Is there anyone who is getting enough sleep?

[Duave]

Hello,

 

    I am wondering if there are any graduate students that are getting enough sleep, and/or getting enough excercise? Are there any graduate students that are able to date successfully, meaning still having time to groom well and meet new people? If you have found this time, I greatly wish to know how you do it.

 

            I have just realized that graduate school studying is different than undergrad. You can't memorize as much, because there is too much reading to do, and I find myself not being able to enjoy life and meet new people, because it takes me longer to comprehend new learning. For those of you who do have somewhat of a life. How do you do what you do?

 

Please don't just comment back things like, "........you just have to find the time", or ......,".........try to plan out your day". Really folks you think I haven't planned my day out? I need to know specifics.......Please.

 

Thank you

[Eigen]

The answers you don't want to hear are really, honestly, the answers. 

 

You have to set concrete priorities, and convince yourself that your health (mental and physical) is the most important. 

 

And then you make concrete guidelines. 

 

I don't always get enough sleep in a given night, because I'm a bit of an insomniac since grad school, but I try to make sure that I get at least 6 hours, since your health deteriorates rapidly (generally) with less than 6 hours of sleep a night. 

 

Similarly, get exercise. A PhD and then dropping dead from a heart attack in your 30s isn't worth it. 

 

I'm not sure what you want in the way of specifics, there really aren't any other than planning out your day and sticking to it. Decide when you're going to eat, when you're going to go do social things, how much you're going to sleep, and when you're going to exercise. And then do that.

[rising_star]

I schedule it all in, if that helps. Here's what I mean (though not my actual schedule):

 

7:30am wake up

7:45am walk dog for 15 min

8:00am return home, exercise for 30 minutes

8:30am shower, get dressed

8:45am make breakfast

9:00am eat breakfast

...

11:30pm go to bed

 

Like I said, that's not actually what I do. But, for example, if I have a meeting on campus that's near the gym, I'll make plans to go to the gym after that and block off an hour of my day. As for sleep, well, I don't have a problem getting enough sleep because I can't function well without it. At some point, I realize I'm better off sleeping for a few hours rather than trying to power through it and keep working. I typically get 7-9 hours of sleep per night, with the exact amount varying based on how tired I am and/or what I need to get done early (by my standards) in the morning.

 

Oh, and I combine my working out time with my mindless tv time. I'll watch an episode of a tv show, like Hell's Kitchen or Grey's Anatomy or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, on my phone while I'm doing cardio at the gym. I find it helps the time pass plus I want to watch the show anyway so this way I'm killing two birds with one stone. Similarly, if I'm watching TV in my house in the evening, I'll sometimes exercise while it's on, doing a quick warmup, some weightlifting exercises, and stretching. It makes me feel better and less guilty about watching tv (I watch a lot of sports...).

 

I hope this helps!

[fuzzylogician]

What Eigen said. Grad school will take over every part of your life that you will let it, and you need to actively stop it by prioritizing the things that matter to you and doing them. If it means actually scheduling them in your calendar, do it. If it just means sitting down and figuring out for yourself what you want to do, then that's your next step. it's not enough to say "I'd like to have more free time." Instead, figure out what you'd like to do in that time ("nothing, just relax" is a fine answer, but the more specific the answer the easier you'll find it to commit and actually do it) and schedule it in your calendar -- that is, actually pick a time when you are going to relax/go out/groom yourself/whatever and do it! Don't reschedule or cancel this time unless there is a pressing deadline (that is, a once in a long time problem you need to solve, not an every week occurrence). I'm sorry if this answer appears not to help you, but yes, I think you haven't successfully planned your day out, since apparently you don't have time for such (truly) important things as sleep, social activities and grooming. 

 

And to answer your question -- yes, I sleep enough because I make it a priority. Sleep is an important issue for me, for health reasons, and I will very rarely sacrifice it for anything because the consequences are not worth it. I also have time to maintain a relationship (including weekly scheduled "us" time), and I've actually been trying to increase the amount of exercise I'm getting recently. I've added some exercise time to my daily routine for that reason. It's true that I work less time this way, but it'll make me feel healthier and therefore make me more productive when I do work. Working more =!= better results, imo.

