It's OK to take a day off
Burnout can be a massive issue for PhD students.
I think part of the problem is that there’s a culture within academia where everybody works to exhaustion and beyond, so there’s an implicit expectation that this is just what you have to do.
But if you want to do good research, if you want to solve complicated problems and come up with new, creative ideas, you need your brain to work at its best. This is just not possible if you’re constantly exhausted.
Now there will be times when you have to work longer hours and sacrifice to get things done, but this isn’t a viable long term strategy. It’s OK to take a day off from time to time, to rest, to recharge, or just to enjoy life.
And if you can’t remember the last time you had a day off, it’s probably a sign that you need one.
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