Weekends?

[bambi_86]

Hi all,

 

I've looked for a good answer to this all over the forum, and while many of the threads (whoever put together the lists of advice for incoming PhD students is a genius) cover similar topics, I wanted to start one specifically on the feasibility of treating your graduate studies like a 9-5 job more or less. 

 

Short story, I'm currently finishing up my MA studies at one school and moving on to a PhD in a slightly different field (going from international relations to history). I'm honestly not sure I could handle five more years of not having weekends free ever. I also know myself well enough to know that I can get stuff done within a certain time limit if I only decide to. 

 

Therefore, I'm wondering what you experienced PhD students could tell me about the feasibility of taking weekends completely off to hang out with significant others, friends etc. Is it an impossible ambition or in fact a good and doable idea? 

 

Grateful for any advice. In any case, I'm very much looking forward to joining your ranks. 

[MathCat]

Several PhD students I met on visits mentioned doing this.

[fuzzylogician]

The great thing about grad school (and to some extent, having an academic career) is that you can largely make your own schedule. If you're a morning person, you can work in the morning. If you're a night person, you can work at night. You can decide that weekends are off-limits or that you want to travel Wed-Fri and make up for that over the weekend. Grad school and research in general can take up as much or as little of your time as you let it. What's most important is to set boundaries and stick to them. If you decide that you want to only work 9-5, you can definitely do it. You need to make sure you actually work during that time, as opposed to wasting time on the internet. I've said before that I have gone as far as scheduling my sleep, housework, social events, etc. in my calendar; I find that it helps me have a balanced schedule, and it helps to be able to say "no, I am not free at that time, I already have something scheduled" if someone wants to schedule something at a time where I wasn't going to work. And you do need to keep in mind that occasionally you may need to cram before an exam or a deadline, but that will be the exception, not the rule. So -- doable, but you need to learn to set your boundaries and stick to them. It can be hard, but it helps if you are conscious of it.

[Realities]

I do this (whenever I want - sometimes I'm excited about projects; also sometimes I have to catch up/get ahead on stuff due to busy weeks). I definitely think it's good for your mental health to engage in self-care and taking time completely away from your work to unwind.

 

Typically I stop working after 9:00pm on weekdays and then only work as needed/wanted on weekends. I definitely engage in some fun things, like sports, every weekend.

[ss2player]

I keep a set (8-9)AM - (5-6)PM schedule, but since my SO often works weekends, I will go in during those times if I have nothing else planned, just for a few hours to prep for the next week or do a small experiment. 

 

As was said, you will likely have a flexible schedule, but if you prefer a 9-5 and can be productive, go for it! Your advisor may have different expectations, however. During one of my lab rotations the PI said her expectation was 8 hour days, 6 days a week AT THE MINIMUM. Most of the lab worked harder than that, pushing 70 hour weeks, because of intimidation, not desire. Needless to say, I didn't join that group.

Edited April 21, 2015 by ss2player

[sociologo]

Definitely take time off to spend time with friends, your partner, alone. I think it's incredibly beneficial for your long-term mental health and for preventing burnout. You may find that at certain points you will need to work each day -finals, around comps, etc. - but even then, set aside some time for yourself - to go to the gym, to make a good meal for yourself, maybe indulge in some leisure reading for 30 min, whatever. Your work is (probably) never going to feel like it's done, so you'll need to create space to rest. 

[music]

This is totally possible. I currently do (equivalent of) 9-5 Sun-Fri, and will likely cut Sunday work out once my husband moves to town next academic year.

[Eigen]

I generally take off weekends, but I have projects that often necessitate a couple of hours at least every day. My trend lately has been to pick one day on the weekend, and my wife and I both take it entirely off. 

 

My boss, generally, expects us to be doing ~40 hours of productive work per week. Sometimes a bit less if our projects necessitate working odd hours/schedules. I try to treat it as much like a regular job as possible- the schedule is good for health, for productivity, and for keeping up ties outside of school. 

 

My only major deviation from a typical work week is taking off early on Fridays (around 4), and getting together with some faculty/staff and other grad students to drink a couple of beers. Definitely a worthwhile deviation. 

[qeta]

I am so happy to see that PhD candidates actually take days off! Were you able to do this in the coursework and the dissertation stages? I've not had weekends off (except for the odd one here and there) for the last three years (the final two years of undergrad and the first year of my two-year MA). I've just gotten slower by doing this and the prospect of 5-6 more years of this is terrifying/demotivating.

[music]

I am so happy to see that PhD candidates actually take days off! Were you able to do this in the coursework and the dissertation stages? I've not had weekends off (except for the odd one here and there) for the last three years (the final two years of undergrad and the first year of my two-year MA). I've just gotten slower by doing this and the prospect of 5-6 more years of this is terrifying/demotivating.

