Hi, I'm six months into my PhD and feel as though I'm losing touch with reality somewhat! I've been thinking about getting a job in the field of my PhD and about the possibility of continuing both at the same time. I really do want to complete my PhD which and would only accept a job if it was part time so that I could dedicate the rest of my time to the PhD; but as the situation is at the moment I feel so isolated. I was just wondering if anybody else had done this and could offer some advice?!

Hi hr123, I did my Master part-time while working part-time. I was lucky because I could fit in both things, but it was very tiring. I am doing a PhD full-time now and work only occasionally (e.g. tuitions), and from the point of view of time is much better. Of course you must be able to structure your work and be strict with deadlines. As you said the downside is that you work on your own and feel more isolated. You need to assess which of the two aspects is more imoprtant for you, either the time issue (complete in three-four years), or networking. It is difficult to find the balance. I suppose it dependes on the area you are in and whether you have chances to meet other students through seminars, conferences, etc.

Working full-time plus full-time PhD is not possible.

Working full-time plus part-time PhD is just possible, but don't expect any social life.

I used to work full-time from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday. I worked on my part-time PhD 7pm to 2am Mon to Fri and the whole weekend. I did this for one year but couldn't manage any more than that.

Realistically if you do a full-time job with a part-time PhD, it will take 4 to 5 years to complete, and you will be so exhausted at the end of it, you'll need another year to recover... seriously.

I think the healthiest way to do a PhD (in hindsight) is to get it done in under 3 years full-time, and keep a healthy social life with other PhD students.

Full-time PhD plus part-time work could be possible and healthy, but would keep the part-time work to say 10 hours a week or less.

Many PhD students where I'm based do this just to survive, but would prefer to dedicate all their time to the PhD.

Feeling isolated and going Mad is all part of the learning process

In a nutshell, fulltime hell is hell, but parttime hell is double the time, hence double the hell.