Our student, Rasanat Fatima Nawaz, is a first-year PhD student interested in managing self-harm and suicide in schools, she is a member of the ChARM group, supervised by Professor Tamsin Ford
This Ramadhan (the month of fasting) I’m working from home. I eat at 3 am in the morning, then I pray and complete simple work tasks until 5 am.
I start working again at 10:30 am and begin by writing three things on a sticky note that I want to achieve in the day. I place this somewhere visible to keep me focused.
I’m currently working on a systematic review of self-harm interventions in schools. I started writing the paper a few weeks ago and today I filled in some missing sections because I now have the final studies I want to include.
Then I prepared some notes for a meeting with my PhD supervisor. I like to create a document beforehand with things to discuss. I make notes directly into this document during the meeting which helps me keep everything in one place and makes it easier for me to know what to do next.
I take a break at 1:00 pm to pray. I get dressed for my virtual meetings and then I finish the day at 3:30 pm.
To relax I spent time with my family, went to buy fruit, came home and took a nap.
At 8:30 pm, we opened our fast with dates and ate iftar (a meal eaten after sunset to open the fast).
I stay up through the night, using this time to pray, read, and write. At 3 am I have sehri (pre-dawn meal) and continue my day as usual.