How staying longer at work resulted in getting less work done

Yesterday, I stayed in my office from 8am until 7:30 pm and -oh horror- I got much less work done than on other days.

I knew I could stay longer in my office because I was planning to go straight from my office to my choir practice. That’s why I stayed late.

Since September, I haven’t been staying long in my office. I’ve been scheduling aerobics classes at relatively early hours to make sure I leave my office in time. All this is the result of my attempts to find a work-life balance as a PhD student.

Knowing that I’ll leave my office at a certain time, usually 6pm, forces me to plan my day, and fit my work in my schedule. I’ve tried and tested this, and I am getting as much done as when I was staying in my office from 8am to 8pm before September. I even feel like I can focus better during the day.

Yesterday, I thought during the day several times that I could do this and that in the meanwhile (unimportant tasks) “because I was staying longer anyway”. Around 5:30 pm my concentration was gone, and I started to instant message my boyfriend. And then I started to read some blogs and have dinner. And suddenly I had to leave and run for choir practice, leaving the paper I wanted to read unread on my desk.

I’ve learned my lesson 🙂