 

I'm a 1st year in Humanities, so very much in the middle of 2-3 years of coursework + language study (my answer is above).

[fuzzylogician]

I am so happy to see that PhD candidates actually take days off! Were you able to do this in the coursework and the dissertation stages? I've not had weekends off (except for the odd one here and there) for the last three years (the final two years of undergrad and the first year of my two-year MA). I've just gotten slower by doing this and the prospect of 5-6 more years of this is terrifying/demotivating.

 

I worked longer hours during the coursework stage of grad school, then realized that I couldn't possibly continue to work so much and stay healthy and slowed down some, some time in my second year. After that I feel like I had a good balance and I felt like it was both healthy and productive. I am a night person so a 9-5 schedule wouldn't really work for me, but I made sure to have a life in addition to my work. The dissertation stage allows you a lot more freedom. For someone like me, who doesn't need a lab for most of her work, this meant that I could really work on my own schedule and take breaks whenever I needed to. The only time when things got completely crazy again was right towards the end. Between roughly April and July of my dissertation year I think I took maybe 5 days off altogether, because there was just so much to do. This doesn't mean that I worked nonstop the whole rest of the time, but work was always on my mind and I tried to make steady progress without getting distracted. The looming deadline gives you a different perspective.

[bambi_86]

I knew I would get a lot of helpful advice here but this really exceeded my expectations. I can't thank you enough, both for the advice on how to plan PhD life in order to take scheduled time off, and for the encouragement to do so. I can really foresee myself not enjoying life as a PhD student if I allow myself to go as crazy as I normally do about these things. I will say though, these two years of MA studies have really shown me that time by no means equals work done or productivity. In general, I think there is an unhealthy view in some grad programs (I can only speak for MA) that the people who put down the most hours have the most success. But knowing how many people are doing random internet browsing around me in the library as I write this, I know it's not the case and I wish more grad programs would work to get rid of that sort of attitude. 

 

I actually just had a great realization about this talking to one of my current profs right now. She did her PhD while raising two kids and working part-time for the federal government. Many people have to go through these programs with such demanding life and family conditions, so for those of us who only have ourselves and perhaps a significant other to plan time around, taking weekends off shouldn't be all that hard. 

[TakeruK]

As others already said, definitely doable. Just wanted to add another voice in support of taking weekends off  

 

If you want more examples of current graduate students sharing their schedules, see:  see that while it's not strictly 9-5, many students are able to choose how to structure the hours they work each day (and which days they work each week). 

 

One of my officemates works from 2pm to midnight each day and takes weekends off because their SO is in another (nearby) town. I also work about 40 hours of productive work per week and schedule my work hours around my spouse's workday (typical office schedule). 

 

Also related to taking weekends off is vacation time.

 

I also take my school's vacation policy seriously. We get 10 vacation days (2 work weeks) plus all 12 of the institute holidays plus the "special release days" between Christmas and New Years that the school closes. So that adds up to about 25 work days (~5 work weeks) of vacation annually and that's approximately the amount of vacation time I take per year. Usually I choose to work on the random long weekends (e.g. Labour Day, Memorial Day, etc.) and take different vacation days off instead. Or sometimes, I might come in on an extra Saturday or two so that I can take a long weekend off later that month for a friend's wedding. 

 

The only catch to grad students taking vacation time here is that we need our supervisor's approval (but this is basically true at any workplace too). So I obviously cannot (and in my best interests, would not) choose to take vacation on the days where I need to use the telescope to get critical data for my work!

 

And finally, having the ability to choose your working hours means you get to schedule some things at more convenient times (e.g. dentist appointments) and then just make up those hours another day (or just count them as vacation time).

[bambi_86]

This is all really great advice. I'll just strive to always treat it like a job, put up clear goals and see free time as virtually non-negotiable. Also there seem to be a lot of benefits to reap from the flexibility. Thanks again, this forum truly is awesome.

[amoeba_chica]

Given my personal familial situation, this was of great concern to me.  Ultimately, I accepted an offer at the only school that made me an offer, but honestly, a major factor of consideration for me was the feasibility of weekends off.  I spoke with some students at the school I will be attending in the fall and they said that, though it does rely largely on your project, the PIs in general, do not seem to frown upon not being in the lab on weekends.  It was important to me to be able to be free on weekends, either to go home or for my family to come to me.  The consensus was that I am at the mercy of my project, so choose wisely.  This is probably less of a concern for non-science people.

[maelia8]

Humanities student here, so I don't need to be in a lab, but I definitely find that it's possible to mostly take weekends off if I wish it. However, I am currently in the first year of my program and mostly doing coursework. I have seen firsthand that third-year students in their orals semester literally cannot take off more than a few hours per week or risk failing in their preparation - that exam is no joke! However, I've noticed that students who are beyond this stage once again have the time and flexibility to set their own hours and work on a set schedule if they so please, so this situation appears to be temporary. 

