PhDSciNet Interview 22: Time Management

Historical interview: the following preserves the research experiences and personal views expressed in the original manuscript.

Time is scarce for everyone. Do PhD researchers have enough of it? With both information and time fragmented today, do they also struggle with managing their time and themselves?

Do you have enough time? How is a typical working day organized?

Cui Jichi: I more or less have enough time. I think the arrangement of working hours depends on the discipline. Most of my PhD work involved biological experiments: I was doing a lot but thinking relatively little. I would arrive at the lab and start experimenting, and every experiment took a particularly long time. A cell experiment, for example, might take three or four days, let alone an animal experiment, which could take several months. Biological experiments also need repeated runs.

Now, however, I mainly work on engineering projects, and my working hours fell quite a lot during the pandemic. A typical working day now consists of four or five hours of experiments, plus three or four hours of reviewing and thinking. I am currently working on a new project that is still at an early stage, so after each day’s experiments I review the results, think about which question I answered and what new questions I found, and plan the next day’s experiments. That thinking and reviewing also takes several hours, sometimes even longer than the experiments.

So I think the arrangement of working hours is related to the discipline, the nature of the project itself, and its current stage of progress.

Chloe: I feel I do not have enough time. In the post-pandemic period, my work mainly consists of a lot of remote work and a small amount of lab work. A typical day starts with the first meeting in the morning, and work then continues until bedtime. Added together, those intermittent stretches total about ten hours. I am a night owl, used to going to bed and getting up late. I really dislike getting up early and feel that it ruins my day.

Fengzi Ge: I feel I do not have enough time, because biological experiments involve a very heavy workload and also require a lot of thinking. If the direction is wrong, it means that a large amount of work afterward will be wasted. I usually get to the lab a little after nine in the morning and work until eight or nine in the evening, sometimes later. It really is busy. I divide my daily time into working time, communication time, and leisure time. Working time means doing experiments in the lab. Communication is also very important, because thinking entirely on your own has limitations. Conversations with a supervisor or labmates can be very helpful; sometimes a small idea provides a major insight. After I get home at night, I generally do not deliberately work, except perhaps to plan the next day.

How do you allocate time in your personal life?

Cui Jichi: For a period after the pandemic began, I stayed at home every day, spent time on my phone, read the news, and kept up with entertainment programs. I hardly exercise. Recently, my only exercise has been walking to the other side of campus once a week for a COVID test, which takes about half an hour. I try to keep my sleep at around nine hours.

Chloe: During the pandemic, all my working time was spent at home, with relatively little time in the lab. I went to the lab once or twice a week and finished after four or five hours each time.

I am a night owl, used to going to bed and getting up late, and may sleep only five or six hours a day. Many meetings are scheduled in the morning, which forces me to get up early and leaves me in a bad mood all day. Boston is also quite cold, so there is basically little opportunity for outdoor exercise in winter. When work is boring, I browse websites or watch videos.

Fengzi Ge: I actually have little leisure time. I may browse my phone at lunch to see new messages and information. After getting home, cooking also counts as a rest, and I watch videos or the news. Sometimes I play games, usually with rounds lasting three minutes. I also sleep a little more than eight hours.

I think it is best to develop your own system of working time. If you can complete most of your plans, do not feel particularly rushed, and can cope with the pressure, that suggests your time is arranged reasonably well.

How much time does your phone take up every day? Do you use it for work?

Cui Jichi: Normally it is three or four hours. At my worst, during the most severe part of the pandemic, I was confined at home for the first two months and sometimes had seven or eight hours of screen time a day. That frightened me: it was far beyond my expectations, and I felt very guilty. I do not normally use a computer much for entertainment, so I usually watch videos, dramas, or programs on my phone while eating, cooking, or showering. It really was excessive, and I needed to improve it.

I was a little anxious and lost at the time. At the start of isolation I was quite happy, but after two or three months at home, thinking about having to find a job and other things made my emotions less stable. So I spent more time seeking that brief positive feedback from my nervous system. Later, as I gradually had more to do and began working in the lab, my screen time naturally decreased.

My phone is basically separate from my work. I always work on a large computer, not my phone. So whenever I use my phone, I am not working. I may be stir-frying or eating and watching videos. I also browse the news and watch some entertainment programs from China.

Chloe: My phone screen time is high, but I have not carefully measured it; I might be unhappy if I did. I actually do not feel much guilt, because when there is a task to do, I do it first.

Sometimes the experiments have already kept me very busy, and I think browsing my phone to relax is quite nice. I am very good at comforting myself, so I basically feel no guilt—in fact, I feel a little happiness.

My brain works in a fairly single-track way. If I am doing an important experiment, I am unlikely to divide my attention to read papers. Even when I am waiting for an instrument to produce data, the information that comes out varies so much that I cannot distract myself with something else important. I cannot even listen to music during an experiment, because I follow the lyrics and lose my train of thought.

Fengzi Ge: There is no need to feel guilty about browsing your phone. We have all reached this stage and take responsibility for our own lives, right? We are unlikely to spend every day on our phones and make a complete mess of our lives. You either have nothing to do or want to relax and ease some pressure. Everyone is under so much pressure. If you can organize your own life and know that browsing your phone now will not have much effect on other things, doing it occasionally is fine. At those times, I do not really think about work. I like reading political news on my phone and also use it for mobile games, which is another way to release stress.

I know some people may use their phones to read papers. They really are born for research, but I probably cannot do that.

How much time do you spend maintaining close relationships each day?

Cui Jichi: I spend about ten to fifteen minutes video-calling my parents each day, and I also video-call my husband.