[bsharpe269]

Exercising doesn't have to take much time. I try to do a 30 min jog, 3x a week. That's about the lowest I can go and still feel healthy and reasonably in shape. Go right before you would normally shower so that you don't even have to take time to do it again. For me, that means waking up a bit early. Also, many people at my school, both professors and students, go for runs on campus in the middle of the day when they start to feel burnt out. It can be great for recharging and often you are more productive after so you don't really even lose much time.

 

Also, on those days that I really dont have the engery to get myself out the door for a run (like this morning... my dog was sad that i was leaving and looked pathetic, its raining, i feel super tired and have a headache... )instead of completely blowing off my workout, I do a 15 min youtube video. I chose pilates today but there are tons of options, both cardio adn body weight. I do make sure that I get out and get 30 min of cardio in regularly also but these are great fillers to keep you active as well. You can do them right when you wake up in PJs even!

Edited March 29, 2014 by bsharpe269

[St Andrews Lynx]

Yes, I am getting enough sleep. It is a lot fewer hours per night than before I began grad school....but it is still enough.

 

"Specifics" will depend on the individual. I'm a morning person, so I will wake up at 6.30am. That gives me plenty of time to get a healthy breakfast, do my personal grooming and perhaps get some studying or work in before my 9am work day begins. As others have already said, you can work things like exercise, dating and sleep into your schedule around the things that you are already doing. 

 

Because I think that sleep is important, it means that I will stop whatever I'm doing at 10 pm and get ready for bed. If the work isn't finished I'll just do it in the morning instead. Usually I will have had whole night to digest the work, so in the morning not only will I be refreshed, but I will probably have thought through what I need to do and just generally make a better job of it than if I'd stayed up until 2am to get it done.

 

If you want to meet new people, then schedule in organised social events into your calendar. Student residences usually organise some kinds of events (BBQs, movie nights) if you are living on campus. Attend interesting talks organised in your department (or outside) and chat to people at the wine reception afterwards. 

[juilletmercredi]

I get enough sleep.  On the few occasions I don't, it's because I chose to stay up fooling around, not because of any real work priorities.  I'm currently in the dissertation phase, though, so I have less structured time.  When I was still in coursework, I usually got around 6 hours a night, which isn't optimal for me (I need 8 hours) but enough to function.  As a dissertating student, I can usually get 7-8 hours if I don't fool around too much.

 

You have to

 

-learn to skim strategically

-schedule in exercise time.  It's never going to happen if you don't schedule it

-schedule in fun time

-give yourself permission to take a day off

-feel okay with depth rather than breadth - skim all the articles but only read one or two in depth

[danieleWrites]

My snakes are getting enough sleep. I'm not, but my snakes are.

 

*sigh*

[ZiggyPhil]

I can't really speak to how to accomplish it, since school is so different in our fields, but you absolutely should not sacrifice sleep.  Many of your activities in grad school require intense and focused mental efforts.  Such efforts are impeded when you are lacking sleep, so trading sleep for more time reading/writing/in the lab is self-defeating.  It will take you longer to understand things, you will not retain as much of what you learn, and you will be more prone to errors.

[Urshilikai]

I do it by being a lazy sack of shit . In all seriousness though, you can perform at a much higher mental caliber if you get the necessary sleep. It more than makes up for the lost time.

 

7am wake up, get ready, eat

9am 30 minute cycling commute to work (exercise too!)

9:30-5:30 work (this one’s tricky, you can get everything done in an 8 hours or less if you avoid distractions and take a half-hour lunch)

6-11 cook, eat, enjoy my life and be social

 

There seem to be two traps that people fall into: (1) being too social and distracted during work and making up for it by staying there for 10-18 hours—grad school is work not your life, (2) not planning/scheduling well enough to know where to cut corners, not optimizing experiments so they take less time, and reading entire papers instead of focusing on abstracts/captions/conclusions—basically, not being efficient. I guess the take-away message is to be focused and efficient.

 

The other thing to realize is that work hours is only weakly proportional to the time it takes to graduate. Pick your research problems/experiments carefully and get the biggest academic bang for your buck.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Urshilikai

[Lisa44201]

The following is fairly exact.

 

6AM: Wake up. Shower.

6:20AM: Get husband out of bed.

6:30AM: Get two kids out of bed.

6:35AM: Feed dogs; make coffee; make and pack lunch.

6:45AM: Get younger kid out of bed, again.

6:50AM: Walk dogs.

7:05AM: Leave house (with husband and both kids).

