Disclaimer: This is my personal journal and includes rough notes from my PhD journey. Some thoughts may be incomplete or not thoroughly researched. Please do not consider any content in my monthly notes to be definitive or final. If you have insights on any subjects I discuss or would like to start a conversation on a topic, please get in touch!
We started the month with Chinese New Year celebrations in London. It was great to see the parade and the dressed-up fire brigade. We went to one of the best Chinese restaurants in town—according to my husband—and ate until we nearly burst. Every restaurant was full, and the atmosphere was lively. Afterwards, we took a walk through the new Evolution Garden at the Natural History Museum and then strolled through Green Park to our car. It was a great way to start the year, but as the month went on, my usual pattern of overloading myself crept back in.
Every so often, I work myself into the ground. When this happens, I feel so overwhelmed that I start adding even more things to do. I create lists of tasks in my diary and notebooks, making me feel bad about how little I’m getting done—because, in reality, all I can manage is listening to podcasts and doing some craft. This time, embroidery is my chosen procrastination device. Although my family are ecstatic about the gifts I’ve made, it doesn’t bring me any closer to my academic goals.
One morning, while Nick and I were having breakfast, I told him I felt like a rabbit in the headlights with all the things I “have” to do. He told me to take a step back and prioritise—I scoffed. But then I started thinking: What is blocking me? Why do I have so much work when my last conversation with my supervisors was about focusing on just two things? That’s when I finally understood why I felt so overwhelmed.
Because I’m recruiting participants for my study through social media, I constantly feel the need to post as much as possible. I came up with the idea of writing a mini-thesis on all the philosophers who have contributed to ethics, specifically the timeline of design ethics. It seemed like a great social media campaign, and it would help me deepen my understanding of each philosopher. But was it really a good idea? Aside from me learning more, I doubt anyone else would find it particularly interesting. And now that I’ve taken a step back and thought it through, doing it just to feed the LinkedIn algorithm feels pointless.
At work, over the last couple of years, I’ve used a prioritisation method called Could do, Must do, Should do. Each month, in my notebook, I create a new page with a table divided into three columns: High, Medium, and Low. I list my tasks accordingly. Most tasks end up in the Low or Medium columns—sometimes I move them up or down—but I usually tackle the High-priority tasks first, then the Medium ones, and if there’s time, the Low ones. The best part? The Low-priority tasks rarely carry over to the next month, and I never feel bad about not doing them.
This method has been excellent at work—it saves me time and mental energy, and I’ve become great at prioritising. So why the hell haven’t I been using it for my PhD work these last three years? No bloody clue! But that changes now. I’m setting up a monthly Could do, Must do, Should do list for my PhD as well—doh!
Monthly Check-ins
My monthly supervisor meeting went well. I’ve started to really look forward to them, though I still get a little anxious in the days leading up. As mentioned before, the main conversation was about focus. Over the past couple of months, I’ve gone down too many rabbit holes, even though I have key tasks that need to get done—like reading up on the private and public sectors, exploring different design disciplines, and analysing the interviews I’ve already completed. So, that’s my “must do” list sorted. 😀
Weekly study-buddy check-ins continue to be a highlight. Rachel and I are thrilled that our Psychologist article has been successful and was even featured on the E&I news page (link). Now, we’re planning our next co-writing projects. We’re preparing an abstract for a design conference and working on an article we hope to publish in a design magazine.
We also reflected on how important our support for each other has been and how far we’ve come together. At the same time, we’re a little frustrated by the lack of additional opportunities we thought we’d have alongside our PhDs—such as co-writing with other academics at the Open University, assisting in lectures, and contributing to modules. In the end, the thesis isn’t the most important part of this journey. As Rachel eloquently put it, “The thesis is just the story of your PhD journey.” I think of it more like a driving licence—we’re learning to drive independently, and by the end of our PhDs, we’ll (hopefully!) pass our test and go on to do meaningful work in academia. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do other things along the way.
Publishing papers and speaking at conferences are crucial learning experiences, especially while we still have the support of our university and supervisors. Yet, for some reason, this isn’t a priority at the Open University. It’s not the only university with this approach, but we’re determined to create these opportunities for ourselves.
Work Life
Aside from all the academic work, I also have a full-time job, so an update seems overdue. I haven’t written much about it in the past few months because of ongoing restructuring, which put my position at risk of redundancy. I had to find a new role, and fortunately, I was able to secure a 12-month secondment in the P&T Transformation team in Digital X. Moving into the technology space has been on my list for a while, and doing a PhD in engineering while working in tech just makes sense. I’m really pleased with how things turned out—though if I had known this would be the outcome a few months ago, I might have saved myself a few grey hairs!
So far, it’s going great. This year, my focus will be on supporting solution partners with their communication strategies and contributing to some exciting tech solutions. I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead.
