How do you keep up??

[DNAgyrase]

I am asking this because....I can't seem to keep up. Let me elaborate. I am a first year student in a Biological Science Program. My alarm goes of at 6:30 am....(and after struggling to get out of bed) I get ready and get to lab between 7:30 and 8:00. I usually work on experiments and have classes, seminars , meeting and journal club everyday. These activities can last anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours, depending on the day. I always try to leave by 5pm, but depending on what I'm doing I have to stay in longer.  By the time I get home it's maybe between 5:30 and 6 pm.  On most days, I exercise, shower, dinner, and get done with that between 7:30-8pm.  At this time, I attempt to do home-work, study for class and read.  But after such a long day, at 8 pm all I want to do is crawl into bed.  I practically get nothing done, I am so tired by that point and it's difficult to focus.  I attempt to do these things....but I'm not very efficient. After spending 2-3 hours trying to get stuff done, I just call it quits and go to bed. And I repeat the next day.  I should mention, I usually have to go into labs on the Saturdays,,,,anywhere from 3-5 hours.  Sundays If I have an exam I will study, if not I just lay in bed all day.

In the week, I would like to dedicate an hour each day for reading (non school stuff, for pleasure) but I can't seem to fit that it anywhere.

 

WHat I am trying to ask is..... how do you find a balance, what works for you, how do you keep up with everything.

 

I feel like there's always something that I need to do that isn't done.  I thought about getting up an hour earlier to exercise before heading out in the morning. That way when I come back from lab, I can just get right down to business. But I am really not a morning person.

 

Don't know if I can continue like this for another 4 years.

 

Thanks for any insights you may have

[CarlieE]

Sounds like you are feeling a bit overwhelmed. Here's a "hug"  

 

While I'm not in your field, I think this is a common feeling for everyone. Here's how I cope and how my day typically runs. 

 

5:30am - alarm goes off. If I feel I have time I go to the gym, work out for about a half hour, take another half hour to shower and get dressed. 

 

Head to the library and eat breakfast there (I pack my food for the day in the morning or the night before). 

 

By 8AM I am ready to start work which for me is reading, reading, reading interspersed with a bit of writing. 

 

My typical workload for the week includes about 1000-1500 pages of reading, one or two presentations (ie. running class discussion), working on my research project (field work plans for the summer, IRB submission, making travel plans etc) and applying for various grants/field schools/fellowships. I also have other obligations such as showing up to dept events, talks, roundatables etc and 2 film screenings a week. And of course, attending classes. I'm taking 4 seminars this semester so it does take up a bit of my day. 

 

It sounds like a lot, but it's actually not too bad. The key thing for me is to utilize my work time which means to make a list and set a time limit. I will only spend an hour (or whatever time I designate) on this reading or task. It takes practice but after awhile you can get your skimming and absorption rate to adjust. And I find that I'm much better able to stay on track. 

 

It's also a matter of prioritizing; some readings are not as important as others; I don't disregard them but I spend less time on them. No one expects us to be memorize and fully absorb ie. know the material inside and out in a single reading. The point is to know of them and to be able to draw on them again in the future and, in my field, to discuss them. 

 

My day ends around 5pm. When I get home I just relax and if I do any work it is peripheral stuff that doesn't require too much mental effort. IE making sure my drop box has all the readings I need, getting documents into the proper file to be printed tomorrow morning, responding to emails etc. If I do any reading it's the lighter sort of reading ie. short articles or books for class that I enjoy. You need to have time off even when it feels like you can't afford any. 

 

Professors know and understand that. Is the pressure coming from an external source ie. your professors or from within, from your own expectations of yourself? 

 

If the former, then you might want to see your DGS about the workload. If the latter, then try to take a breath to relax - you're not Atlas and not expected to be BRILLIANT at everything (if you were, you wouldn't need to be in grad school; they'd have given you a honorary PhD and you'll be running your own lab already). 

[Usmivka]

Hi DNAgyrase. You aren't alone. It may be that "keeping up" as you've defined it isn't possible--maybe we need to revise expectations of what is sufficient. I know I can't do everything that crosses my desk. One of the key things I've learned in my program is that I can't do everything as well as it ought to be done, and I need to engage in a little triage so I can focus on the most important things in making progress towards my thesis. Long days and hard work are par for the course, but I find them much more bearable if I focus on what I can and have accomplished rather than how much I should be doing.

