Throughout my first semester, I heard my peers asking the same questions about staying balanced (work vs. life – the difference is muddled in grad school) and organized (specifically: how to organize all the articles you’re reading). These are two things that we’re all trying to figure out. So, I wanted to share two strategies that have helped me.

Disclosure: I’m not an expert. Just a person who loves organization.

Time Tracking

When it comes to staying balanced, it is important to remember that everyone’s balance is different. Personally, I take a siesta everyday to walk my dog during daylight hours. This means I usually work an extra hour in the evening to makeup for lost time. I know other people who work the standard 9-5 and others who start work much later in the day and work through the night. The point is: don’t compare yourself to others; do what works for you.

Not comparing yourself to your peers is a difficult task when many of us are already dealing with imposter syndrome (doubting our abilities and feeling like we don’t belong). Personally, I felt like I wasn’t doing enough reading for my thesis during my first semester and that I wasn’t working enough hours. I decided to face that fear head-on and started tracking my time with a simple timesheet that I created. It tallies how many hours I spend on each task related to my academic and extra-curricular work at Queen’s. What I discovered is that I was working enough hours each week, but I should start spending more of those hours on my thesis. With that knowledge I started allotting my time differently. 

This time tracking also helped me notice when I was about to burn out. If I noticed I had worked late for two days in a row, I would give myself an afternoon off to recover and recharge. 

Organizing your thoughts and articles

For organizing my research, I incorporate a few strategies I’ve learned from my peers. I use a reference manager to group the articles I’m reading into categories and to take notes on the PDFs. I also track all the articles I read in a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet has columns (shown below) that cover the basic citation information and content of the article. I summarize each resource and write a few of my own thoughts and questions. That way, when I am looking for something, there are multiple ways I can search for it. This helps me remember the main points of an article, as well as my own thoughts on it. So when I’m trying to remember where I read something, a quick search or filter will help be find the source.

For organizing my research, I incorporate a few strategies I’ve learned from my peers. I use a reference manager to group the articles I’m reading into categories and to take notes on the PDFs. I also track all the articles I read in a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet has columns (shown below) that cover the basic citation information and content of the article. I summarize each resource and write a few of my own thoughts and questions. That way, when I am looking for something, there are multiple ways I can search for it. This helps me remember the main points of an article, as well as my own thoughts on it. So when I’m trying to remember where I read something, a quick search or filter will help be find the source.

There are many additional resources you should consider for organizing literature (the actual pdfs). Two of the most popular (and free) options are Zotero and Mendeley. These are both citation management software and will help you keep all your articles in one place, organized by topic, and easy to find. 

As you settle into your routine this term, consider giving these methods a try. It’s important to figure out what works for you, and then to keep a consistent method so you can take care of yourself without any of your work falling through the cracks.