I'll Finish it This Week and Other Lies - Why PhD students lack productivity in time management

TL;DR

This video discusses a paper on productivity for PhD students, highlighting the importance of realistic task estimations and the impact of task categories on completion times.

Transcript

hello everyone and welcome back to my channel today's video is going to be sharing some productivity advice for phd students one thing that i'm going to be talking about is a paper on productivity that i read recently by a phd student called i'll finish it this week and otherwise which was sent me by my supervisor so shout out to barry for sending ... Read More

Key Insights

• ✍️ Tasks in research often take longer than expected, particularly coding and writing tasks.
• ☠️ Undergraduate students may have better task completion rates due to structured assignments.
• ☠️ Time-based goals and deadlines can improve task completion rates.
• ❓ Task estimation may improve with experience and practice.
• ✍️ Coding tasks tend to remain consistent across career levels, while writing and administrative tasks increase.
• ⌛ Tasks with clear deadlines are more likely to be completed on time.
• ⌛ The paper suggests the possibility of using time-based goals instead of traditional task assignments.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the main focus of the paper discussed in the video?

The paper explores the disparity between expected and actual completion times for tasks in research, particularly among PhD students.

Q: Which types of tasks took the longest to complete?

Coding and writing tasks were found to take the longest, likely due to the inherent uncertainties and complexities associated with these activities.

Q: Did the study find any differences in task completion across different career levels?

The study found that undergraduate students tended to complete tasks on time more frequently than higher-level researchers, suggesting that they may have more structured assignments with clear deadlines.

Q: What is a key takeaway from the paper in terms of task estimation?

Tasks with deadlines were more likely to be completed on time, highlighting the importance of setting time-based goals rather than relying solely on self-assigned tasks.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The video discusses a paper by Kaylee Brower, an astrophysics PhD student, on expected versus actual completion times for tasks in research.

• The study tracked tasks over a nine-month period and found that, on average, tasks took 1.7 times longer than anticipated.

• Coding and writing tasks took the longest, while tasks with deadlines were more likely to be completed on time.