7:15AM: On campus.

5PM: Leave campus.

5:30PM: Eat dinner; family time.

7:30PM: Tuck kids in bed.

8PM: Exercise.

9PM: Relax (knit, crochet, statistics, etc.)

10PM: Bed.

[biotechie]

I'm one of those crazy people who spends 10 hours at school a day because I'm excited about my experiments. I still get about 7 hours of sleep when I don't have projects due. Lately, since I'm still in classes, I've been getting less, but I've been promised it will be easier to get the sleep once classes are over.

 

My typical schedule:
7:00 wakeup/shower/scream at the clock

7:45 pack lunch

8 or 8:10 bus to school (45 minutes ride)... kill 2 birds with one stone by reading papers for lab... or a novel because I need extra fun.

9:00-6:00 lab, classes, and seminars

6:00 3x a week in the gym at school, 1 hour exercise (Monday Zumba, Wednesday Soccer with some of the PIs, Friday cycling)

7:00 Get on the bus home

8:00: Food, homework, papers, and data analysis.

11:00 or 12:00: Sleep time.

 

Sometimes I'll run or jog on the weekends, but often times, I end up in lab because mice and cells don't work on a normal human schedule.

 

I didn't plan out this schedule... it just sort of happened. I wasn't exercising well until last term when I started in this lab. The PI kind of helps motivate us to play outside and he understands that we need to do things other than pipet and vomit data in order to be successful. It may help you to get a buddy for not only exercising, but also studying. I don't memorize well, and it takes a while for me to get the concepts, but if I have to explain it to someone, I learn more efficiently and have more time than I would if I just stared at the page or rewrote my notes.

 

I can't help you on the dating front as my boyfriend and I are long distance. If I want to look cute, I have time, but half the time I decide I'd rather read a fun book than fix my hair really nicely. Plus the lab likes to destroy my clothes. I see tons of grad students who look like they came out of magazines. I like to joke that they don't work hard enough, but they score extremely well in classes.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Cocaine. 

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

The following is fairly exact.

 

6AM: Wake up. Shower.

6:20AM: Get husband out of bed.

6:30AM: Get two kids out of bed.

6:35AM: Feed dogs; make coffee; make and pack lunch.

6:45AM: Get younger kid out of bed, again.

6:50AM: Walk dogs.

7:05AM: Leave house (with husband and both kids).

7:15AM: On campus.

5PM: Leave campus.

5:30PM: Eat dinner; family time.

7:30PM: Tuck kids in bed.

8PM: Exercise.

9PM: Relax (knit, crochet, statistics, etc.)

10PM: Bed.

You make your kids go to bed at 7:30? 

[hashslinger]

Cocaine. 

 

I go the opposite route: Zolpidem.

[Arcadian]

Eh, it varies. I will proudly say that I am not a very disciplined person, and that's how I like it. I don't like to live on a strict schedule. For the most part, I just do whatever I feel is best at any given time. I am flexible. I do make weekly schedules for myself, but they are very loose and open to alteration. I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Regarding sleep, my schedule is different from many of you because I am a nocturnal person. My circadian rhythm is very different from most other people. I generally don't feel tired until at least 2:00 am, and I generally don't like waking up before 10:00 am. And that would be an early day for me. When I have free days, I typically sleep from 4 or 5 am to noon or 1 pm. If I sleep naturally with no distractions and nothing to wake me up, I will sleep for 7-9 hours. Sometimes I feel great with 7; sometimes I need 9. It just varies. I only sleep enough about half the time. The other half, I am limited to 5-6 hours. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping, so I occasionally have sleepless nights or just 1-3 hours (but that is rare).

 

Regarding exercise, I'm not a big fan of it, but I still do it 2-4 times a week. My favorite thing is running outside. I usually go running 2-3 times a week (either jogging 1-2 miles or intervals for 2.5 miles). Sometimes I go to the gym once or twice a week, just for about 30-45 minutes each, not really focusing on anything in particular. I just do a light, all-around workout. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the healthiest person on earth, but I feel healthy enough. As others have mentioned, I make time for exercise based on my obligatory scheduled events for that day. If I'm on campus from 2-5 pm, I'll exercise after that. I prefer exercising late in the day (obviously, given my sleep patterns).

