PHD WORK LIFE BALANCE | My productivity hack

Hey everyone! Welcome back to my channel. If you are new here, my name is Ariana. I am the sassy scientist and also a third year PhD student in bioengineering, and I help women in grad school go from surviving to thriving. So today's video is going to be all about my work-life balance hack of block scheduling, but with a twist. So like I said, my work-life balance is to block schedule, meaning I dedicate an hour, two hours, or chunks of my day to specific tasks where I only focus on those on the specified task within that time period. But on top of that, I also block schedule based on the types of tasks that I am required to do as a grad student. So let me go into more detail. So as grad students, I believe that we always have to do two different types of tasks. We get to do the creative tasks of thinking of innovative research ideas, designing experiments, actually doing the experimental work in the lab, and those are things that, let's say, exist in our zone of genius. Those are things that really light us up as scientific researchers. But as grad students, we are also required to do the management task, and what I mean by that is that we have to, let's say, we have to go to class. Maybe we're not super interested in that class. Maybe we are required to do homework that doesn't necessarily align with our interests. We are required to read literature, maybe willingly or unwillingly, based on what we are interested in researching. So there are creative tasks and there are management tasks. So what I take into consideration when I schedule the different tasks that I need to do throughout the day is the type of task that needs to get done. And a very, very big no-no that I do not do is switch constantly between a creative task and a management task. I like to schedule creative tasks all in one, all in the same time period. So I am using, you know, one specific type of mindset. I am using my energy of being excited about doing it efficiently, and I'm riding the wave of momentum. I'm getting things done because I'm excited to do these creative things. They lie in my zone of genius, let's say. But when I'm doing my management task, those things don't necessarily require the same amount of energy or thought. It actually, in reality, can be really draining. So I don't like to schedule, I don't like to, let's say, check and reply to emails while I'm trying to design an experiment. Or I don't like to check emails when I'm doing the actual experimental lab work. Because in doing so and switching between the two different tasks, I drain my energy a lot faster. I don't get to make meaningful progress on my PhD, and I think that really just leads to burning out. Because if you're constantly using your energy and spreading it amongst the two different types of tasks versus focusing on a creative or a management task in the same time period, it just leads to burnout. So I urge you to think of the types of tasks that you're scheduling together as you're making your schedule. And you know, again, don't be checking emails while you're designing experiments. Don't be doing statistics or data analysis while trying to make a beautiful creative figure for a publication or a PowerPoint. So there you have it. That is my work-life balance hack. As you're block scheduling, be really mindful of whether it's a creative task and a management task, and do not constantly switch between the two. I promise you, you will feel more energized in your work and see meaningful progress towards your PhD. If you liked that video, please give it a thumbs up and hit the subscribe button, and I'd love to connect with you on Instagram. My username is the sassy scientist with an underscore between the and sassy scientist. Have a great day or night wherever you are.