Chloe: My video-call time is a little longer, around an hour. I see my wife and our cat, and we chat about gossip, all sorts of scandalous stories, or funny posts.

Fengzi Ge: My girlfriend is very independent. Our interactions may total only ten to fifteen minutes. We occasionally chat on WeChat, and sometimes make a video call in the evening if it occurs to us. If we are both busy, we just say good night to each other. Life feels peaceful and settled now.

What do you think about multitasking?

Cui Jichi: I think this is not simply a question of whether you want to; it is more a question of ability. There are two timescales. On a small timescale—doing two things at the same moment—I personally cannot do it. For example, listening to music or an audiobook while experimenting and adjusting a system. I tried that and failed. I do not think everyone has that ability.

On a larger timescale—for example, completing several tasks in a week or month—I once tried allocating time to different tasks every day and found the results very unsatisfactory. It was nowhere near as effective as spending two days finishing the first task, then two days on the second, then two days on the third. I found two advantages. First, your state of mind and thinking remain continuous: you do not need to spend time adapting to a new task or switching between them, which can greatly reduce the total time needed to finish the work. Second, the psychological burden is lighter. As tasks actually get completed over time, life becomes easier and easier. I cannot run many things in parallel. Some people may be good at it, but I have not managed it myself.

Chloe: If both tasks need my full attention, I cannot multitask. I can only do one piece of high-quality work while handling some small miscellaneous tasks. For example, if a superior is running a meeting that is very boring and inefficient, I might edit my paper or draw some figures. I can only do the most important task while attending to a few less important things, although it is actually best not to do that.

Fengzi Ge: It is quite difficult, because I simply do not have enough mental capacity. An experimental procedure is generally designed quite tightly. There may be some spare time between one step and the next. Of course you can use that time for another experiment, but it makes you very anxious, because you must finish by that point and immediately return to the original experiment. I have tried this myself—for example, during repeated ten-minute centrifugation steps. You can use those ten minutes for another experiment, but that makes mistakes more likely and actually reduces efficiency. It is better to think about the direction of the experiment or what to do next.

Do you reply to emails immediately?

Cui Jichi: Work-related emails fall into several categories: those from my supervisor, collaborators, and suppliers. I prioritize replies according to how much pressure the message creates. I basically reply instantly to my supervisor’s emails and Slack messages. If I am half an hour or an hour late, I add an apology for not replying promptly. Our supervisor once held a group meeting specifically about replying to emails, asking everyone to “be professional” and respond within twenty-four hours.

I do not feel as much psychological pressure about collaborators’ emails, but I still reply as soon as possible. I am more casual about suppliers’ emails.

Fantuan: What about emails from your supervisor outside working hours, after work or at weekends? Do you reply immediately then too?

Cui Jichi: Yes, the same standard applies. I do not reply later to my supervisor because it is a non-working day.

Chloe: I am the same. Whenever I see an email from my supervisor, I reply immediately. If the request is complicated and I cannot provide the answer right away—for example, if I am asked to write something or send a summary—I say, “Sorry, please give me a little time. I will definitely send it by this time.”

I treat collaborators the same way. If a collaborator asks me for something, as soon as I see the message, I first say that I have received it. If I cannot provide it immediately, I say when I will get back to them and keep that promise. With other people—for example, someone who wants to discuss an issue or arrange a meeting—I see the message but do not reply immediately. I reply when I have time, but never leave it longer than twenty-four hours. I answer all of a day’s emails that day.

The emails I am least inclined to reply to are those on which I am copied, because my opinion is optional. They copy me out of respect, but those emails are sent to many people. Replying “received” only adds noise for everyone.

Fengzi Ge: My supervisor comes in every day, so when something needs discussing they generally talk to us directly in the lab during working hours. They mostly send emails after work to ask urgent questions. Of course I reply immediately when I see an email from my supervisor.

If a collaborator asks to borrow an item or a reagent, I need to reply. If the discussion is not urgent, I do not reply straight away, but I definitely respond by the end of the working day. Daytime is busy, and the back-and-forth can be quite disruptive.

Do you make efficient use of small pockets of time?

Cui Jichi: The nature of my current experiments means that there are few small pockets of time at work; most of it comes in solid blocks. Looking back at the biological experiments during my PhD, there were many small gaps. But I did not have that awareness then. Honestly, biological experiments require repeated operations and are physical work, so they are quite tiring.

I think the gaps between experiments should be used, but I have not done that myself. Ideally, though, reading the news, science and technology news, or new research developments would be quite good.

Chloe: There are few small pockets of time now. When doing experiments, I really do not have the energy to read about research; I have to concentrate fully on the experiment.

Fengzi Ge: Biological experiments have long cycles, and we work on many projects at the same time, so there are not really any small pockets of time during the day. At most, I may have ten minutes on the bus to the lab. But I have just got up then and am still rather groggy. I mainly use that time to think about what I need to do today, which is quite important. Having an expectation makes the day’s work run more smoothly. Before going to bed, I briefly review the day and think about what needs doing tomorrow.

Fantuan: I am completely the opposite. I expect myself to use small pockets of time efficiently. When I get up in the morning, I start listening to audio, usually something educational. Some experiments involve repeated operations or waiting, and I play educational audio during those times too. Before going to sleep at night, I usually put on half an hour of audio and fall asleep listening to it.

I know many people listen to news, television dramas, or talks. I think there is a sense of happiness in making use of small pockets of time.

What would you like to say about time management? Feel free to leave a comment!

PhD researchers: Cui Jichi, Chloe, Fengzi Ge

Editor: Honey Peach Oolong

Interviewer: Fantuan

Recording: Honey Peach Oolong