Whether you’re in your final year of your PhD or your first, writing retreats can be an excellent way to supercharge your productivity. No housework or daily commute – just the thesis for company. But how can you make the most of the precious time you’ve set aside to write on your retreat? We’ve hosted many PhD candidates since opening the Writers’ Cabin in 2024, and it’s clear that there are some failsafe ways to make the most of this time set aside just for you and your study.
Writers’ Cabin host Julia Forster, who is in the first year of her PhD in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University, offers her top five tips for locking in.
1. Embodiment
Writing a PhD is a mental marathon. And it’s our brains and fingers which do the lion’s share of the work – which is why it’s so important to keep moving other parts of your body during writer’s retreats. Whether you like walking, swimming or gentle yoga stretches, snacking on exercise in this way in between stints at the desk can really help you to focus consistently.
2. Nature Connection
Making sure you go outdoors every so often and shifting the focus of your gaze means that your eyes get a break from staring at the laptop screen or notebook. Nature is also a wonderful means to regulate your nervous system, especially if you are on a solo PhD writer’s retreat.
3. Massage Therapy
Before you go on your retreat, check out your local wellbeing centre to see if there are any massage slots free. Where the Writers’ Cabin is based, we’re lucky to have several affordable bodywork practitioners in the area who often have free slots in the week on a one-off basis.
4. Ensure 5* Seating
When you book a holiday, ensuring there’s a good desk and office chair is not a priority, but for writing retreats, it’s important to ensure you’ll be looking after your back. Check the retreat photos carefully for what kind of seating is provided before you book – after all, you’ll probably be spending just as much time sitting down as sleeping!
5. Reading Material
Taking a few key texts from your study that you predict you might need is key, but did you know that Catherine Pope published How to Finish Your PhD as a one-stop guide to all PhD candidates wanting to get their thesis over the final threshold? Having books on the practice of writing can help motivate you if you hit a mid-week slump.
Why book a PhD writing retreat at the Writers’ Cabin?
The Writers’ Cabin in mid-Wales offers PhD candidates, academics and writers of all disciplines the perfect environment for writing up. And with the National Library of Wales – Wales’ national copyright library – just a 40-minute trip away, if you realise you’ve forgotten a key text, the library is bound to have it in their stores.
The cabin also offers all guests:
- A private 90-minute sauna session
- An ergonomic office chair and vintage desk with several other soft furnishing seating options as well as two outdoor tables
- Laptop stand, USB keyboard, mousemat and mouse to help prevent RSI
- Yoga mat for stretching on in between writing stints
- Recommendations for local bodywork therapists
- Two nature-based walks you can do from the Cabin door
- Beaches and pristine rivers to swim in just a 25-minute drive away
- A copy of Catherine Pope’s How to Finish Your PhD as well as many other key creative writing texts to help inspire your work
- A complimentary, bespoke bottle of ‘Retreat’ Poetry Pharmacy pills to help stimulate lateral thinking
Book your PhD writer’s retreat at the Writers’ Cabin in mid-Wales today: we’d love to host you!