Edited April 3, 2014 by Arcadian

[i.am.me]

I get enough sleep - I need 7 hours or so. To function properly, at least 5-6. To look good, 8 or so. To be sure, sleep, health, and food are 3 things that I always try to keep in check. I socialize once in a while. Honestly, I'm a huge time waster. For example, I could be brushing my teeth and then walk out of the bathroom to check my email or FB...or filling in my eyebrows and then stop midway to make my bed. It looks like nobody else schedules in doing their makeup but that is part of my morning routine (about 45 minutes for hair, makeup, and outfit)...I make sure to schedule in everything from makeup...to walking to school on the scenic route...to going to the mall to waste time. So, I schedule wasting time too. I schedule the time that I may waste getting ready to go to the gym to the time I waste idling on my way back from the gym. I do things very slowly, including learning - if you are like me - recognize this and then learnt to deal. 

 

Meeting new people has become somewhat organic - that is, meeting people when I go out of my department to take classes; being part of a one hour a week language table as allowed me to meet new people; having a 10 hr a week part-time job has created a different professional network - these are all spaces to get to know others.  

Edited April 5, 2014 by i.am.me

[HYHY02]

It depends is probably the best way I could answer it.

 

Issue with me is that I'm not great with time management. Typical bad habit of kicking into gear when deadlines approach, where time in between...let's just say could be spent better. Also, another thing that really messes with my time schedule is that I'm a night owl and for whatever reason, I feel more productive at home.

 

I'm twice as much productive as I am in night than I am in the morning. Doing mundane work is fine, but actually having to sit down, read or learn, it's generally just tougher for me. Thus, I basically reach around school a little later than other grad students (10ish am), but I stay (depending on the work) usually to 6 to 7. It may not seem like a lot of hours, but like I mentioned, I feel more productive at home, so I usually do more work from about 9ish to whenever I go to sleep.

 

Issue becomes when me being a night owl conflicts with morning duties, like meetings/TAing. That really throws off my schedule, and I end up getting few hours of sleep those nights before. Thank you for the weekends though (sometimes I take a long nap when I get back home Friday evenings as well).

 

As for socializing, I'm not that social to begin with, so it's not an issue. I've made some new friends/acquaintances, but it's all been through mingling whether in class or seminars or TAing, things in the academic environment.

 

I think the best thing you could do is keep some portion of the week for yourself. I have a set time during the week that I'll go out with my friends to play a couple of hours of sports (joined a rec league). I get in both my exercise and a social outing. I made my mind early on that unless I absolutely can't make it due to schedule conflict, I will go these things every time I can. Whatever you find helps you stay mentally and physically healthy, just make a commitment to do that. I know someone who every Wednesday, goes to a local coffee shop, takes a book, and will sit there reading for a good couple of hours. Her schedule could be a tough one for that week, but you'll still see her there. That's her thing that helps her unwind. Will some professors have a problem with that? Absolutely, but you have to watch out for yourself and make sure you don't end up feeling too crappy (even for a grad student..).

Edited April 6, 2014 by HYHY02

[Guest |||]

Saturday = Sleep day

 

Then I'm sleep deprived the rest of the week.

[amglol]

To echo most comments, the answers you don't want are the right ones.To throw my n=1 in your face, here's what my life has entailed since starting grad school:

 

1st semster - 6 hours

Had child 1

Lost 75 lbs

2nd semester - 9 hours (included an internship)

Sold house, moved in with inlaws, signed contract to build new house

Started thesis

3rd semester - 6 hours

Found out we were pregnant with child 2

Moved into new house

4th semester - 9 hours (including thesis hours, final semester)

Had child 2

Finished thesis

Entire program

Worked full-time at a community college in course development role (I still do this)

Maintained side-business (no new clients, but regular work for existing ones)

 

You really have to prioritize, but you also need to realize that some things should come first. I was really overweight (obese by BMI, as lazy a measure as it is) when we found out we were pregnant with our first, and committing to exercise and good sleep (although I operate surprisingly well on only around 6 hours a night) was the most important thing I ever did. It sort of sucks, but forcing yourself into a routine of regular activity has an awesome cascade effect in other areas. The more quality physical activity, the better the quality of sleep and amount of energy you'll have. This only helps academic functioning, for me both in terms of information intake and quality of writing products. 

