Question: why do you work so late

Lyndsey Fox answered on 13 Jun 2011:

Oh lots of reasons…
Often it’s because I become very absorbed in the labwork, when I’m looking down the microscope at all these beautiful tiny fossils it becomes very easy to lose track of time. These are the days when I don’t mind working a bit later.
The teaching I do earns me extra money but takes time away from my research, so I will stay late to make up the hours. I also get given a lot of tight deadlines to write grant proposals and abstracts, which means working until the job is done! However long it takes….
But a big reason is because my funding will run out in 2 years time and I want to be able to achieve as much as possible whilst I’m still being paid.

Howeverthere’s no one standing over my shoulder making me do it. As a PhD student you can pretty much pick how often and for how long you work. As long as you get the job done. I think if I had a few less tea breaks I could probably go home a little bit earlier lol, but it’s about finding what works for you.

I know some people who are writing their thesis at the moment, and choosing to work from 6pm until 3am because it’s quieter and they feel they can get more done.
I hope I never get to that stage!