by Maribel Hernandez, PhD student in Addiction Neuroscience
In grad school, but especially during a global pandemic, there is no one around to tell you whether you are doing something right or wrong; it is totally up to you how you allocate your time. Now that everything is online, the work/life balance you once had has had to be adjusted.
As someone who had gotten pretty good at a work/life balance pre-COVID, I can say that I had to start over and figure out what being all online means. I have had to pick up new hobbies and let go of newly formed habits – which is difficult if your days start blending together. Pre-COVID, my days consisted of going to lab and getting work done there, occasionally continuing that work at home, or I would go to see a show, go to hot yoga, maybe just go grab a drink with friends, but now…that’s definitely not the case.
Here is a snippet of my schedule at the beginning of the pandemic:
7:00 am: wake up, get dressed (sweats), make coffee
8:00 am: check email and respond, check the news.
9:00 am – 11:45: Attend lab meeting, teach class, or attend class; respond to emails during
11:50 am: breath, stretch…really just check twitter or Instagram.
12:15 pm: lunch…did I drink water? Make more coffee.
1:15 pm: pace around the house, play with my cats.
2:15 pm: wow, its 2’oclock…it’s also a Wednesday…maybe I should start writing…oh actually I should email my senator
3:00 pm: realize I got distracted by a tweet and spiraled.
3:30 pm: I should start writing, or analyzing data, or reaching out to my mentees, or doing something for the organizations I’m in, or calling my mom back, or taking care of bills, or literally anything other than not working!
4:00 – 6:00 pm: actual work
6:30 pm: wow, what am I going to make for dinner – look up recipes
7:00 pm: start cooking
8:30 pm: a toss-up, really. Sometimes I am super productive and work a few more hours, but other times, there’s a new Netflix show I should check out.
Yikes. A full day and very little got done…but you know what THAT WAS OKAY. If you are still here, THAT IS OKAY. With everything going on, productivity is going to look different. Adjusting is difficult and finding new ways to break up your day is a slow process. I constantly tell myself, “tomorrow is going to be great!” and I try to make it that, but I think that we should be kind to ourselves when we don’t meet all of our expectations.
Now, almost a year in, I have learned that we can’t be on the computer working all day. It’s okay to take breaks and important, even. While I am now going to lab and have things I can be doing there, I still try my best to be there only when necessary. When I am home all day, I now make it a point to leave time for myself in between working periods and Zooms. I have started listening to more podcasts and audiobooks, taking walks, playing the keyboard, meditating, and cooking more often. These small things are important and as graduate students we need to find or continue to have something for ourselves other than work that gets us through the days when doing work is difficult without feeling guilty.
Check out this page on the importance of hobbies:
www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/get-hobby
Tips on being productive in a pandemic:
explorehealthcareers.org/4-ways-to-remain-a-productive-student-while-self-isolating/
Taking care of your emotional health:
studentaffairs.iupui.edu/health/counseling-psychological/index.html