I'm hopefully going to be leaving the world of steady employment to start on a PhD in a couple of months. I'm used to the 9-5 and I did partly choose my current job because it freed up my weekends to spend with my family (I have two kids). I'm just wondering how many hours per week you normally spend working on your PhD - I really want to get it done and dusted within 3.5 years and get on with my career, but equally not to the detriment of time with my children (and my hubby's sanity!). I don't mind the occasional late night or weekend but just not allllllll the time. I could be, and probably will be, doing stuff at home of an evening or weekend but obviously that's not "visible".

I don't want my supervisor and co-researchers to think I'm a slacker if I stick to my 9-5 routine with occasional weekend/late night work, but then I've not really got much of an idea about what I'm letting myself in for and whether that's even possible. Am I looking at a return to 60+ hour weeks? Is it feasible to stick to, say, 40 or so per week and get finished in 3.5 years?

Hey LoveHz! It depends a bit on your topic and your project, but plenty people I know doing PhDs work a steady 9-5 and get finished in 3-3.5 years. Personally I tend to work longer hours than that, and sometimes evening/weekends too, but that's partly because I'm trying to get stuff published and I have teaching commitments too. Most people in my subject area (Clinical psychology) take 4 years to finish, but that's mainly down to aspects of clinical projects that are very time-consuming, such as applying for NHS ethics approval, recruiting vulnerable participant groups etc. Certainly I have friends in other subjects, including economics and biology, who stick rigidly to 9-5 each weekday and who are expecting to finish on time. I also have a pal with 2 kids who works just when they are at school (so about 9.30-3.30) and sometimes when they are in bed, and she is managing quite well. I guess things will be more hectic around write-up time, but I think in general you will probably be okay as long as you are consistent and prepared to be a bit flexible! Good luck with it! KB

I agree it depends on subject area, but I think it's totally doable. I'm 2.5 years in and am on target to finish in 3/3.5. If I'm honest I've put in fewer than the hours you suggest, but the hours I put in are totally focussed. I spent my first year worrying I was doing too little, but eventually concluded that a lot of people spend a lot of time doing not much and still put it down as 'phd work'. I realise the next few months will be extremely hard work, but hey, it'll be worth it.

I am primary carer for 3 young kids, wife working shifts, and 9.30-3 is the most I can expect. You've got kids, so you'll know about *proper* time management ;-)

You'll be fine :)

It also depends on how many other activities you take on. If you write journal articles and conference papers, then you might need to put in more hours. I've done this and find that I work 40-50 hours a week, now that I'm writing up it's more like 60+ hours a week. But there do appear to be a lot of students who stick to the 9-5, so it does seem possible for some people.

Again I guess it depends on the discipline itself, but I tend to put in between 50-60 hours a week and I'm on a 4 year programme. Work approx a 9 hour day during the week and a full day at the weekend (usually Sunday), and maybe a few hours on Saturday too..

Well, that's a mixed bag! It'll be in theoretical physics and will be number crunching from experimental work that a fellow PhD will be doing. I'm hoping that there will be journal papers coming from the work since it is fairly groundbreaking (if it is successful!) so I'll expect more hours when I get to writing them up.

I think if its in situations like that where the workload is heavier for a spell it's manageable. I just don't want to completely miss the next ~4 years of my children's lives :-) Equally I don't want to do it part time - I'm 30 this year and pretty keen to get started on my "real" career. It's good to know that with decent time management normal-ish hours aren't completely out of the question.

IMHO there is definitely an element of snobbery in Phd land regarding the amount of hours worked each week. Some people who I know love to give a running commentary of their working exploits on Facebook for example as some sort of validation.

Obviously its different for different people. I work 8-4 basically because this is the time my kids are at creche. Some days they are sick and stay at home and so I can't do anything. That's life. I do next to nothing at weekends.

One topic I didn't really see mentioned was the quality of your work. Being in a science PhD program, I have known both people who have worked their tail off working >60 hours/week, and some who skate by working 40 hours/week. The workaholics have gone onto the more prestigious and higher paying jobs, while the skaters are being reimbursed for their lack of training (very poorly). Why would anyone pursue a PhD if they are not ready to devote themselves to it? Whatever reason you have for getting a PhD, I don't see how someone can be successful without putting in hours, and lots of them.

That being said, there are lots of hidden hours people don't consider. For example, most people read articles in their field during meal times, they also read while at home, instead of watching TV, going to a ball game, etc. When you add this up, I think most people work more than 40 hours/week and don't even know it. But...

One other thing to consider is that you can dream all you want about leaving in 3.5 years... but it will come down to your adviser and your committee. I have a great project and made really good progress, but my committee didn't like my progress and added literally 3 months of work to my time here after our last committee meeting (good news, I just finished my 3 months of data gathering and literature searching and am meeting with them next week to appease them). I would also caution against being care-free in choosing an adviser. Sadly, I know many who do tolerate family obligations. If you get stuck with one of those types, your life could become very stressful very quickly. There are also advisers who have strict work requirements and will micro-manage. Others will never check on you, but will gauge your hours of work by the data you produce. Remember, this is the person who will write your letter of recommendation.

Hiya,

I usually work from 8.30am until 6pm 5 days a week. Sometimes I stay until 7 but no later. I occasionally go in on weekends but only if I have something I really need to do. 80% of that time is in the lab. I think if you are organised and plan your time accordingly you can be very productive and have shorter days. You need time off to relax and if you don't have that then I think the work you do can be hindered. So yes it is feasable to get finished with 40-45 hours per week.

I work 10-4/10-5 most days and find that this works fine for me. I do work sometimes in the evenings or at the weekend but find it harder to concentrate then than during weekdays, also it is good to have a proper break from the PhD I find.

The thing that I've got a lot better at over the years is improving my concentration so that when I am working, I'm not procrastinating - used to do loads of that when I first started!!