and thereby facilitate supporting one another through this intense research period. 

My penultimate week of research still came with its fair share of surprises. Not too shabby… And I still have one more to go.