
{"id":2133,"date":"2018-11-06T06:57:12","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T06:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/what-does-a-phd-weekend-actually-look-like\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T11:14:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T05:44:52","slug":"what-does-a-phd-weekend-actually-look-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/what-does-a-phd-weekend-actually-look-like","title":{"rendered":"What does a PhD weekend actually look like?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Since joining Twitter, I\u2019ve noticed that many PhD students have captioned their working weekend tweets with the hashtag <a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PhDWeekend?src=hash\">#PhDWeekend<\/a>. Sometimes these posts are motivational and inspire others during long hours of writing. Other times you can feel the anguish and internal struggle of needing to work while wanting to relax.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Whether it\u2019s maintaining cell cultures in the lab, grading lab reports for teaching assistant positions, reading scientific articles, or analyzing data from their laptops at home, grad students are continuously working. Most of the time, there are just not enough hours in the week to accomplish everything. But how do you maintain a healthy balance of generating more data and resting up for the following week?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">At the beginning of my grad school career, I would relax the entire Saturday and save all my work for Sunday. Now, this might work for some people who prefer the pressure of the looming Monday to get work done. But this did not work for me. I would spend too much time swimming in guilt over what I should have done and how little time I gave myself to do certain tasks. Eventually, I realized that I needed to revise my weekends to get most of my work out of the way early on,\u00a0to prevent my continual Sunday night panic.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Here is what my PhD weekend looked like this week:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Friday<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Not much of anything gets done between 4-5pm on a Friday. Everyone is burnt out from the week and solely focused on what they\u2019re going to binge on Netflix that night. Our lab has weekly lab meetings in the afternoon which usually gets done around 3:30pm. Afterwards I\u2019ll be flooded with suggestions from my advisor and lab mates about my project, my own thoughts for future experiments, and ideas that require me to look into previously published papers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 11.0pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';\">Once I return to the lab, I\u2019ll typically take half an hour to expand upon my quickly-scribbled notes from the lab meeting while they\u2019re still fresh in my mind, and plan out any experiments for the next week. If there are any last steps for tissue staining or quick figure edits, I\u2019ll do that then too. But after that, Friday evenings are reserved for relaxing. This Friday, I went to supper with a friend at Bidwell\u2019s Tavern (they have 24 different flavors of chicken wings!) and then we returned home to watch a few episodes of Fraiser (one of my favorite classic comedies).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center\" title=\"Default Title Text\" src=\"http:\/\/insights.cactusglobal.com\/sites\/default\/files\/Amanda%20Coletti%201.jpg\" alt=\"Default Alt text\" data-file_info=\"%7B%22fid%22:%227242%22,%22view_mode%22:%22default%22,%22fields%22:%7B%22format%22:%22default%22,%22field_file_image_alt_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Alt%20text%22,%22field_file_image_title_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Title%20Text%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Btextfield%5D%22:%22%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Bvalue_field%5D%22:%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%22%7D,%22type%22:%22media%22%7D\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Saturday<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Saturday morning is usually accompanied by the first wave of anxiety of the day. All of the work-related thoughts that I pushed back on Friday night come back with a vengeance. I wish I could tell you that I can simply pinpoint these anxious feelings, stop them, and get right to work. Grad school guilt is experienced by thousands of students, but one of my best strategies when I\u2019m feeling overwhelmed is to write things down. I\u2019m a compulsive list-maker. I\u2019ll grab a sticky note, plan out what I need to do for each item, and do the easier ones first in the morning. I LOVE crossing off things on my to-do list. That little jolt of accomplishment gives me the momentum to go on to the next item on the list.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">This past Saturday, I spent the afternoon in the lab continuing a few experiments staining brain tissue sections to examine protein expression. This involved slicing the brain tissue into sections, making antibody solutions, waiting for the sections to stain as they rotated on a shaker, and mounting them onto microscope slides to be imaged on Monday. During the downtime for these steps, I read a few papers and processed some images that I took during the week.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center\" title=\"Default Title Text\" src=\"http:\/\/insights.cactusglobal.com\/sites\/default\/files\/Amanda%20Coletti%202.jpg\" alt=\"Default Alt text\" data-file_info=\"%7B%22fid%22:%227243%22,%22view_mode%22:%22default%22,%22fields%22:%7B%22format%22:%22default%22,%22field_file_image_alt_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Alt%20text%22,%22field_file_image_title_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Title%20Text%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Btextfield%5D%22:%22%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Bvalue_field%5D%22:%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%22%7D,%22type%22:%22media%22%7D\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">I usually end the day with self-care activities such as a bath, a face mask, or watching episodes of My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (A comedy\/musical that highlights mental health issues\/stigma. Also, the lead, Rachel Bloom, is a mastermind genius) and Jane the Virgin<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">(A drama\/romance\/telenovela that has tons of heart).