[Horb]

I'm a first year humanities student. I have no idea how I would take weekends off. I work (and actually work) about 9 hours per day, seven days a week. On the weekends, I can sometimes get away with only doing 6 hours of work, but that is if I don't have presentations, colloquiums, papers, or other projects due. However, I truly believe the ability to take time off is based on program's rigor and the individual. I know some people in my program who strategically skip certain readings each week so that they have time for themselves. 

[_kita]

I'm so glad to see the responses on this thread. I'm about to do the same thing as bambi_86 (hopefully).

 

Currently, I have it set up that I work long hours three days of the week (8:30 am- 9:30 pm MTH), normal hours two days of the week (8:30-4:30 WF) and switch off picking up extra work, attending to tasks, and having a social life the rest of the days. If I can keep this type of flexibility during my PhD, I'll be fine. I actually thrive on it more than a traditional 8-4 schedule.

[fuzzylogician]

I'm a first year humanities student. I have no idea how I would take weekends off. I work (and actually work) about 9 hours per day, seven days a week. On the weekends, I can sometimes get away with only doing 6 hours of work, but that is if I don't have presentations, colloquiums, papers, or other projects due. However, I truly believe the ability to take time off is based on program's rigor and the individual. I know some people in my program who strategically skip certain readings each week so that they have time for themselves. 

 

Two things will (hopefully) happen: first, you'll learn to become more efficient and make better use of your time, and second, you'll learn to triage your assignments and not do everything all the time. A good example is not doing all the readings. No one can go nonstop for five years, and it's not like then you can just stop and rest, if you want to have an academic career. You have to learn to take breaks.

[TakeruK]

I'm a first year humanities student. I have no idea how I would take weekends off. I work (and actually work) about 9 hours per day, seven days a week. On the weekends, I can sometimes get away with only doing 6 hours of work, but that is if I don't have presentations, colloquiums, papers, or other projects due. However, I truly believe the ability to take time off is based on program's rigor and the individual. I know some people in my program who strategically skip certain readings each week so that they have time for themselves. 

 

(emphasis added)

 

Yes, this is exactly one strategy I (and many other people) employ to reduce the amount of time spent on coursework. In the sciences, there are less readings and more homework problem sets, so the equivalent there is to just do enough to get the majority of the points. I find that I can usually get to "B" level with only 3 hours/week spent on homework, but it might take another 6 hours/week to get to "A"...so depending on the course, I might stop at 3, or do a little more to get to that A- and stop. 

 

Another efficient strategy is to work together, when your school/course policies allow it. Instead of fully reading all of the assignments, split them between your colleagues and then meet up for a study session where each of you explain/summarize your assigned reading to others. But again, be careful to stay within the bounds of your school/course academic integrity policies. Usually, if readings are just assigned for learning, this is okay, but if the summaries are also your homework assignments, then this would very likely be not okay!

 

And finally, for me, I find procrastination to be a very effective tool to curb perfectionism. Sometimes I just really like the material and if I don't be careful, I could spend 10 hours on a problem set to get everything perfect. Or, I would keep thinking up new ways to improve my calculation and go back to the set. This is a poor use of my time though, so I often try to wait until the day before something is due before doing it. Some my colleagues are better disciplined and they schedule one single day to work on it, and then force themselves to never look at it again. I find that waiting until the last day is often a good idea, since sometimes the professor will extend the deadline, or you will learn something closer to the due date that makes the problem set a lot easier.

[Cheshire_Cat]

Two things will (hopefully) happen: first, you'll learn to become more efficient and make better use of your time, and second, you'll learn to triage your assignments and not do everything all the time. A good example is not doing all the readings. No one can go nonstop for five years, and it's not like then you can just stop and rest, if you want to have an academic career. You have to learn to take breaks.

 

Interesting.  One thing that they said the GMAT is supposed to show is how well you triage, because of the time limit and such.  You can't answer every question, so you answer the ones you can.

 

It is also a useful skill in the working world.  When I first started working, my position was such that I could clear my desk and then take a vacation when I had nothing else to do.  However, for the past year, there has always been something that has needed doing, and I'm never done with everything.  At first this really frustrated me, and I have a hard time taking breaks when I have something to do. (I also worked way more than 9-5) But I suppose it is good that I've learned how to manage that anxiety now (barely, haha) because when I get to my program, it will be similar.

 

I want to have one day a week to rest. I've always kept one day, in undergrad and working, but the actual day varied.  I think the main thing is to commit to a rest time, and make that a hard commitment.  It is easier to be inefficient when you think you can do things on the weekend, but if you commit to not working on a certain day, then you have to get everything done before then.

