Week 2: Brainpower Routine

Welcome to week 2. How are you doing?

This week we’ll be discussing the idea of developing a brain power routine. We tend to think of ‘the life of the mind’ as separate from our physical being. Mind over matter, right? But what if taking care of our brain, and in extension, our minds, is a possibility?

It may come as no surprise that stress-related as well as mental health problems are rife in academia. The figures are alarming: mental health problems are 2-3 times more prevalent for PhDs compared to comparable groups outside of academia. Very roughly speaking about half of PhD students experience ‘psychological distress’ at any given time, and just under a third are at risk of developing (or having) anxiety or depression. And those figures rise the further people get into the PhD programme. This is worrying!

As we have seen last week, the root of these issues are systemic, and have to do with issues like the extremely competitive job market in academia, as well as poor supervision, and a highly individualistic, competitive culture. That’s the first thing to remember. Whenever you think: maybe it is just me, rest assured it is likely not you! It’s the system you are a part of, and it is not conducive to your well-being.

This week is about developing tools to handle stress. To create space for recuperation. What do you need? Let’s find out. And it’s about productivity: you will feel and perform better when you have brain-care and mind-care habits in place.

The two tools we will be using for taking care of the brain and working with the mind are exercise and meditation. We’ll be discussing why these two self-care habits are key.

Good luck this week,

Amber