Time Management

I recently had a conversation with one of the faculty members at my university about time management. They asked me how I managed to organize my time so efficiently. At first, I was flattered that they had recognized what I consider to be one of my greatest skills. But then they mentioned that they were curious because they wanted one of their mentees to manage their time more like I do – and I was instantly filled with dread.

In that moment I realized that as much as I pride myself on time management, I often take it to an unhealthy extreme.

When I really want to get something done, I start to cut things out of my life like interaction with family and friends, personal downtime, creative side projects, sleep, etc. These are important things! Though it may not hurt to trim back on them every so often to get one really big project milestone done, eliminating them from my life frequently has turned into a vicious cycle. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, especially not other PhD students who are already under tons of pressure to produce valuable results.

I’m reevaluating my time management skills. When I cut out too many things, I struggle to maintain basic functionality and I become less productive. It’s self-sabotage in the long run. I need to stop cutting and start supporting. When I have things like friends, family, creative inspiration, and sleep to support my work, it’s consistently higher in quality.

While I recognize that I’ve still got some work to do on my extreme time management habits, here are few tips for healthy time management:

• Find something that works for you.
• This is the most important thing.
• It could be an app, a planner, or a color-coordinated post-it note scheme.  It could be a combination of things. Whatever it is, makes sure it’s something you can stick with or adjust to suit your needs.
• Write things down.
• Whether on your phone, your laptop, or your physical notebook, write down what happens in meetings and presentations. This will save you time later when you’re trying to remember the feedback you received.
• Set small, realistic goals.
• I usually plan for a week at a time. On Sunday, I plan out all of my experiments for the week and give myself time for general admin activities. Sometimes this spills over into the following week, sometimes I can only make it through Wednesday, but I have a very clear idea of what needs to happen in the next few days.
• Prioritize.
• Set one or two things as your top priority (something that needs to get done) in your schedule, include three or four other priorities (something that you want to get done) after that, and everything else is just bonus (something that’s great if you get it done, but doesn’t need to happen right away).
• Recognize when something isn’t working and adjust.
• As a project progresses, it changes and sometimes the way you manage it also has to change. That’s okay. Figure out what isn’t working, and adapt to something that will work. Also, understand that the first thing you try may not immediately fix your problems. Iterate and give it time.
• Ask for help sometimes. 
• As PhD students, we often get in the mindset that we have to do everything on our own all of the time and it’s simply not true. It’s okay to ask a friend to keep an eye on one of your experiments or take a sample for you. We know what you’re going through and we know that you’d help us if we asked you.
• Breathe. 

My many planners...