 

I'm really glad to have this forum so I can learn these tips and strategies before I start my program.

[random_grad]

Thanks for starting this thread! It was really great to read the responses. I feel better now

 

My 50 cents: during my last year of the undergrad I worked on call and had a 120% course load (I really wanted to finish my BA!). The on-call portion was just too much: I obsessively checked my emails all day long to respond immediately. I was exhausted. So I followed the advise of a self-help book (don't remember which) to schedule blocks of "guilt-free time" during which I'd just rest (no emails please - and hey, the world did not end without me being out of reach!). It was evenings after a certain hour + 1 day off per week. (the book also recommended taking short break every hour, but this was too hard to organize). It worked like a charm, and when I was doing my MA I actually added a 2nd day off once a month because the 1 day off did not allow me to recharge (I also noticed that taking a half-day off does not work for me. It's really important to go to sleep guilt-free, i.e. not thinking about stuff you'll do tomorrow). A couple of times I would skip the day off to work on assignment, which always backfired. So I ended up making it an absolute number one rule to take that day off to rest.

 

Also, going to the gym helped a lot in terms of energy levels (and health, for that matter); sleeping well; eating healthy; drinking more water... Being well in your body improves efficiency. I also spend a bit of time every now and then revising the way I work to improve efficiency: I go to workshops, read self-help books and cut down on unnecessary tasks.

 

While I am a bit worried for what it will be like for the PhD, I will do all I can to keep the 1 day off intact. evenings may have to go though ))

[VulpesZerda]

I'm following this thread and want to thank everyone for their input! It will be helpful come fall. Right now as an undergrad I have to go to my part time job (retail) for 9 hours Saturday and 9 Sunday. It is physically and mentally exhausting, and makes me *hate* the weekends. I dread the days everyone enjoys. I'd do anything to even get one day per week of little/no work!

[Sigaba]

Hi all,

 

I've looked for a good answer to this all over the forum, and while many of the threads (whoever put together the lists of advice for incoming PhD students is a genius) cover similar topics, I wanted to start one specifically on the feasibility of treating your graduate studies like a 9-5 job more or less. 

 

Short story, I'm currently finishing up my MA studies at one school and moving on to a PhD in a slightly different field (going from international relations to history). I'm honestly not sure I could handle five more years of not having weekends free ever. I also know myself well enough to know that I can get stuff done within a certain time limit if I only decide to. 

 

Therefore, I'm wondering what you experienced PhD students could tell me about the feasibility of taking weekends completely off to hang out with significant others, friends etc. Is it an impossible ambition or in fact a good and doable idea? 

 

Grateful for any advice. In any case, I'm very much looking forward to joining your ranks. 

 

You may face a more challenging transition than you realize. Many, if not most, historians do not consider IR a "slightly different" field, despite the efforts of some historians, most notably J. L. Gaddis in the summer 1987 issue of International Security, to bridge the gap. (If you've not done so already, please take a look at ISBN-13 9780521132244 and/or consult the review in Foreign Affairs.) 

 

I recommend that you start off with the assumption that you will need to work as hard as you ever have. If the transition seems to be going smoothly maybe consider taking off an occasional weekend.

[TakeruK]

I recommend that you start off with the assumption that you will need to work as hard as you ever have. If the transition seems to be going smoothly maybe consider taking off an occasional weekend.

 

Different fields have different norms that one should definitely be aware of and make decisions with these norms in context.

 

But that aside, the first semester of grad school is an important one. As Sigaba suggests, it's a good idea to start working as hard as you can and then easing off, since many people find this is an easier transition than the reverse. Also, it's safer in that you're less likely to end up with a "slacker" reputation if you end up undershooting what the "norm" is.

 

However, I think this should also be balanced by the fact that for other people, routine is really important in setting time limits. So, if you want to do something like, take a tennis class from 4pm-6pm on Tuesdays/Thursdays, you should start in your first term, so that your "down time" is firmly set into your routine right away. A lot of grad students find it hard to force themselves (or at least not feel guilty about) taking time for themselves and it's easy to neglect other important priorities because "you're too busy". If you set a routine that involves non-academic activities right away, you may have an easier time scheduling your work around it so that you can achieve the balance you want. Don't be afraid to take on more "fun" activities than you might want to settle into--like work, you can always cut back on these activities and ease up as you determine what balance you want.

 

In my opinion, it's just as important to "go full steam" in your academics and your non-academic pursuits when you start grad school. Exactly how you achieve this and what balance you want is your personal choice, but I encourage all new students to do as much as they can when they start, because it's the time where you have the most opportunity and most flexibility in developing your eventual routine. Don't neglect one part of your life for another, because it's pretty easy to fall into the trap of "Oh I'll do that next year" over and over again (this applies to both academic and non-academic stuff).