Earlier this month I went away to North Carolina to spend a week with my extended family at the beach. I remember months ago being so nervous to ask for this time off and worrying that it would impede my work during this critical summer of preparing for my qualifying exam.

It ended up being the complete opposite. I came back to work feeling so refreshed and so ready to take on my writing, reading, and final experiments before it is really crunch time for my qualifying exam (which is now, though I’m avoiding admitting that). Since returning from vacation, I’ve been coming into work every single day (yes, weekends too) to do some experimental work. It sounds like a lot, but I really enjoy the work that I’m doing, and it is exciting to feel like I’m finally making progress in my project, so…I kind of like it.

I am a firm believer that sometimes the best way to be productive is to take a break. If you wait until you’re burnt out to take a break, it is going to take a lot longer to recover. I am very fortunate to have a boss that agrees with this philosophy – not many graduate students have that same luxury (…it should not be a luxury, though).

The work I do requires me to come into the lab early, I’m talking 6:30am sometimes (…and then proceeding to work for the next ten hours) – I have thought multiple times to myself how much harder this would have been if I hadn’t gotten to take that time off.

When I’m tired, I make more mistakes. When I make mistakes, I’m less motivated and I’m frustrated. Then I’m anxious because things just aren’t going well, so then I get more tired and more frustrated. The cycle continues

When I went away on vacation, I made the ~brave~ decision to not pack my laptop at all. I didn’t want to have any reason to pick up my laptop and think about writing. I didn’t even want the thought that, “well, my laptop is just over there…I have some time.” I was taking time off work and so I wanted to do just that – take time off of work. Not check my email, not read any papers, not write a single sentence for my qualifying exam (ironically, it is much easier to not write a sentence for my document than it is to write a sentence 😂).

I’ve actually been so busy (and happy) doing work for my job, I almost forgot to write a blogpost for this month 😂 Whoops!

Thus, the much shorter than usual blog post reminding you all the importance of taking a break – it truly is one of the best ways to improve your productivity!

I had to present for a lab meeting two days after returning, and my boss enjoyed my lab presentation so much she had said, “Wow! Maybe everyone should go away to the beach for a week so you can come in with new ideas. I love this!” Huge boost to my confidence and helpful for everyone in my lab trying to take vacation 😂

Thanks for reading! I’ll try to be better in August (emphasis on try).