Time for outside activities during grad school?

[laleph]

While I'm sure this varies a bit by program, I was wondering if the more experienced folks could chime in about whether it's possible to (somewhat seriously) pursue other interests while in graduate school – in my case, music. I've spent most of my life wavering between academia and the professional music world. For more than 5 years, I've worked as a full-time teacher, and haven't had much time for performing music, but I still compose regularly, and currently have a project that might lead to a series of short tours sometime in the next couple years (the project is a collaboration with a professional musician). I don't expect to launch a career as a full-time professional musician while in graduate school, buuuttt… I'm wondering if I'll have to put my project completely on hold.

I've heard varying opinions from grad students at the school I'll be attending. One person told me explicitly: you will not have time for any outside activity for at least the first two years. Others have said that's an exaggeration. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Edited July 27, 2017 by laleph

[AP]

I'm of the opinion that you must pursue other interests. I agree with you: that person was exaggerating.

We all need a way to distract ourselves, to turn stress, worries, questions into something productive. I practice sports: I joined two clubs and an intramural team, I go to gym/swim/run, and I even picked up two new sports during my comps/prospectus because it was a way to also learn something new and accompanying the process of intellectual 'acquisition'.

That said, I don't know how serious you can be about an instrument. I know of people how participated in some small performance events because, like you, had a semi-professional past. I also know of people who joined choirs/church bands as a means to channel this. Others collaborated with the performing arts department for fundraisers. I tried to resume piano lessons but they were too pricey for my stipend. I sense you will have to come to grips with the fact that you may not keep up with your professional pace. For example, in my program we don't have any responsibilities in first year other than doing well. That was a great time for me to feel at home doing sports I practiced at home, it was a way of adjusting. During my second year it was harder to keep up with team sports and in my third year it was impossible, hence I picked up individual sports. 

Lay out the five-six years ahead of you and think about your PhD requirements (teaching, coursework, comps, etc). If you know what's happening when, you'll be able to tune the amount of time you devote to your music. But by no means abandon it. 

[rising_star]

This comes up a lot. The short answer is what @AP has said. You need to have things outside of your degree program to help yourself manage the stress of grad school.

Here are a few threads you might find helpful:

 

 

I hope this helps. 

[TMP]

Yes!  It is possible but be flexible as your workload will vary by semesters.  First two years are definitely rough because you are taking a full load of classes and teaching (and even if you are on fellowship, that's another class).  But stay flexible and make a little time.  Some semesters you might be able to devote more time to your activity and other semesters, not so much.  Each semester has its own personality.  

[NoirFemme]

This thread popped up at the right time. I'm admittedly used to juggling multiple balls--in fact, it helps my ADHD. But I don't want to run myself ragged if grad school takes that much out of you. 

[Deep Fried Angst]

You will have time if you make time. But be realistic. Are you going to have hours and hours of free time to do whatever you want? Probably not. Will you be able to carve out 30 minutes a day to devote to an interest you enjoy? Yes. 

Protect the time set aside for your personal interests. It will help you keep the stress of graduate school under control. It will help you maintain and identity beyond academia. It, often, will make you a better student. 

Personally, I can get more accomplished in two hours with a 20-30 minute break in which I do an active pursuit of an interest than working two hours straight on writing, reading, or research. 

The key is to be realistic and to be flexible. It will take some time to find the proper balance. The balance will look different week to week, depending on your workload. But one of the easiest ways to get burnout is to sacrifice what makes you who you are for the sake of your studies. Discipline your interests into acceptable blocks of time but do not kill them off. 

[TakeruK]

1 hour ago, dmueller0711 said:

You will have time if you make time. But be realistic. Are you going to have hours and hours of free time to do whatever you want? Probably not. Will you be able to carve out 30 minutes a day to devote to an interest you enjoy? Yes. 

Protect the time set aside for your personal interests. It will help you keep the stress of graduate school under control. It will help you maintain and identity beyond academia. It, often, will make you a better student.

I personally found that most students actually are able to carve out much more than 30 minutes per day, especially if they follow the advice of protecting/managing your time. As others wrote in the threads linked by rising_star, time management and setting priorities is really important. I would estimate that most students in my program have something like 10-15 hours per week to devote to personal interests. In some years you might have more and in others you might have less. And some weeks of the year could be very work heavy while others not so much. But on average, most students I know commit to some sort of leisure activity that "costs" about 10-15 hours per week. I know students who are part of a band, some that train for marathons, some that pick up a new sport (e.g. tennis), some that get their pilot's license. Others split this time over several activities that require less time each. Or, just use it as open leisure time and not engage in structured activities at all. There's nothing wrong with using your 10-15 hours one week to binge-watch House of Cards, for example. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything