To be a top performer you need to be happy – something academics tend to forget.
Naturejobs journalism competition winner Elisa Lazzari
Scientists spend a lot of time trouble-shooting. Every day we work on our protocols, and if something doesn’t work, we try again and again, until we fix it. We keep track of all the factors and accurately measure all variables, to find the perfect combination of parameters that work. If there is one thing we can claim after getting a PhD, we’re definitely great at problem-solving. Can we also trouble-shoot our way out of the everlasting dilemma on how to find work/life balance?
Start asking yourself what would make your life better. What are the deal-breakers and what can you compromise on? Do you need to pick up your children from school every day? Or do you need lab-free weekends to play with your cover band? Would it be OK to have a full-time nanny? Do you need your dinner to be home-made pasta, or would a warmed-up burrito be just fine?
Make a list of what things are the most important and honestly work out what you can go without. Chances are that to have an academic position you’ll have to compromise on your personal time, just like other high-profile professionals. As scientists, we’re high-achievers by training, a double-edged sword that can put us at risk of feeling that we should be always completing more experiments, grants, and papers.
Something that isn’t talked about enough is how much brilliant scientists have to give up. In retrospect, some sacrifices seem a small price for a scientific breakthrough, but would you be willing to take that risk?
If your answer is ‘no,’ then the balance needs to be reached by modifying the other variable of the equation: your job. Eventually, it comes down to your happiness and well-being, so put aside any lurking feeling of failure or guilt and explore all of the possible options. You can have a successful out-of-academia job and a fulfilling life without ditching science. Ask around.
In any case, whether you leave academia or not, long hours are sometimes unavoidable. It can help to make sure you’re working smarter, not just harder. Keep track of how you manage your time. Define the tasks you should complete every day and double check what you achieved and how long it took you. There may be an activity that absorbs a lot of your time or distracts you, such as checking emails as they come in.
Another trick is to break down your project goals into discrete steps, like a to-do list. This will help you to plan reasonable deadlines and to assess the actual progress you’re making, and it’s always satisfying to scratch something off of your list. Lastly, make time to analyze your data, keep up with the literature, and think about your research. These are legitimate working activities, and must be treated as such, instead of squeezing them between your other work.
It is time to turn the computer off and give your cover band a call.
Elisa Lazzari is a postdoc at the Health Sciences department of the University of California, San Diego.
She balances her time between researching mechanisms of drug resistance in haematological malignancies, baking muffins, and reading (not always in this order).
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I read this blog frequently and every so often there is an article about work life balance and inevitably it is written by a graduate student or a post doc. Achieving a work life balance will never be possible until PIs accept it as a priority. We need to hear from successful scientists in faculty positions and how they feel about achieving a work life balance not graduate students and postdocs.
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I’m a PI with several students and postdocs.
My first advice to them is – enjoy your science. If you’re talking about work/life balance, the implication is you don’t enjoy the work and you do enjoy life outside work. If that’s the case, do something else, you’ll be better paid and enjoy it more. Science is a great occupation for people who really love science, but a useless career if you don’t.
My second advice is – when you can, work hard, and when you can’t, go away with a clean conscience. If working on Saturday (or in the evening or whatever) allows you to get an experiment done, do it! In exchange, if you want to take a day off or enjoy your holidays or take your kid to the baby gym in the middle of the day, do it! I did. Too many correspondents treat work/life balance as a one way thing – “I will not work weekends, it is unacceptable to my work-life balance” but “I have to take Thursday afternoon off to take my kid out”. The thing about science is you get judged by the amount of success, not by the hours you work, so if you can save 10 hours on Monday by doing 1 hour on Sunday afternoon, that’s great! Go in on Sunday! And do something fun on Monday. THAT’s work/life balance. Not refusing to work at particular times.
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John Tuttle ,i believe post docs and Phds are also “working“and if they are married then there will be a work life balance beyond them are the terminals of the academic career.
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Work/life balance in science is possible, and it is all about the researcher. I have been successful so far, I definitely could have done more, but I am a happy person. The secret? Tell your boss that you want to have a life and you can’t dedicate yourself 24/7 to science, or you will burn out in a few months. It may be difficult as a starter PhD
and let’s admit it, early stages of PhD are fun, but it is rule #1 when you do your post-doc.You are not a slave, you are not a robot. As long as you agree with your boss/employer what to do and how to do it, then time management is your responsibility. Planning is also key, an accurate preliminary planning with contingency plans may save months of burden.
Rule #2, never bring work at home. Work 9-5, and that’s it. You are not payed more money, and no one will tell you anything good, you won’t have any gratification from that. However, if you live for science and research, then spend as much time as you want in the lab, but remember it is YOUR choice.
Now, as a PI life is much easier. I have fun, I have my private life, I finally had some time to record my music album, I go to the gym, I go on holidays, I eat good food. But the key is the same, time management. I still see colleagues getting crazy, not sleeping at night, being all over the place, though. And you know why? They don’t plan.
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The term “work-life balance” is really a misnomer.
It implies that one gets out of bed, goes to work – and life only starts afterwards. Which, especially for a scientists, isn’t really how things work. Let’s talk about balancing intellectual work with physical activity, solitude with group activities, colleagues with friends & family, career advancement with the latest season of Game of Thrones, labwork with reading & understanding – or simply labwork with baking… ;-)
To me that distinction is more than semantics. “Work-life balance” really sets your mind towards contrasting work with life, i.e. you either work or live. But especially for scientists, the activity that we summarize as “work” is an essential part of our life. Which can be as much fun as a barbecue with friends – or as much as a root canal treatment.
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Once one of the best PIs at my former research institute give a talk about her career. About the question of how she managed, she said that she had to renounce to somethings. She said she had no hobbies. She has a family so her hobbies were to spend time with her beloved ones. That surprised me but I kind of understand that one has to choose what wants to do out of the lab and give up other things. Either if you are PhD, PostDoc or PI. But be sure you love what you do in the lab!! And enjoy your experiments!