One of the things I have struggled with the most during my doctoral work so far is finding balance:  balance between school and work, research and coursework…and I know a lot of you are in the same boat!  I am by no means the poster child for time management and work/life balance, but I’ve discovered some helpful patterns that help me keep it all together.  If you’ve found ways of finding balance and managing your time that work for you, please share them with the rest of us—we’d love to hear them!

Exercise in the mornings

When I decided to go back to school, I was already employed on campus and decided to continue working when I started the program.  On nights I have class, I’m on campus from 8:00am until 7:30pm and by the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is go on a run or head to the gym.  I’ve switched around my schedule so that I start my days with exercise a few days a week which gives me more energy to get through the day and also prevents my workout from getting bumped when unexpected meetings or other complications arise during the day.

Prep your food on Sundays

I try to bring my lunch and make dinner at home as much as possible, but at the beginning of the program and during peak busy times in the semester was relying on fast food and take out much more than I liked.  I came across a blog post recently written by a woman who preps all of her food for the week on Sundays, and decided to give it a try.  It has been a lifesaver! I cut up all my meat, wash and prep vegetables and fruits and put everything in bags or containers labeled with the meal the ingredients are for.  That way, when I get home from class or work, I can just dump everything in a pan and enjoy a quick, healthy meal. You’ll be less stressed about trying to get dinner ready or figuring out what you want to pick up on your way home and you’ll likely save money by eating at home more often, which is always a good thing!  

Schedule fun

This one sounds a little counter-intuitive, but it is working for me!  You could fill up your whole life with research and studying in graduate school if you wanted to.  I used to have the mindset that if I wasn’t working all the time that I was wasting time, which left me stressed and burned out.  Now, I make sure to schedule fun activities into my calendar (dog walks, tennis, lunch with friends).  Planning a fun outing gives me something to look forward to and also helps me stay connected to my support network of family and friends. 

Taking these steps has helped me become a happier, healthier graduate student. While we often talk about the courses we are taking, the projects we are working on, and professional development activities we are participating in, graduate students don’t often talk about our lives outside of work and school, creating a culture of constant “busyness.”  Hopefully, establishing a sense of work/life balance now as graduate students will help us all become more balanced professionals in our future careers, no matter which path we take.