hi slowmo :-) I think for me it would be 2 to 3 hours constant concentration; but for longer hours I need frequent short breaks...

on a very productive day it will take about 6 hours work.

i like to go into my lab even on weekends, because when Im there I always feel better. And usually I get something done. If I stay home, i will watch tv or go on youtube all day.
love
satchi

I usually aim for three productive hours a day. Any more than that is icing on the cake. Some good days I have six productive hours. I think more time is spent reading and thinking.. and less writing. By productive hours am refering to writing time. Just do what works for you as long as you stick to it each day.

Goodness this is reassuring. I try to be at the library on weekdays from around 10/11 until 4/5 but I don't always have 'good' days of full concentration. I always try to keep my week-ends free of PhD stuff to keep my sanity...

When I was testing and teaching I did very little work on my thesis. At least directly.

I'd test from 11 - 5/6 four days a week, and then teach one afternoon. In the evenings I would do 1 or 2 hours of entering the data I'd collected during the week and some analysis. The only work I did that directly related to my thesis in terms of writing up was when I'd take a weekend here or there to write up the procedure or results section for an experiment or paper. And I've since more or less just copied and pasted them into my thesis.

Now I'm writing up I don't aim for any particular set amount of time. I just try and get at least a few bits and pieces every day so I don't lose too much momentum. If I have a good day and get 6 hours in then great, if not then I'm fine with just a few.

As has been mentioned though I wouldn't compare with other people. Even within a deparment there's a lot of variation, and of course people have different styles. There are some people I've hardly even seen in Uni who are on course to finish in time, and others who practically live there who aren't too far ahead me.

Work smart not hard 8-)

Thanks for resurecting this. It's very timely for me, I'm finishing a chapter half, so doing intensive writing and am finding I work in 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour blasts which add up to about 3 1/2 hours per day. I flake out metally after that, so just do emailing, chasing details or bibliography stuff if there is any after that. Was feeling a bit guilty with all this summer holiday time on my hands, but only doing a few hours per day, but it seems to be my limit. I've no idea how the finishers push themselves to 10 hour plus days of writing - I think my mind would snap.

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I'm the same at the moment Eska. I think with writing it is better to do short quality sessions than spend 7 hours with word open but spending 6 hours of mostly websurfing while attempting the occasional sentence then going back to the websurfing in disgust (what I have been known to do!)

I honestly think most people who claim to work for 12 hour days are not being entirely honest. I'm sure a lot of the time they are not actually working and just say it to make themselves panic less.

It does. Several times. I've had my girlfriend ring me and declare within minutes, quite accurately, that the work has driven me mad. And if you're writing up from home rather than Uni you'll probably get a big dose of cabin fever too!

I think my husband comes home in fear that he'll open the door to the bloke from the shining i.e. me at my PC typing.

"All work and no play makes sneaks a very bad PhD researcher...."

I am shocking at working a full day. I have odd weeks of constant writing but stil no more than a 9-5. most days I work from 10-12 and then 1-4 ish, but that can be anything from full on writing to chasing one reference all day all over google scholar.

It's really cheered me up to read this...I felt like I was the only phd student in the world who wasn't doing 12 hour days. I get 'the guilts' really bad about this all the time so it's nice to feel that not everyone is dedicating every hour of their day to work! When i'm in the lab I tend to 9-5 or a bit less if it's microscopes because that gives me a headache. When i'm writing (at the moment) i aim for 9-5/6, usually with an hour for lunch and around an hour faffing/internet etc. If its going really bad I tend to go to bed for a nap around 2/3 then when I wake up i'm ready to start again.

I also feel like as i'm only in the first year there is no point working mega hard and burning out too soon...I have plenty of time for than in the next 2 years!:-)

Wow this thread has made me feel better too. I have generally been doing 6-7 hours a day, but with at least an hour of faffing. And I can only manage that because I'd do some analysis for a couple of hours, switch to transcribing and then do some reading.

Now that I have started writing up (14 months to go) I've been feeling guilty about how little time I can actually concentrate on writing (3 or 4 hours max a day).

My boyfriend tells me not to feel guilty because people with actual office jobs waste half their time emailing and surfing the net, so I probably work more than the average person anyway!

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LOL - Sneaks, that really cracked me up. I was trying to imagine you sitting at your desk with your back to your hubby, typing frantically as smoke came out of the keyboard and cynically laughing whilst repeating REDRUM... REDRUM...... :p Funny enough, my hubby says the same thing. He thinks writing for long hours make me go wacky and mad.

Slowmo - I follow the same system as Sneaks. I find that I need to do enough but not too much otherwise I just start ranting and not writing anything comprehensible. I also make sure I take breaks to give my brain some rest (e.g. morning break 30 mins, lunch break 1 hour, and afternoon break 30 mins) where I leave my desk, PC, etc. and not read anything to relax my eyes and my mind.

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Hi Slowmo

Just had to say - not me. I do actually work for 10-12 hours a day, but not every day, more like every second day. On the alternate days I'll just do 6 or 7 hours. But during writing up, I have to do these long days, tomato after tomato, after tomato (www.mytomatoes.com), with a 5 minute break after every 25 minutes. I do these tomatoes in a chat room with other PhD students, and together we clock up hours and hours, and they go quickly, and we're productive. The fear of this going on forever, and the hatred of this lifestyle and the thesis propels me, I have to get this done to get it over with. The thesis needs a really big, sustained push to get it done.

And Peljam, I absolutely do have cabin fever. And stress. I have burst into tears every few days for the past few months. But I'm getting there, and am close to a complete draft. Maybe then I can relax a bit, and also reconnect with my partner, instead of just being the madwoman in the study...

Right there with you Sue, apart from the 2 minute breaks to vent steam (checking mails, shouting random words to absolutely noone, walking around the room) I'm pretty much working all day. Yesterday it was 8am-11pm, about 2.5hours total for breaks.
I didn't do this in first year though, and in second year there were plenty of long 13-14 hour days when I was doing field work, but in third year it's really upped the ante. Writing, with a deadline, means I've got no choice!

Wow, I am totally amazed. I wish I could work that much, I just can't. It probably means i'll be submitting in about 6 years! I am also in my final year. Funding runs out in 3 months, so really I should be putting in 12 hour days.

am new to the Phd life but ave to be honest. in two month my life has really changed. It seems everyone works during the day. mine is at night. i can put it in like 8-12 hours at night. but the whole morning i sleep, when i wake up even before leaving the bed i chat and check mails like for one hour. ave been going to the gym at 3pm every day but now i dislocated my knees avent gone for three weeks.

Wait....I was planning to ask my prof. coz the policy is that you put in 30 hrs a week(phd) plus 6 hrs (teaching) . how did they arrive at that?