Psst…can I be real a second about work life balance?
For just a millisecond?
Let down my guard and tell the people how I feel a second?
/thread

1. There is a correlation with getting more done with spending more time doing it, but this will lead to diminishing returns at some point. What that point is for everyone varies and should be judgement free…unless clearly stated and realistic goals are not met.

2. Working hard and working smart are different things than working a lot. Science ebbs and flows, strict time limits are unrealistic to how things work. Arbitrary numbers are dumb. Therefore…

3. Getting more done should be tied to goals and answering questions, not time spent.

4. Life is a lesson in efficiency. If you want to get more done, you need to either work more, work smarter, or both. Saying anything less is disingenuous.

4. cont. The balance of what is reasonable to get done in a given time frame is what should be debated. Working hard has to the expectation though. As such…

5. Communication between you and your supervisor/PI are essential to establish what all these goal guidelines and metrics are. Hopefully this is done before you join. Also…

5 cont. …this is not accomplished by asking “how many hours a week should I work” but saying what are goals and timelines with the caveats that not everything goes according to plan. Holding yourself accountable with this is important.

6. Training is different from working. Training life balance is different from work life balance. This ratio changes during graduate school. Learning is a different mental activity than generating data.

6. cont. The training though, never ends. Communication about the definitions of these should be established ASAP.

7. Balance and passion are not fast friends. Learn this early. Also passion and work or training don't always overlap. Money earned is still tied to product given. Debate that if you want, but thats life as we currently know it.

7. cont. This summer, if you think I got everything I do done in 40 hours per week, you are off…by a lot.

7. cont. Because of this, it is important to know your breaking point and have people who can keep you in check/support you. Also, knowing where support exists is good. @PhD_Balance has good resources for this.

There are debatable points in here I'm sure. For one, the role of race and gender in all of this. But, hopefully this contributes to the fact that Graduate School is hard, but shouldn't be impossible. Ask for help, hard work & communication are key, and time spent is arbitrary.