• Question: Does your work take too much time, like how long do you spend on the computer a day?

    Asked by abimbola to Deuan, Michelle, Lori-An, Duncan, Darren on 18 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by shannonc, frankenberger.
    • Photo: Deuan Jones

      Deuan Jones answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Well science does take a lot of time I’m afraid, it can take years to get to the bottom of a problem. But in work terms I think it’s OK. I work about 40-45 hours most weeks and although if you think lots of jobs are 9-5 (37 hours a week roughly), lots of people take work home. Whether it’s tecahers taking marking home, or people taking paper-work home.

      You do get people who regularly spend 60 hrs or more in the lab and just don’t have a life outside of work, but we’re not forced to do that, and to be honest I think a lot of those people just get so tired and exhausted that they end up being really inefficient making lots more mistakes.

      On computer I probably spedn around 2-3 hrs per day – reading work other people have published online, reading emails, researching other information, searching databases, making powerpoints for talks.

    • Photo: Lori-An Etherington

      Lori-An Etherington answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Hi, I usually manage to fit all of my work in 9-5 monday to friday so I suppose it doesnt take too much time. Right now I am spending loads of time on the computer in this ‘Im a scientist’ but I usually only check emails, find journals in science, and occasionally check facebook. I also have a few coffee breaks in the day and time for lunch (although in this time I am also keeping an eye on my experiment)

    • Photo: Darren Nesbeth

      Darren Nesbeth answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      My work takes too much time. One problem scientists have is, the more experienced they get the more management and teaching they do, which means less time in the lab. I used to spend on average 5-6 hours a day in the lab – now it’s more like 1-3 hours.

    • Photo: Michelle Hudson-Shore

      Michelle Hudson-Shore answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      I never really seem to have enough time to do everything I would like to so I suppose in that sense it takes too much time, But it doesn’t stop me from doing other things. I do spend alot of my day on the computer as that is how I find the information and journal papers that I need and then of course I have to write my findings up. But when I’m doing interviews for my PhD I get out of the office and away from my computer to talk to scientists at other universities and organisations which is great.

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