My theory: PhD is inherently unstructured, and requires wading into the unknown without many markers to tell you where you are going.
Marriage creates a structured life outside of work that gives PhDs an anchor to return to periodically. This leads to better long term and consistent progress.
Stephen King describes his success in writing in part due to his successful marriage. There may be some similarities there.
No way. Family puts alot of "make money now" and "be home for dinner" pressure on you. Hardly a good environment for doing research. Not even bringing kids into the equation.
Having been through all of this, young kids are both wonderful, but definitely restrict the ability to completely focus on a research sprint. While 90% habit is important, there were periods where I needed long hours and focus, and those are harder to find now. Adding finances to that, and I'm really glad that I waited until after my Phd to have kids, though plenty of people do it successfully.
Structured, disciplined, habits make you far more productive than working long hours.
At an old job (natl. lab) there was a guy who does his research job for, maybe, two or three hours a day. The rest of the day he is reading unrelated books.
But those three hours are so productive that by March he has filled his employer's scientific paper quota. His managers hate him because they see his fucking around 70% of the time, but by any performance metric (especially quality. His papers are the consequential ones)he's blowing everyone away.
Marriage creates a structured life outside of work that gives PhDs an anchor to return to periodically. This leads to better long term and consistent progress.
Stephen King describes his success in writing in part due to his successful marriage. There may be some similarities there.