At the same time, I’ve been working towards my LUMA Instructor certification. The LUMA Institute has developed a structured, “recipe-style” approach to human-centred design, which I’ve been using since 2019 when I completed my Practitioner and Facilitator certifications. In early February, I co-taught the final cohort for my Instructor certification, working with a seasoned LUMA instructor to train a group of 19–20 participants. As always, imposter syndrome kicked in before the session, but I love this approach to design thinking and hope it will be successfully implemented across the company.
Being a pracademic—an academic working as a practitioner (or perhaps a practitioner making questionable life choices and deciding to take on academia as well)—means my professional and academic worlds constantly overlap. I often find that my day job informs my research. A recent example was during my LUMA co-teaching session when the instructor emphasised the importance of language and defining what people actually mean when they use certain words or phrases. She specifically highlighted adjectives, always pushing people to clarify by asking, “What do YOU mean?” As she put it, “It’s a language that everybody understands but doesn’t know what it means.” Because, more often than not, meaning is relative to the individual.
Events:
Elevate Mentoring
I’ve been mentoring and coaching for a few years now. I usually support young design graduates preparing to enter the industry, but I’ve also had people reach out with questions about career transitions, job hunting in a new country, and how to get onto a PhD programme. So, it felt natural to volunteer for another mentoring initiative at the Open University. This month, I was assigned a mentee and had my intro session with them. Over the next four months, we’ll have fortnightly check-ins.
Coaching people who are struggling to navigate the current design job market is something I care deeply about. I’ve had many mentors throughout my career—some official, others who may not even realise I saw them as mentors. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without them.
STEM Academics Committee
I’ve been a student representative at the Open University since 2023, and one of the areas I’ve volunteered my time to is the STEM Academic Committee. Every quarter, I meet with other committee members to review papers submitted for discussion or approval. Sometimes, I’m asked to be a rapporteur, which means reading one of the submitted papers, providing a verbal summary from a governance perspective (e.g., academic integrity, academic standards, or other quality assurance measures), highlighting key points of assurance or concern, and leading any subsequent discussion.
RSA Webinar: Engaging with Policymakers: Engaging with the Workings of Parliament
I also participated in an RSA Webinar as part of the Professional Development Webinar Series on Engaging with Policymakers: Engaging with the Workings of Parliament. Since I’m interested in both the private and public sectors, taking part in these kinds of webinars helps me understand how both operate. This one was particularly insightful, offering a deeper look into parliamentary collaboration and how policies are designed and embedded. One quote that really stuck with me was: “Parliaments and governments are not the same thing.” It’s obvious once you hear it, but not something I had really considered before.
The UK Parliament plays a key role in government and politics, but it can be difficult to understand as an institution. This session explained how the House of Commons and House of Lords fit into the policy-making process, the purposes of different parliamentary proceedings, and how researchers can get their findings heard by MPs and peers. It also covered ways to engage with Parliament, including the new Thematic Research Leads and the Parliamentary Academic Fellowship scheme. Understanding the distinction between Parliament and government is crucial—while governments set policy agendas and make executive decisions, Parliament scrutinises legislation, holds the government to account, and ensures a broader range of perspectives are considered. For anyone looking to influence policy, knowing how and where to engage within Parliament can be just as important as engaging with government directly.
Senate Workshop:
I was supposed to take part in a Senate Workshop, but my jet lag was so bad that I knew I wouldn’t add anything of value, so I skipped it. I also went to Vienna for a conference, but I’ll write that up in my March monthnotes since I won’t have time to reflect on it properly before I return.
Other stuff:
Royal Academy of Arts – Saturday Sketch Club:
Drawing Modern Portraits. My family always rolls their eyes when I tell them I’ve signed up for a drawing or painting class—probably because, as my mum tells it, I was drawing before I was talking, and also because I have two degrees in art. But the thing is, signing up for a class is the best way to get back into it. Art-making requires “stretching the muscle,” and since it’s been about two years since my last life drawing class, I needed something to unblock me.
At the start of the year, I got an email from the RA about their monthly online drawing classes (£10 each) and decided they’d be a great way to re-engage with drawing. Just signing up has already got me thinking about new techniques (silverpoint), and I already have two new paintings in mind that I hope to put up above our new couch and armchairs.
Japan:
Nick was invited to Japan for work, so I decided to tag along. I’ll be writing a blog post about what we got up to, my thoughts on Tokyo, and the Eastern cultural rituals I had the opportunity to observe. I’m in the process of writing it now and plan to publish it next week.
Update on goals:
Ran/walked: 178km
wrote at least 100 words a day: 16/28 days
Read at least 20 pages a day: 19/28 days
Healthy eating and drinking: 13/28 days
Didn’t buy anything: 8/28 days
Blogpost image by Victoria Kaminska. The rest of the photos were taken by me.
Comments