<p>I have always had in interest in biology/biochemistry and recently graduated from as a bio major. Since then I am working as a lab tech and trying to decide what to pursue next. </p>
<p>The problem is I am worried that the PhD lifestyle is too much. It is important to me to attain a 9-5 job and not let work be the main focus of my life. I need plenty of time for hobbies and just "me-time". I would be willing to have a few more intense-paced years like undergrad was, but overall I don't enjoy student life, getting home from class and having to continue hitting the books to stay competitive. I can do it a few more years to get where I need to be, but ultimately I do not want this as my lifestyle.</p>
<p>So my dilemma is everyone I've spoken to (PhDs and MDs) say don't go into these fields unless you truly want to dedicate your life to it. Am I over-worrying? I don't want to dedicate my life to anything but MYSELF. And I really truly enjoy biology and lab work, and am not in it for money or prestige, but no level of interest could make me want to focus more than 50 hours a week max to a career. </p>
<p>Is getting a PhD compatible with my desired lifestyle?</p>
<p>Grad school in biology is never going to be a 9-5 job. </p>
<p>That’s not to say you can’t have time for yourself or time for hobbies – I’m a fourth-year PhD student, and I work from about 8-8 most days while coaching a college cheerleading squad, moderating CC, and knitting, but I think it would be impossible for me to do this if I didn’t love it with all my heart.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply. Yes I am seriously reconsidering my options and how to not give up my dreams of being a scientist yet still know what I am getting myself into, and being sure I am ok with it.</p>
<p>I hear what you are saying, but to me it seems impossible… you work from 8-8, so when you get home at 8pm you have about 3 hours to yourself before you need to start sleeping for your next day. Don’t see how you can fit anything into that after daily responsibilities (cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry). At least I couldn’t.</p>
<p>Grad school is not a 9-5 job, and will end up being A main focus of your life. Most people have hobbies outside of grad school, and spend a relatively considerable amount of time outside of lab, but you’ve got to love what you do. I do know people who try to treat it like a job, and that means coming in, doing your work, and not screwing around as much as the rest of the lab is. Either way there will come times when you will have to be in lab for 12+ hours at a stetch, just due to experiments and/or deadlines. I tend to get home around 8-9 at night, which leaves time for cooking and hanging out with my roommates for awhile before bed. Most chores like housework get done on the weekends, and I try to come home earlier one or two nights a week to do things like shopping.</p>
<p>Sorry, maybe I should clarify what I meant to convey: My post wasn’t just about grad school, but about career once I have my PhD. I am willing to push through long hours for the short-term for a few more years to get a degree, IF it is reasonable to expect I would be able to find a position that does NOT require more than working 9-5.</p>
<p>However from people I have talked to… in order to be even moderately successful, most post doc positions are also crazy hours, and this is 2 years each, sometimes people do 2-3 (or more) post docs… is this the norm? With a PhD, when can I reasonably expect to attain a career with normal hours? (I know nothing is guaranteed, just looking for reasonable estimates). </p>
<p>And I do love working in a lab and learning about science. Is it really all-consuming-or-nothing? I’m trying to learn through this post if a middle-ground exists (industry?).</p>
<p>If you choose academia, you will never have normal hours. A career in science requires lifelong dedication, which usually means a lot of hours. If you are already making demands on time, it will only get worse.</p>
<p>Perhaps a career where your main focus is teaching might be a better solution. I know of several professors who teach at the smaller campuses of large universities, but collaborate with people with larger labs and such. That way, their role in the research is not as great, and so they are afforded more time away. Those are just two examples, so I do not think getting a PhD is worth it just for the hopes of attaining this arrangement.</p>
<p>As for industry, it depends on the type of company and what your desires are. Sometimes you have more freedom in the direction of your research, and other times not much. I can’t speak about the hours worked because I know of only two in industry and they do work more 50 hours a week. I don’t know how common that is.</p>
<p>To be honest, though, you should not be getting a PhD. It might seem like you can push through it now, but when experiments aren’t going right and everything seems to be unraveling, you will loathe it. You are looking at 5-7 years minimum of long days, and that is too much of your life wasted if you hated it the entire way through.</p>
I’m good at time management. I cook for the week, clean, shop for groceries, and do the laundry on the weekends, when I generally work only either one day or the other. Cheerleading practice is three nights a week, but it’s after work (8pm-10pm), and I knit on the subway on the way to and from lab. </p>
<p>To be honest, I would never recommend grad school to someone who was unsure if they were willing to dedicate a good chunk of their lives to working stupidly hard. Science is something like a calling, and life’s too short to work that hard if you don’t love what you do.</p>