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Sunday<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Sunday morning is for leftovers, and for once, I\u2019m not talking about food. Any leftover tasks that didn\u2019t get done on Saturday, I\u2019ll do first thing, such as more image-processing and assembling those images into figures to show my advisor on Monday. I always reserve time after lunch for going grocery shopping (so I won\u2019t be shopping hungry and buy out the entire store) and planning meals for the week.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">This Sunday, I went to my university\u2019s library, found a comfortable spot with a nice view, and worked on reading and writing tasks. I drafted the methods section for my first paper, I wrote for this blog, and I read papers that I\u2019ll be assigning my students for class this week.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center\" title=\"Default Title Text\" src=\"http:\/\/insights.cactusglobal.com\/sites\/default\/files\/Amanda%20Coletti%203.jpg\" alt=\"Default Alt text\" data-file_info=\"%7B%22fid%22:%227244%22,%22view_mode%22:%22default%22,%22fields%22:%7B%22format%22:%22default%22,%22field_file_image_alt_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Alt%20text%22,%22field_file_image_title_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Title%20Text%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Btextfield%5D%22:%22%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Bvalue_field%5D%22:%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%22%7D,%22type%22:%22media%22%7D\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">When Sunday afternoon and evening comes around &#8211;\u00a0these used to be the times when my anxiety would be at its highest as I begin to dread Monday &#8211; again, I\u2019ll make another list for the week, write in my planner, and send a weekly plan email to my undergrads so everyone (mostly me) knows what their focus and goals are for the week.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">In the evening, I like to take the time to call one of my best friends, who\u2019s in grad school across the country. We vent about our frustrations and challenges, celebrate our little victories, and share memes about our mutual love for cheese. Or if it\u2019s a TV-watching-kind-of-evening, the new year provides great new programming. Now that it\u2019s January, awards season in Hollywood is upon us. Tonight, I\u2019m watching the Grammy\u2019s while making a list of the Oscar-nominated movies I still need to watch. If I need a more uninterrupted break without commercials, I\u2019ll watch Victoria on PBS Masterpiece. This way when I go to bed, my mind will be occupied by the words of Oprah\u2019s Golden Globes speech or the dramatized royal events of 19th century England.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">So, that\u2019s my #PhDWeekend; but it doesn\u2019t always play out exactly like that. Sometimes I\u2019ll be in the lab for the entire day, or have a deadline where I just work on one project all weekend. Sometimes I\u2019ll have doctor\u2019s appointments or family events to attend which require travel. Sometimes I have bad weekends and I need more self-care and support. And yes, most of the time, I don\u2019t get to check off everything on my to-do list. I\u2019m still learning to manage a work-life balance that suits me best. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Ultimately, I\u2019ve found that there is no such thing as a \u201ctypical\u201d PhD weekend. Everyone\u2019s PhD weekend experience is different and changes constantly. But the most important thing I\u2019ve learned is to not let work consume my entire weekend. Add some variety to these days, spend time with people who support you, and do activities that give you motivation and re-charge you. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"text-justify: inter-ideograph;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Make the time to actually have a \u201cweekend,\u201d your brain will thank you for it.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><i>Amanda Coletti (<\/i><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amandacoletti5\"><b><i><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\">@<\/span><\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\">amandacoletti5<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\">) is a PhD student at the University of Connecticut in Communications, studying science communication. This story was originally published on January 28, 2018, on Amanda\u2019s blog,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/illuminatedbrain.wordpress.com\/\"><i><span lang=\"EN-IN\" style=\"line-height: 115%;\" xml:lang=\"EN-IN\">Illuminated Brain<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"> (available\u00a0<\/span><\/i><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/illuminatedbrain.wordpress.com\/2018\/01\/28\/what-does-a-phd-weekend-actually-look-like\/\"><i><span lang=\"EN-IN\" style=\"line-height: 115%;\" xml:lang=\"EN-IN\">here<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\">) and has been republished here with permission.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since joining Twitter, I\u2019ve noticed that many PhD students have captioned their working weekend tweets with the hashtag #PhDWeekend. Sometimes these posts are motivational and inspire others during long hours of writing. Other times you can feel the anguish and internal struggle of needing to work while wanting to relax. Whether it\u2019s maintaining cell cultures [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":898,"featured_media":33313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2414],"tags":[2666,2454],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-researcher-stories","tag-phd-life","tag-researcher-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What does a PhD weekend actually look like?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amanda Coletti is a PhD student at the University of Connecticut in Communications, studying science communication. In this story, she take us through the hustle-bustle of how she spends an\u00a0average weekend as a PhD student\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/illuminatedbrain.wordpress.com\/2018\/01\/28\/what-does-a-phd-weekend-actually-look-like\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What does a PhD weekend actually look like?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amanda Coletti is a PhD student at the University of Connecticut in Communications, studying science communication. 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