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It works for me and I am *not* advising anyone, except by saying: try to find what works best for you. For me, taking weekends (and evenings) off is the default. But it's not a rigid rule and I adjust. 1/ @melissaleesands/1094599566689689600Permalink
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Mood +3 🙂
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I work a "minimum", to be sure things are always moving. Even if I'm not inspired, it keeps my brain ready. But when I'm inspired/in a good mood/bored/whatever the reason as long as it comes from me, following @YaminTadjeddine advices, I *allow myself* to work more. 2/
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Mood +2 🙂
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When I am in a "working mood", I'm not suddenly working 100 hours/week. It's rather a few hours more a week. I also avoid to overwork when I have deadlines. It stresses me out so much that I end frozen. What works is: keep going as before, and we'll see. 3/Permalink
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Mood -1 🙁
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As a PhD student from a non-top institution, I felt for a long period of time that I needed to "work" more to overcome my structural, inherent mediocrity. Thanks impostor syndrome (and some interiorised, unhealthy, and displaced elitism too). Deadlines only made this worse. 4/Permalink
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Mood -6 🙁
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I am also a perfectionist. Intertwined with my impostor syndrome and some (really) bad advices, it ended with massive dissatisfaction – and, let's use the word, unhappiness. And not so much output… (which, in turn, fuelled the impostor syndrome, and the perfectionism… 🔄) 5/Permalink
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Mood -5 🙁
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But as some point, I discovered that in my production function, L is not just quantity. It's also quality. Starting from there, I decided not to work more, but to work *better*. And for me, *better* meant "if I'm happier, working will be easier, and I'll be more productive". 6/Permalink
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Mood +6 🙂
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So I decided to find a work-life balance that is healthier for me, that brings me more serenity and happiness. It's an ongoing, never-ending process, but so far I've had pretty good results. 7/Permalink
Mood +7 🙂
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It's counter-intuitive, but I have somehow never worked "less" that these days, even though I'm in the process of finishing my PhD (with a half-time job on the side). But conditionally to things that happened in my life, I've had great results so far. 8/Permalink
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Mood +3 🙂
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(I could have had better results, but "things that happen in my life" are not always in my control. And I have to deal with them. It could be health, family stuff, money, anything. But I try not to be mad at myself because urgent things like that "slowed" me down.Permalink
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Mood 0
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I once read a thread wrote by @causalinf on letting go things that are beyond your control, and it really clicked. Things like that didn't "slowed" me down, they happened, I had to deal with them, and I did my best conditionally to them happening. End of story, and no big deal.)Permalink
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Mood +5 🙂
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The most striking effect is probably due to those "few extra hours" a week that sometimes happen. In the last few months, those "few extra hours", when they happened, have been *massively* productive. I've even probably had my most productive hours *for my whole life*. 9/Permalink
Mood 0
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A risk here is to forget why those hours were so productive: because I took the time to prepare them, especially by taking care of myself. When they happen, I sometimes want them to be back right now. But this is not how it works. 10/Permalink
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Mood 0
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Also, on deadlines: I am definitely not the kind of person who work "best" under pressure. I somewhat already knew that, but now that it's clear, I made this a core part of my work habit. I prefer much more to work in advance (even though I can obviously adjust if needed). 11/Permalink
Mood +5 🙂
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To wrap it up, the main takeaway for me was to discover that I really needed to listen to myself. That's how I'm happiest. That's how I decide if I should work more, or not, and how, and when. My work schedule is like the rest of my life, constantly adjusting to myself. 12/Permalink
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Mood +5 🙂
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A consequence of all of this is that I do not take authoritarian orders anymore. If you want me to follow your vision, convince me. That's literally something I put into a model (two, actually) in my PhD. 13/Permalink
Mood +3 🙂
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And once more, all of this is *not* advice. It's just my experience, in case some find it useful. My *only* advice would be: find what suits you best. In a Marie Kondo phrasing, find what sparks you joy. 14/Permalink
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Mood +8 🙂
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Last point, and it will be it: after reading this thread, you know one of the reason why I probably won't pursue tenure. I am not ready to make the sacrifice required by it. Thanks to have read this thread. And have a good night/day according to where you live! 15/15Permalink
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Mood +5 🙂