Current psychology grad students, how much time do you spend on school work each week?

[sarah-bellum]

I'm starting my MSc in September, and I've heard conflicting reports about how much time people actually spend on their schoolwork in grad school. I'm sure it's also very different between programs, so I thought I'd put this question out there to psychology grad students.

 

Also, how do you typically structure your time? Do you like to work 9-5 and then 'leave your work at the office', so to speak? Or do you spend a lot of evenings and weekends working as well? I know a lot of programs are quite flexible about this, I'm just curious as to how the majority of people handle it.

 

Sorry if this question has been asked before - I couldn't really find anything through the search function.

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

I did a fifth year as a defacto masters student. I tend to 9:30-5:30 it, every day.

 

Most of my work is research based. I'm enrolled in two grad courses, so there isn't a ton of work, maybe 5 hours of class per week with 4 hours of homework/reading per week. The remaining 45 hours a week I spend on research and data acquisition. 

[lewin]

It really depends on the career you want. If you want to be a superstar, count on working 10-12 hours days and weekends. Here's a quote from a very successful early-career social psychologist: "If you think you have a good work-life balance, it means you're not working enough."

 

If you just want to graduate with a PhD and are less concerned about that, you could probably get away with 9-5 doing research and evenings/weekends doing coursework and TA work.

[Lisa44201]

I work 8AM to 4PM every week day, 12:30PM to 2PM on weekends (toddler's nap-time), and 7PM to 10PM or so most nights as well. In addition to homework, I've got a RA position which sometimes gets busy enough where I need to work on something at home (like tonight), and I'm working on some publications as well. Having said that, I'm also a mom with two kids, and I have to structure my time so that I've got time for my children. When they're asleep, though, I get back to work.

[Arcadian]

It's impossible to measure. I work on-and-off all the time. I do a lot of my work from home, so I only spend a few hours "at work" every day.

 

 

 

"If you think you have a good work-life balance, it means you're not working enough."

 

Haha, damn. I guess I'm not working enough? That seems like a sweeping generalization. The thing is, I can't do good work if I'm not maintaining a work-life balance.

Edited April 21, 2013 by Arcadian

[juilletmercredi]

^I agree that that seems like a sweeping generalization, and I disagree with it.  You can work 10-hour days and maintain a good work-life balance, in fact.  It depends on how you define "good".  I tend to take at least one full day off per week, and make time for myself in the evenings (a few hours) and I'm doing quite well in my program.  I'm no superstar, but I'm also not just shuffling towards a PhD aimlessly.

 

I honestly think it's counterproductive to be nose to the grindstone all the time and never balance that out with the rest of your life.  First of all, you won't have any friends or partners.  And secondly, your life makes your work better.  I am often inspired by newspaper or magazine articles; it fuels my curiosity about the world.  Enjoying myself with friends or my husband makes me much more refreshed and ready to get back to work.  I'm not doing this to work all the time; I'm doing this as an enjoyable way to support the rest of my life.  Avoid drinking the academic kool-aid that posits that you must be working, or thinking about work, nearly all of the time or you will fail.  That's a great way to have guilt following you around, and it just demoralizes you and makes you feel depressed and anxious - which in turn makes you less productive.  (I have a lot of experience with this, as this was essentially years 2, 3, and 4 of my PhD.  I was so miserable!)

 

BUT I don't totally disagree with lewin00.  You will need to work weekends more often than not.  You will need to work nights, more often than not.  Nine to five isn't really going to work for this, especially not when you're still in coursework.  If you want to try to structure your days, say, 8 to 6 M-F and maybe like 10 to 4 on Saturday, then I think that's more realistic.

[lewin]

I was being a bit facetious with that quote and I personally don't follow that philosophy; from what you've said it actually sounds like we're much the same. I just meant that, like any other career, being in the 99th percentile superstar category means sacrificing many other things (and having a huge dose of talent and intrinsic motivation).

 

This person also said: "Don't have a partner because they're lots of work. [pause] Actually, strike that. Date somebody who values work as much as you do, so you can keep each other on task." I think we can all agree that's unhealthy advice.

 

(ETA: For the record, this person is not anyone I know personally, just someone from a conference)

Edited April 23, 2013 by lewin00

[quick1]

I finished an M.A. in clinical psych about 2 years ago. It started off more coursework heavy then shifted more towards research and clinical practice towards the end. I chose to do a voluntary research thesis to boost my application for doctoral programs so that took time. If your degree is practice based expect coursework, readings, and tests early on followed by clinical practice experience at practicums and internships combined with presenting cases, supervision sessions, and possibly working in multiple locations. If you're more research based you'll be spending even more time on reading, writing, researching, studying and depending on your area of study less time on actually working with patients, supervisors, and case presentations. Back in that program I probably spent about 9 hours a week in class and depending on the classes/semesters about 10 hours a week on "homework." When doing my thesis I dedicated at least 8 hours a week to working on it, more when it came towards the end. 

 

Starting a Psy.D. in the fall and the way my program works is classes always on the same two days of the week in afternoons/evenings to leave time on other days for part time work (I do intakes and see clients right now and will continue to do so a bit during school), practicum/internship placements, and general doing schoolwork.  And some socializing and hobbies of course! This particular program advises that people shouldn't work full time during the program and should strongly consider working less than 20 hrs a week if not less. They estimate with classes, studying, assignments, internships, dissertation work that the average student is spending at least 25 hrs a week on their studies. 

 

I need to get more structured in my time scheduling. I have  rough schedule in place for the Fall to fit everything in and have time for exercising, socializing, and relaxing but overall I tend to do my schoolwork better in the evenings with more mundane tasks, exercising, and such in the late morning and afternoon. For my Fall schedule Mondays will remain free and open for schoolwork, Tuesdays and Wednesdays will be classes and time spent at school doing schoolwork, Thursdays and Fridays will be for seeing my patients and intakes, Saturdays and Sundays will be a mix of schoolwork, hobbies, and socializing.