• Question: how long is your normal day?

    Asked by seth gy to Aimee, Gemma, Hussain, Robert, Ross on 6 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Ross King

      Ross King answered on 6 Nov 2015:

      There’s really no such thing as a normal day in science. I think usually we try to stick to a 9-5 schedule like most other people, but there will be times when I have to work longer hours. I’m not much of a morning person, though, so I’d prefer to work later into the night – I seem to be more productive then! I also work a lot of weekends.

      Having said that, my job doesn’t really feel like “a job” because I love doing what I’m doing – it just feels like fun, so I don’t mind working longer hours 🙂

    • Photo: Hussain Jaffery

      Hussain Jaffery answered on 13 Nov 2015:

      That’s right, the working routine can vary from day to day as you do different things every day. And since you manage your own time, you can be working normal working hours one day, a really short day another, or even really long days.

      What’s important is just getting the work done and completing the experiment.

      Most research on working hours tends to show that working less hours, 6-7 hours a day, keeps you most productive. So I try to follow that advice, unless theres something special that really needs longer commitments.

    • Photo: Aimee Goodall

      Aimee Goodall answered on 14 Nov 2015:

      Normally I try to start work at 9, but that is the only normal about the day.
      My days can start at 7 AM if I have to use a microscope which is popular and it can finish at 7PM if I am heating up steel for hours!
      I like the variety and with science there is always a flexibility, as if I stay at work till 7PM there is little chance of me getting in at 9 the next day, I would just stay in bed reading scientific papers!

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