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How many hours to work per day on research leave?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

How many hours a day is good to work on research? I'm a couple of years into a TT job, and have a semester of research leave. So for the first time since I was a grad student, I can (theoretically) devote all my time to research.

I know not to burn out, but I'm wondering how much "serious" research time (ie, reading and writing) to expect and plan for. I tend to use the pomodoro method, working in 25 minute blocks. I was thinking 10 of those a day, meaning 250 minutes or just over 4 hours. 5 days a week that would be 20 hours a week of solid research time.

Any thoughts? Too high? Too low? Maybe I should ease myself in?

Good questions. I think we've discussed similar issues before, and I recall hearing people say that 4-5 hours per day is pretty good. Some people may work more than this, but I've heard (and experienced myself) that after 5 hours or so, continuing to work can have diminishing returns. I guess I'd recommend experimenting a bit to discover what works best for oneself. Ideally, one should enjoy research leave, so maybe work as much as you enjoy?

What do readers think?

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7 responses to “How many hours to work per day on research leave?”

  1. am I getting it?!

    I do not know if I understand the question, but the answer that comes to my mind is 7.5 hours per day. Where I live and work, that is a typical work day, and a research leave is not a holiday. It is a paid opportunity to advance your research while NOT teaching, and perhaps not even doing committee work. Of course, some of this time is spent reading. And this can be done in a rather leisurely manner (rather than frantically, as one is often forced to do it when one has a full teaching load). Incidentally, organizing your files also counts as work, as a lot of connections are made when we sit down and straighten out all the stuff we have around us.

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  2. noname

    I agree with everything Marcus said. Experiment and enjoy. Work as much as you can?
    I also agree with “am I getting it?” that research leave is not a holiday.
    One thing I want to add is: There is a sense of urgency, because a semester of leave isn’t really very long time, and you are supposed to step up in your research during this short period. (I have two leaves so far, and these felt really short! and a third is coming up and I am already debating whether to spend time on conferences because time is short!)

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  3. Prof L

    I would prioritize a major research project, do it in the morning. Then in the afternoon, answer emails, do small, low-thought one-off things (referee reports, etc.), get outside, spend time with people you love. You are not obligated to spend 40 hours a week working—Unless you are a freak of nature, only a fraction (I’d venture 1/2) of those 40 work-hours will actually be productive. Trying to force them will likely burn you out.
    I spent mornings working, afternoons on other things. It was good, I accomplished quite a bit in that semester, far more than I would have if I had tried to force myself to work 35-40 hours per week. Enjoy that dedicated research time!

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  4. Bill V.

    I’ve never been able to sustain more than 4-6 hours per day of research. I CAN spend a week or so of 12 or more hours pounding away, but then I burn out and end up taking long breaks away from my desk. The sustainable level will be different for everyone, I imagine.
    Another way to think of it is in terms of the final project you want to end up with when the research leave is over. Perhaps you promised a book or a couple of papers, or whatever it might be. How many pages/words is that? Divide that number by 5/7ths of the number of days in the leave (i.e., take weekends off, or the equivalent), and that’s your daily target. Make sure you go over target some days when you are in flow, because I guarantee there will be some days you are under target.

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  5. Mariana

    I also use the Pomodoro technique, although 35-minute chunks work better for me. On my “only research” days, I complete between 7 and 9. In order to avoid stressing myself out, I think of 0 Pomodoro days as terrible, 1-3 as bad days, 4-6 as okay days, 7-9 as good days, and 10-13 as days in which I am actively avoiding something in my life (bad) or in flow state (good). To me, consistency (and not quantity) is the key. Hope this helps!

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  6. A little lost

    Thanks for the responses, almost everyone! Glad to see I’m not alone. @Prof L and @Bill V. my thoughts are much the same as yours.
    @”am I getting it?!” I’m sure you do understand the question, since you answered it. I typically work far more than full-time when I’m not on sabbatical, so I do feel somewhat entitled to average it out this year.
    I don’t know if you’ve ever had a ‘real’ office job, but even amongst those who are there 40+ hours a week, it’s very rare to do 7+ hours of real intense work. Typically a big chunk of the day is taken up with meetings, chatting with colleagues, emails, etc. I’m sure some people can handle 7.5 hours of intense philosophy of day, but I don’t think I’ve ever met one of them.
    @Mariana I think we are roughly on the same page! I’ve also been experimenting with longer pomodoro periods, partly because it’s so easy for a 5-minute break to become 20, when I do something like just quickly commenting on a blog post.

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  7. Derek Bowman

    A typical day at the office:

    Reply

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