I try to limit the time I spend reading the news and on social media during my breaks, particularly at the moment, because reading the news on coronavirus makes me feel anxious. Just like at the office or in the lab, remember to get up and move around. I find that setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely) goals helps me to make a realistic plan. This will help you to be more productive and focused in the time that you have. Review your to-do list and make an outline for your day. I set up my space with my laptop, a mug of tea and my notebook and pens. Do what you can to make this feel like your work space. This could mean using the kitchen table or even just a chair. In an ideal world, this would be a dedicated desk away from where you sleep or relax, but during a pandemic you just have to do your best.
My father likes to review the previous day’s work over breakfast to set himself up for the day. You could just follow your normal workday morning routine, or do something as simple as having a coffee at a similar time each day. Create a morning routineĪlthough it can be tempting to stay in my pyjamas all day, I find a morning routine helps to get me into a ‘working’ mindset and mentally prepares me for the day ahead. I live on my own, but I still discuss my work and work schedule with others because it helps to create some accountability, which helps me to stick to it. If you live with other people, for example, it’s important to discuss how you will work from home, and perhaps set some ground rules to allow you to maintain your work–life balance. It can be a good idea to talk your schedule over with others beyond your supervisor and colleagues.
Setting up dedicated times for work will help you to relax in your downtime. If you have childcare or other commitments, just try to schedule in a small amount of work per day (1–2 hours, say), and see how you go. Be kind to yourself when setting your hours. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, because you do have slightly more flexibility, but I find it really helps to have some structure. I aim to treat my working hours as if I am in the laboratory or at the office, and try to stick to them. Here are some tips that have helped me: Schedule your working hours What has helped me is to try to get some sense of normality and routine back into my life, even if I am less productive than normal. I have to keep reminding myself that we are in the middle of a pandemic - it is OK to not to be OK or productive. I work mainly with elephant GPS tracking data and, unlike us, wild elephants are not under lockdown, so we can continue to study them remotely.
I am fortunate that, at least in the short term, my own research has not been affected by coronavirus. In these circumstances, a good work–life balance becomes even more important - and even more difficult - to maintain.
#Work life balance tips full#
With the outbreak of coronavirus, many early-career researchers such as myself are being advised or forced to work from home full time. Eventually, this results in a breakdown of my work–life balance: I’m not productive when I should be working and I feel guilty relaxing at other times because I feel like I should be working. It’s easy to think ‘I could just do this later’, but, often, ’later’ gets pushed back further and further. There’s always something else I could be doing: eating snacks, watching television or even rearranging my room. I have tried it on numerous occasions over the years, including when writing up my master’s thesis and, more recently, in my postdoctoral work, but I am still not great at it. It can be difficult to keep your work and personal life separate while working from home.
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