[booksnlooks]

I feel like there's always something that I need to do that isn't done.

I think that this is a pretty familiar feeling to most graduate students. There is always more work to be done. All you can do is accept this fact and do your best.

You mention that you are not very efficient - is there any way you can improve this? For example, with readings, I thoroughly read the abstract, intro, and conclusion while skimming the rest. Also agree with SPanda in terms of prioritizing readings - are there any 'not so important' tasks or readings you can cut out? Devoting some time to reviewing your work habits and goals may be quite beneficial to you.

[wildviolet]

How do I keep up?

 

I don't. I feel like I'm on a perpetual treadmill.

 

So, I work when I can, and when my brain needs a break, I get nothing done (like for the past four days). Oh well. The world isn't going to end if I don't get every single piece of reading done. Sorry I can't offer anything more substantive. I know others suggest a strict work/life balance, but it doesn't quite work out that way for me. Even if I'm not doing something, I'm thinking about something.

[Dal PhDer]

I think the hardest thing I've learned (and am still learning) is that you have to compromise on your work sometimes. It use to kill me not going to class having read everything, or not having a pristine A+ paper handed in, when it was a pass/fail class...but I realized that it's prioritizing your time and work to get everything that needs completion, done.

 

I have found that I can get through everything by skimming my readings and identifying the key arguments/details. If there's something that is especially heavy, I might take the time to read it more closely. But at this level, it's not about regurgitating the literature, it's about reading it, and formulating an opinion - which you can learn to do without reading word from word.

 

Writing was a really big thing I found difficult to get over. If an assignment is to hand in a draft, it took me awhile to actually learn how to hand in a draft and not a fully completed paper! But it happens! You'll learn to recognize where you need to delegate your time.

 

With that said- I think we are all struggling to find time to get everything done. It's hard...we have a lot of crap to do! But people recognize that, and are pretty good at understanding.

 

I think you should set up a routine that works best for you. I tend to not like to write if I only have an hour or two between meetings/classes/etc. So I will do my readings, emails, marking, etc. during that time, and then set a giant chunk for just sitting and writing. SO you need to figure out what will be best for your productivity and schedule.

 

But you're not alone! We all feel that way, you'll soon get better at being okay with it, and that it's a fact of life- there's not enough hours in the day!

[DNAgyrase]

Hello, Thanks for the adivce everyone.

 

Professors know and understand that. Is the pressure coming from an external source ie. your professors or from within, from your own expectations of yourself? 

I actually to my PI directly, and asked him if he though I was getting enought done. He said I shouldn't worry about that, because I have a lot going on with  classes etc. He also mentioned that things start of really slow. It just feels like I should be getting more done.

 

I still operate on the same schedule, but I am really trying to get up an hour earlier. Not a morning person so it may take some time. This seems like maybe the best option for me.

[ruru107]

My typical workload for the week includes about 1000-1500 pages of reading, one or two presentations (ie. running class discussion), working on my research project (field work plans for the summer, IRB submission, making travel plans etc) and applying for various grants/field schools/fellowships. I also have other obligations such as showing up to dept events, talks, roundatables etc and 2 film screenings a week. And of course, attending classes. I'm taking 4 seminars this semester so it does take up a bit of my day. 

 

Wow. I now feel guilty for ever complaining about how much work I have.

[CarlieE]

Wow. I now feel guilty for ever complaining about how much work I have.

 It's really not so bad and believe me, not EVERYTHING gets done. For instance, this week the department had 4 events (1 special speaker, lunch said speaker, a talk, a job talk for a new professor and lunch with that candidate). I attended one of those events. The others conflicted with my film screening and class time. 

 

DNAgyrase - I'm glad you got to talk to your PI; that helps. I just told mine that I changed my mind on a research design field school in the summer and I haven't gotten an email response back yet... Hmm.. but he DID tell me that (based on its curriculum) it might not be something that is relevant to me. I decided it wasn't relevant enough. The fact that a friend of mine wants to meet up in Cambodia and traipse Angkor with me over that same time has NOTHING to do with it whatsoever.  

[Guest |||]

 It comes down to discipline for me. Being able to do a 8 hour day of solid grad work, sometimes a 10 hour, sometimes 16.

 

Other days doing nothing at all.

 

 

So I guess my answer is, slack when you can, and be extremely dedicated when you must.