This is exactly NOT the way to approach it. Treat it like a regular job, with regular hours and regular--but not often--crises, late nights, and deadlines to crunch for, and you can do it. People who treat the program as "all consuming" drop out more or take longer to complete than people who get up in the morning and get to it like it's a regular job.
You're having a laugh wrote:
Lol. Oh, a PhD will consume your whole life, alright. Much more than so, than say, a real job.
It has not been that tough for me. My schedule is flexible and I can always make time to run. I have three basic routines that I use depending on what I have going on that day.
First choice, assuming I don't have anything going on in the late afternoon/evening.
6:45 AM wake up
7 AM out the door for 5 miles easy
740 AM breakfast/shower
8 AM on the bus to campus
430 PM on the bus home
5 PM run 10-12 miles or workout if there's one on the schedule
7 PM shower/dinner
8 PM couple more hours of work
1030-11 PM off to bed
Second choice, if I have class or teaching until six or seven PM
6:45 AM wake up
7 AM out the door for 10-12 easy
830 AM breakfast/shower
9 AM on the bus to campus, bring running clothes
6-7 PM easy run home from campus (5-6 miles)
8 PM shower/dinner
9 PM little more work
1030-11 PM off to bed
Third choice, usually on Fridays when we go to happy hour
6:45 AM wake up
7 AM out the door for 10-12 easy
830 AM breakfast/shower
9 AM on the bus to campus, bring running clothes
1230 PM easy second run from campus, 5-6 miles
130 PM lunch
5 PM happy hour, which I can enjoy knowing I have run twice and still gotten 6-7 quality hours of work in
Co-signing:
1) the importance of the advisor: mine gives me a lot of independence because I deliver good results. He knows that I putz about with all my hobbies (running/coaching, music, tech) but he is cool with it because I put school first--always. I made that promise to myself: I'd not give my life up but I'd prioritize school because it's the most important thing. (Those who do focus their whole lives on the phd--I call them Ahabs--, as another poster noted, tend to be really annoying and not always awesome students, just obnoxious ones who talk about their schedule all the time)
2) be flexible: sometimes projects will need to get done and you will need to back off your other hobbies. It's just how It is.
Also: some Of your classmates will look at you funny for having interests beyond research. They're insecure and to be ignored.
Welcome to 2012 wrote:
Yes, phd schedules are pretty flexible compared to real jobs. (except if youre doing bench work in the lab or somethng similar.) But there will be busy times when you'll have to cut back a day or two. I don't run 100, but I help,coach a team and that takes more time than the 100mpw would. Good luck!
Disagree. Grad school was wayyyyy harder and more stressful than a job. In grad school, I used running as a form of transportation to get in the miles twice a day (100-120 mpw), but quality work went out the door cause I was mentally and physically too exhausted to do anything high intensity. You have more structure to your day/life with a job than grad school (where each day may be different, with classes, teaching, research, and then spending your free time reading/writing/grading).
I won the Olympic 5000 (only by three seconds though) while getting my PhD in botany.
former ta ra wrote:
Disagree. Grad school was wayyyyy harder and more stressful than a job. In grad school, I used running as a form of transportation to get in the miles twice a day (100-120 mpw), but quality work went out the door cause I was mentally and physically too exhausted to do anything high intensity. You have more structure to your day/life with a job than grad school (where each day may be different, with classes, teaching, research, and then spending your free time reading/writing/grading).
I suppose results may vary. I was/am able to give my days structure -- even if each day is different. Advisor and department culture will matter a great deal
The only time I've managed to hit > 100 mpw semi-regularly was during my doctoral studies and research. Real work, even if it's very flexible, makes it way tougher, for me anyway, to rack up decent miles.
Yes, you just have to learn not waste time screwing around. I am currently a PhD student in engineering (3 classes plus 20 hours research per week) and also teach 2 undergrad classes (on my own, not T.A.). Eight hours of school stuff plus 8 hours of sleep still leaves 8 hours to run, stretch, eat, shower and screw around.
Typical day
5:45 Wake up
6:00 Go for an 8 mile run
7:00 Back from run, stretch, eat, shower
8:00 Leave for campus
8:30 Get to campus, doing school stuff
4:30 Leave for home
5:00 Get home
5:30 Go for 5-6 mile run
6:15 Back from run, stretch, shower
7:00 Eat dinner, still have 3 hours to relax and watch TV
10:00 Go to bed
So in short, 40 hours on campus, run as much as I want, and still have 3 hours in the evening and the weekend to screw around.
By the way, between undergrad and grad school I worked for an engineering firm for 2 years. I had much less time to run than I do now. If you can't manage your time well enough to run in grad school, you will never make it work once you are in the real world.
If you don't have time to run in grad school, you are doing it wrong.