• Question: How Much Time To Yourself Do You Have?

    Asked by Max Tuckett to Simon, Alex, Andrew, Delma, Julia on 5 Dec 2015. This question was also asked by Zaphod_Beeblebrox.
    • Photo: Julia Attias

      Julia Attias answered on 5 Dec 2015:

      Hi @Max Tuckett,

      I am a firm believer in work-life balance. It can be very easy to continuously work hard 24/7, especially as a scientist, because your work stays with you when you leave the door (like you have constant homework). However, I think its important that we are able to “switch off” to keep our productivity high. I try as best I can (and succeed probably 80% of the time – its not always possible) to work very hard Monday-Friday so that I can switch off on the weekends and get my head out of work. When I start writing my thesis I imagine that percentage will go way down :p

    • Photo: Andrew Winnard

      Andrew Winnard answered on 6 Dec 2015:

      Julia got it right – work life balance is really important. Both when I worked at the astronaut centre and now as a PhD student, I can manage my own time. Provided I do the hours I am paid for (which is 9-5) and get the work done, I can work any times I like. I often work a little over Monday to Thursday and then finish early on Friday afternoon 😀

      I can also work from home a lot which saves time traveling!

    • Photo: Alexander Finch

      Alexander Finch answered on 7 Dec 2015:

      Ah, it depends. Usually, “not enough”. I try to work a “normal” number of hours a week – about 40, but often find that a few more are needed to finish things. It requires some self-discipline not to work all the time, and I’m getting better at not letting work take over. In general though, I have enough spare time to myself!

    • Photo: Delma Childers

      Delma Childers answered on 7 Dec 2015:

      I try to carve out one weekend day to do no work and I try to get some me time the other six days of the week (not sure about the success rate). As Julia, Andrew and Alex mentioned, it’s easy to work long hours; for instance, reading and writing are usually done when I’m at home and lab work, meetings and more writing happen Monday – Friday. Science can be very hard work, and when I was a PhD student it wasn’t uncommon to work more than 60 hours a week (especially when writing my thesis – get ready, Julia! 😛 ). It’s important to balance work and life, both for yourself and for your loved ones.

Comments