I am a second year PhD student at the School of Pharmacy and here is how a day in my life might look like. Why I say might? Because as a PhD student your plans and strategies keep changing every so often depending upon workload, deadlines, research results and your level of energy, that you’re bound to cut yourself some slack and deviate from the 'ideal life'. 

Mornings

I try to wake up by 7am, although I am not exactly a morning person. Most days, I practice ashtanga and pranayama yoga for 90 minutes, alternating with calisthenics and zumba on other days, in my room itself. Some days, if I am too tired or have a long day ahead, I just sleep till late. Then I prepare my breakfast, which is usually a bowl of fruits and nuts accompanied by chocolate milk. Then I take a quick shower and get dressed for the day. I am not too picky about clothes and my usual go-to is a pair of jeans and a hoodie.

Queen's campus

In the office/lab

My office in the School of Pharmacy is conveniently just a 5-minute walk from my accommodation. When I reach there, I catch up with a few mails and create a To-Do list for the day. This usually means what experiments I must perform on that day and where I have all the protocols laid out for that. This also means that I must make sure whether I have the right equipment booked for the planned experiment and for what time of the day; and if I have all the required consumables ready at hand. Once everything is good to go, I put on my lab coat and safety goggles and work away. 

Lab work

Lunchtime

I usually come back home for lunch as it is quite convenient for me but sometimes, I go out with my lab mates to the City Hospital or Clements Cafe for a cheap lunch. My guilty pleasure is the hot chocolate from Clements in the Medical Biology Centre (MBC) and I highly recommend it. The Students' Union is also a quick walk from my lab and offers great lunch deals in Delish, SPAR and SU Bar. Also, Lisburn Road, where my office is located, has a wide variety of restaurant options for a nice lunch.

Back to work

I usually continue with my experiments depending upon the day’s schedule or do some reading for the rest of the day. When I’m writing a paper, my reading is targeted and focused on what I need to find; otherwise, it’s more general as I explore the state-of-the-art in my project.

If I have had a meeting with my supervisory team, I review their recommendations and suggestions for the project’s upcoming steps, and do some reading based on that. My workday ends with a quick review of what needs to be done the next day and later in the week. Needless to say, the whole time is sprinkled with chit-chats with my colleagues around me.

My colleagues

Evenings 

My closest friends are no longer in uni so I spend some evenings of the week hanging out with them. They stay close by so it is quite convenient for me. In fact, every other Friday, I find myself packing a small bag with essentials and going to stay over with them. I am my happiest with them. 

But on most days, my evenings are spent by catching up with my family over video call and cooking myself dinner. At times, I spend an hour or so on analysing some data and making graphs of the results from my experiments before dinner. If I have less work in the evenings (as I do dinner prep only twice a week to refrigerate; and not everyday If I have any results to analyse), I end up watching some series or movie. Sometimes, I cannot look at my messy room and embark upon an impromptu cleaning ritual!

Most nights

Occasionally, I watch some comedy show on YouTube while having dinner but most of the time I try to do mindful eating. I try to go on a half-an-hour stroll after dinner with my headphones on as it makes my mind and body relax and I let music and fresh air do its magic! I end my day with reading a book as I am an avid reader. If I am staying over with my friends, we usually end up watching a movie together and discussing it after which leads to further discussions about people and life until we get tired and fall asleep.

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Adriparna Paul PhD Pharmacy | Postgraduate Research Student | India A second year PhD student at School of Pharmacy with a knack for writing, playing cricket and reading books. You will find me quite often at my friends’ whiling away doing nothing. A lot of my time goes in finding the best place to get hot chocolate and making itineraries for trips; and most of my money goes on getting hot chocolate for myself and saving for trips (I won’t talk about the dozens of books lying on my shelf).