Time Management Tips

[adel9216]

Hello everyone,

I am a first year PhD student as some of you already know, and I struggle with structuring my time (cause most of my time is unstructured, and I don't have a boss that's waiting for me at 9am.).

I am using Focusmate a few times a week which helps me to structure my time a bit more, but I'm still not as productive as I know I can be. I also had a difficult semester on a personal level, so that interfered a little bit with my usual productivity. I'm known for being able to motivate myself without having someone tell me I need to do things, but for some reason, this semester is a bit different. I plan my week, but am struggling to stick to the plan. I gave up my paper agenda for a digital one for the first time of my life, because I realized that the paper one is just not effective for me anymore at this stage of my life. On top of this, I am also living on my own for the first time.

I still manage to get most of what I have to do done on time. But still, I am getting more and more requests to contribute to projects related to my doctoral work or speak about my research topic, and I need to fit that effectively into my schedule. I am not turning down any of those requests because it puts me "out there" as an expert on my topic. if it's related to my doctoral work, I say yes. Otherwise, I say no.

I know it's a skill that I need to develop because I want to be an academic. Most of the people here are academics, how do you organize your days/weeks? Any tips would be appreciated. Are they any specific apps that you use? I really need to develop a system asap. I still have time to test a few things out though.

Thank you,

[pigou]

I use Asana to track the various to-dos related to my projects. I also make entries for what my co-authors are supposed to do and when I'm supposed to follow-up with them to make sure it doesn't drop off the radar. In my dream world, I could get them all to use Asana and we could assign task and comment on them, but I've given up on this little productivity dream: if they only use it for projects with me, then they don't really use it. So Email it is. But key is to offload everything from my brain, so I don't spend energy thinking about the million things that need to get done.

I also use Gmail's snooze feature excessively: either to 8pm, or a specific day if it's more of a reminder/directions to an event. Broadly, it's just more efficient to deal with 20 emails at once; but emails in my inbox make me nervous -- I want them all to be things I'm addressing right now (more like a to-do list). Usually, emails are the first and last things I do during the day and other than that receive minimal attention unless they seem urgent from the subject. (When a co-author emails with a question, I drop everything to respond: chances are, they're going to set the project aside for a week if they get stuck.) I try to have lunch with other people, but I do deal with emails when I am eating by myself.

My key productivity hack is to ensure I have blocks of at least 3 consecutive hours that I can work without distractions every day. Most of my weekdays have two such blocks and three on the weekends (though I don't use all the weekend ones: some of those just turn into relaxation blocks). Less than that is hard to do deep work, more than that stops being productive. Time between seminars/meetings/obligations can be used for email or various little tasks.

Related to this hack is "time blocking," i.e. putting the blocks on my Google Calendar and deciding what I'm going to do. I have them pre-filled on my calendar with TBD, which means nothing gets scheduled during those hours. The night before, I look at my Asana list and think about what I want to do and fill in the blocks. Sometimes I split them into two 1.5 hour blocks when I have tasks like reviewing proofs that need to be done urgently. Otherwise, they go into 1 hour blocks outside of the protected time. I also try to break it up, such that there aren't two 3-hour blocks of writing in a day...

[Puget]

I'll repeat my advice from another thread:

1. Make a strategic plan for the semester: List all your projects (papers, chapters, grants-- whatever applies to you) and set deadlines for those that don't have external deadlines. Then, map out what you will work on each week (be specific -- e.g., not "work on paper A" but "draft section X of paper A and send to co-authors" or whatever).

2. Make a weekly writing plan at the start of each week-- transfer the specific tasks from your strategic plan to your weekly plan, assigning them to days and putting the time you will work on each day on your calendar. Treat this like a meeting with yourself. This way, you are writing every (work) day, even if it is a small chunk.

If you don't have a plan, you will always be doing the urgent thing of the moment and not the important things without deadlines.

Also, +1 to Asana -- my lab functions entirely on Asana and Slack, which keeps my inbox, and me, sane. No one ever has to hunt for a draft or an email with comments, or figure out who currently has a manuscript on their plate, because it is all there, documented, in one place.  I can't make my outside collaborators use it, but I can make my students ;)

[Caracal]

I still manage to get most of what I have to do done on time. But still, I am getting more and more requests to contribute to projects related to my doctoral work or speak about my research topic, and I need to fit that effectively into my schedule. I am not turning down any of those requests because it puts me "out there" as an expert on my topic. if it's related to my doctoral work, I say yes. Otherwise, I say no.


Thank you,

Go easy on this kind of stuff. Yes, it is good to network and be visible, but the returns on this kind of thing start diminishing very quickly the more you do. That's especially true with things like reviews, encyclopedia entries or online textbooks, but it applies to talks and conferences as well. Having a few of these things on your C.V. sends the signal that you are an engaged scholar, but having a ton of them mostly is just going to suggest to a hiring committee that you seek out these things. At some point, it can actually start to look like you don't have much focus.

[polly_mer]

Related to this hack is "time blocking," i.e. putting the blocks on my Google Calendar and deciding what I'm going to do. I have them pre-filled on my calendar with TBD, which means nothing gets scheduled during those hours. The night before, I look at my Asana list and think about what I want to do and fill in the blocks. Sometimes I split them into two 1.5 hour blocks when I have tasks like reviewing proofs that need to be done urgently. Otherwise, they go into 1 hour blocks outside of the protected time. I also try to break it up, such that there aren't two 3-hour blocks of writing in a day...

Making the appointment with yourself helps a lot.  I especially like to have a standing appointment for the bureaucratic tasks that can wait until the next Wednesday at 2 pm when I will be fried and looking for something that can just be done, unlike research, writing, or coding.

I also second Caracal's advice to go easy on requests related to doctoral work and speaking about the research topic.  If you're in a hot area, then you can end up in the bad situation of giving a bunch of talks, but having no new material to present because you're spending all your time giving talks.  Look at your calendar and decide whether the current invitation is worth bumping something else or whether you should gracefully decline.  An invitation as the keynote for the biggest conference in your field is a yes.  The 6th little one in a year where all you're getting is lunch and gas money is a no.

Reviews and such are similar.  Having one per quarter means you are a growing expert.  Doing one or two a month at the expense of your own work (or worse at the expense of your relaxation, downtime, and sleep) means you are the current chump who is doing the heavy lifting for minimal personal benefit.  They will find someone to do reviews; your energy has to go into original work that will make your reputation as a scholar.

[adel9216]

Thank you for all of your wisdom, thoughts and comments. :)