I don't know if I'm the best person to be writing this blog post, as I don't consider myself to have great time management skills. I find I get distracted really easily, and if I'm in the lab late, it usually means I got a late start, or I'm adding the amount of time that I felt I was distracted on top of my hours spent more focused on work. Additionally, a me-specific problem that I've been facing is how to soft through the piles of data that I collected last summer, and squaring the time it takes for me to process all of the data with the expectations that various collaborators have of receiving the data in a timely fashion. Still, I think I've come across some tips that have helped a bit in keeping a decent sense of time management. A lot of these tips are ones I touched on in my earlier blog post on how to focus in grad school.
1. Structure: I find that it's much easier for me to keep on track and on pace if I stick as closely as possible to a standard 9-5 workday (well, at least 8 hours), Monday through Friday. Of course, occasionally I have to put in work beyond 8 hours or on weekends, but it doesn't happen to often. Keeping a more strict balance between work and non-work I think helps me stay more on task during work hours. 2. Place: During the pandemic, many got used to working at home, however… I am not one of those people. In a similar way to time, I find I need to clearly compartmentalize work and non-work "spaces," with my home being the place where I make food, relax, sleep, etc, and my work place being where I work. Of course, I can work at home if the situation calls for it, but I find I'm much more distracted and liable to stay off-task if I'm at home than if I'm in the lab, or a library, or some similar space. 3. Making a list: Each day, I pull up OneNote on my computer and make a separate entry for each day, where I write a "to-do" list of items that I'd like to accomplish for the day. If anything, it gives me a schedule of items to stick to for the day, which helps with both focus and time management 4. Saying no: As a grad student, there are lots of opportunities that come your way, ranging from scholarship applications, to volunteer opportunities, to new collaborations… it can be overwhelming. In this case, I find that although the allure of new horizons can seem great, it often is the best case to politely turn down whatever offer has come your way.
Aside from these, I don't think I have any good advice for time management. Hopefully I'll learn some from my labmates during our lab meeting!