Blog: PGT summer survival kit

Written by Donna

If you told me in September that summer as a postgrad would feel this strange, I probably would not have believed you. One minute you’re rushing between lectures, seminars, and deadlines, and then suddenly the campus is quiet, the timetable disappears, and you’re left with just yourself, your dissertation, and a whole lot of unstructured time. Nobody really prepares you for that shift. So here is what has been getting me through it.

1. A study routine you can actually stick to

Without 8am starts or back-to-back lectures, it is tempting to let the whole day slide into nothing. What helped me was treating my dissertation like a job I show up to. Mornings are for focused writing, afternoons are for stepping away from the screen. The library is genuinely peaceful right now in a way it never is during term time – wide open, quiet, and completely yours. If you have not tried working there in summer, you are missing out.

2. The one spot that resets everything

There are so many lovely corners of campus to discover in summer, but my favourite has to be the Green Heart. Something about sitting on the grass under a tree there just feels like meditation without even trying. No phone, no laptop, just you and the quiet. When dissertation anxiety starts creeping in and your desk feels like the enemy, having a place like that to escape to genuinely changes the energy of your whole day. If you have not spent much time outside yet, this summer is the perfect excuse.

3. The support that is already waiting for you

This one surprised me the most. I started using the Wisdom Wellbeing app, which is free for all University of Birmingham students, and it shifted how I thought about asking for help entirely. You do not have to be in crisis to use it. There’s mood tracking, self-help tools, live chats with a counsellor. I use it on ordinary days, not just the hard ones, and that has made the hard ones far easier to get through.

Other support worth having on your radar:

• Pause drop-ins for a calm space and a proper breather from dissertation stress, now open to over 25s (you’ll find them in the Library during August)
• Wellbeing Officers in your college or school for academic or personal challenges
• UBHeard helpline, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Time to Talk webpage with self-help tools for stress, loneliness, and motivation dips

You do not have to white-knuckle your way through summer. The support is there. Use it.

4. Your people are your anchor

It is so easy to get caught up in your research and forget that connection is part of surviving summer too. The Artisan Market on the last Tuesday of each month has become one of my favourite things to look forward to. Browsing the stalls, grabbing food, just being around people outside of a library setting does something genuinely good for your brain.

But it does not have to be a big plan. A short day trip with friends, a walk after dinner, a spontaneous catch up over coffee. The simplest things end up being the most grounding. Friends are not a distraction from the work. They are what makes the work feel worth doing.

Postgrad summer is yours in a way no other season of university really is. It is not always easy, but it is full of more than you might expect. Take care of yourself, lean on the people around you, and enjoy it. You have earned a good summer.