 

The point is that you have to decide what's important and what's not. If it's more important for you to socialize, then maybe you should reconsider grad school for the time being. You also have to consider the type of program you're in. I work mainly in Critical Theory/Cultural Studies, which thankfully relieves me of the need to obsess over facts and figures all day and instead lets me concentrate on "grand" social theory. I can do this while doing pull-ups (or changing pull-ups, for that matter) or while out on a bike ride. However, there are always sneaky ways to fit in whatever your discipline requires. Just try harder. 

 

Edit: I suppose it's important to note that I get up around 5 a.m., get to my office around 6 a.m. (where I work on school-related items for a while), start work at 7 a.m., get home around 5:30 p.m., kids are asleep by 7:30 p.m., and I'm in bed around 10 p.m. Reading/writing/exercising/etc fill in the gaps.

Edited April 8, 2014 by amglol

[juilletmercredi]

I didn't really fully read the OP when I responded, but yes, you HAVE to schedule in time.  Read the book How to Write a Lot by Paul Silvia.  He writes about scheduling time for writing, and spends a lot of time busting what he calls "spurious excuses" for not scheduling time for writing.  I think these are excellent points but also carry over to other things in life.

 

One of the things he says, though, is that you cant "find" the time.  You have to make the time.  If you try to find it, it will always manage to elude you.

 

And as for dating - I don't date (I'm married) but I have other grad student friends who dated in graduate school, including one who met her now-fiance when she was a grad student.  Of course you can date successfully, just like you can date successfully if you are a teacher or lawyer or anyone else in a demanding, time-intensive job.  You just have to...make the time.  Like literally, you really do have to plan out your day.  I schedule in my day...even fun stuff.  I'm also into grooming, and I find plenty of time to groom well.  I think most people do...

 

Really, I have found that once I plan my day out adequately I am not as busy as I thought.  I have plenty of time for work, play, and rest.  It's just that if you don't schedule your time you're usually not using it efficiently.

[maelia8]

I find it to be much more of a problem to get enough sleep and schedule my day adequately when I don't have enough to do than when I have a lot of things to plan in … I tend to lie in bed for hours and stay up late and ruin my inner rhythm of sleeping/waking hours. When I actually have a lot on my plate, I tend to buckle down and plan out every minute, for fear of forgetting something.

[rising_star]

Really, I have found that once I plan my day out adequately I am not as busy as I thought.  I have plenty of time for work, play, and rest.  It's just that if you don't schedule your time you're usually not using it efficiently.

 

This is absolutely true. People say they're busy all the time, but then you see them surfing facebook, watching random tv, etc., even as they keep complaining about not having enough time to do everything. I'm trying to get away from saying I'm busy all the time because I'm not. I take time every day to walk my dog, take her to the dog park, etc. And, if I have time for that, then I have time to call a friend and catch up, get my work done, go to the gym, etc. It's just about minimizing the ways you waste time more than anything else. For some people, that means scheduling. For me, early on in grad school, that meant NOT working 60+ hours a week and working with others to fight the assumption that we should be working that much or more.

[Guest |||]

I don't understand how anyone can be sleep deprived at university with all the sleep-aid programs they have

 

You go into any room and its litteraly and old dude reading a bedtime story while students are in comfy chairs. 

Edited April 18, 2014 by |||

[seeingeyeduck]

I'm glad to see that there are other night owls out there! I usually get all my serious work done at night between 11-5. It's just so quiet and there are never urgent emails or any sort of distraction to which you must respond. I'm usually good with 6-7 hours of sleep. I've been lucky enough to have a flexible schedule to live this way but I'm nervous about entering grad school. At this point my rhythm is pretty set and getting up earlier feels like a night shift. Not the most practical of situations... I think I can get away with all afternoon classes in the next semester but I wonder if I'll end up sleep deprived if I eventually have earlier obligations...

As for time management, I think the key is realizing that there is always more work you could be doing but unless there are deadlines or tests, you don't have to do it. You should do enough but after some limit that you set, it's just time for guilt free relaxation or socializing or spending time with family. That and efficiency rather than increasing time spent.

I'm going to commute about 2 hrs a day 3 days a week and I'm planning to get a lot of class reading done on the bus/train. I'm trying to look at the commute time as a boon because I find it easier to concentrate on reading in moving vehicles than at libraries or cafés. I think it's that lack of an option for distraction again! I've never been a big exerciser or terribly social though so maybe that naturally solves the time management problem there!