daily life of a phd student

[ramprasad]

Can any one briefly write their daily activities (time table, if you will). I am curious about how daily life is for phd students. Like many hours you study, when exactly -- where, if you don't have an office (it seems like I won't get one on my first year or because I am an RA - I'm not sure). Studying in the library would suck - it'd be very nice to be able to leave you stuff behind when you're done working.

What do you do on weekends? Also, how do most phd students spend their summers -- the first summer in particular. Thanks.

[applecat]

Well I certainly won't be able to go into the depth and detail of others; however, I just started Monday and this was a breakdown of my week.

Monday: 9AM-10PM (meeting at 6).

Tuesday: 9AM-8PM.

Wednesday: 8AM-7PM

Thursday: 9AM-6PM

Friday: 9AM-5PM

Satuday: 10:30AM-5PM

Sunday: Relax and watching a full season of "Big Bang Theory."

I'm in a biochem lab so its a lot of hurry-up-and-wait type work. Set up some reactions or other procedures in the morning, look at recent stuff been done by others in the lab while the reactions are going, etc. I'm putting in as much time now as a I can so that I can get all the experience/knowledge/etc down while I have no classes or teaching.

I'm up there all day but have a lot of time where I'm eating or even goofing around on the computer. It isn't so much that I'm DOING something while I'm up there all the time. Rather, it would be pointless to leave for an hour and come back.

I'm glad I'm starting now so that I can not be AS overwhelmed once school starts in the fall.

[ramprasad]

thanks applecat, but I was hoping more of a day's breakdown, not a weeks. But its good to know that you're almost always working.

[applecat]

Sorry about that! I'll offer my daily breakdown in the summer if you'd like, but I'm betting youre more interested during the school year (I also would expect the days to be much different between my first summer and the summer of those in later years).

However, here is a daily breakdown.

7AM: Wake up, eat, shower, etc

8AM: Leave to school

830-9AM: Check emails of various sorts and review daily plans

9AM: Set up first reactions or check the previous nights finished product

10AM: Calculations, computer modeling,

11-1: Most variable part of day between lunch, finishing a reaction, setting up other projects or more computer time

1-5: Literature searching, reactions, learning about other related group-mates works, talking, etc.

5: Eat dinner

530: Set up any finals things for the day

Til leaving: Computer modeling, chat with others

Though I feel busy each day I've been in lab, the following breakdown makes me feel like I'm really not doing much at all! Ha. I suppose I'll keep that in mind this week and pay attention a little more closely to what I'm actually doing! Hope this helps just a bit.

[ramprasad]

thanks applecat. this one's more comprehensive (but like you said, I'd have preferred the breakdown the regular semester). it seems like you do have time in the evening after 5:30 to do other things, like exercising (I need my high, and also need to shed quite a few pounds). thank you again.

[newage2012]

This is my summer routine pretty much every day.

0600 : Wake up

0600 - 0730: Breakfast - potty etc.

0730: Drive to train station. Arrive in 10 minutes

0746: Train comes. Arrive Downtown Chicago at 0835.

0900: Arrive on UIC campus.

0930: Workday starts. Server Maintenance. Log checking. Take calls from users. Repair computers.

1230: Lunch

1300: Class starts, goes all the way until 1630.

1640: Back in office until 1745. (Or sometimes to the gym)

1745: Walk to train station.

1810: Train leaves. Arrive on the other side by 1915.

1930: Back Home for dinner.

2000: shower

2030: Homework, if any

2200: Daily Counter-Strike: Source / Team Fortress 2 session

2330: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[ramprasad]

Thats less then 5 hours of sleep. Musn't we sleep for 8 hours to really have our brains working on full capacity.

How about the fall breakdown? Thanks.

[jasper.milvain]

This is what my life looked like during a term of coursework in my MA. I assume the beginning of my PhD will be pretty much the same (except at the new institution I'll be taking one more class per term and not teaching for the first year, and have more research side projects).

8:30 Wake up, drink coffee, check internet.

9:30 Read on the bus (either my reading, or stuff I'm teaching).

10:30 Attend lecture for the course I'm TAing, make a rough plan for the seminar I have to run during lecture (this was actively encouraged, not slacking).

11:30 Run seminar (17 students).

12:30 Grab some friends, go for lunch.

1:30 Office hours. Nobody comes, so do more reading.

2:30 Some mix of reading, library trips, paperwork/planning, gossipping in the hallway with other students, going to profs' office hours, and writing up small assignments.

3:30 Ditto

4:30 If one of my two seminars runs tonight, attend seminar from 4:30 to 8:30. If not, go home, cook dinner, and get a bunch more reading done until my husband comes home. Then stop and watch cheesy horror movies and chat about our days.

11:30 Go to sleep.

I always got at least 8, if not 9 hours of sleep, never pulled an all nighter, and almost always had time to spend with my husband and friends. On any given day I would have between 0 and 9 hours of strictly scheduled work (lectures, seminars, office hours, grad classes) and between 0 and infinity hours of unscheduled work (marking, reading for class, reading for research, getting to know my field, writing papers, writing grant apps, attending talks, applying for conferences, prepping conference papers, working on various committees). It was a very rare day that I put in more than 12 hours, though. As you can see, the arduous parts of my day were broken up with lots of less formal, 'fun' work that doesn't really feel like work.

[Minnesotan]

I'm glad I'm in the Humanities. All I do over the summer is read and plan next fall's courses. Here's a typical day in the life:

1pm Wake up, clean self, check email

2pm grab breakfast

2:30pm go to gym

4pm talk to girlfriend, play with cats

5pm translate something from Latin to English

6pm read or write for personal research

9pm cook something

10pm read or write for teaching

11pm read for fun

12am watch Reno 911 reruns, play on the Xbox 360, have some beers

~5am pass out on couch

~9am move from couch to bed

I get a little busier if there's a grant application or conference deadline approaching, but that's a pretty standard summer workday for me during first session, with weekends completely devoted to leisure. I teach one course during second session, so add an hour of that thrice weekly, which nibbles away at personal research and personal play time.

[Minnesotan]

Sorry -- you asked about our schedules when school's in session, too.

~1 hour before first meeting/seminar/course to teach: wake up and get to school

Until bedtime: read, teach, grade, and talk about reading, teaching, and grading

~6 hours before tomorrow's first appointment: try to sleep (and, no, you will not get 8 hours of sleep as a grad student; if you do, you're not working hard enough)

On the weekends, for one glorious 24-hour period I accomplish nothing. This is non-negotiable. Grocery shopping, spending time with the girlfriend, playing games, reading fiction, whatever most people get to do in real life that I miss out on for 9 months out of the year.

[ramprasad]

you will not get 8 hours of sleep as a grad student; if you do, you're not working hard enough

Sucks ^100, but good to know.

On the weekends, for one glorious 24-hour period I accomplish nothing.

Is this both Saturday and Sunday, part of both, or one whole and half another. :wink:

[Minnesotan]

Is this both Saturday and Sunday, part of both, or one whole and half another. :wink:

Although this seems daft, prima facie, it is actually an astute query. By way of answer, I have developed an uncanny ability to read and absorb material when hungover. I credit all of the practice sessions I conducted as an undergrad. =)

[newage2012]

Although this seems daft, prima facie, it is actually an astute query. By way of answer, I have developed an uncanny ability to read and absorb material when hungover. I credit all of the practice sessions I conducted as an undergrad. =)

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