Six to midnight
What a week looks like when you are studying, working at a startup and doing research at the same time.
My day usually starts around 6am. That isn't some productivity hack. It's just when I wake up, even though I rarely sleep before midnight. Six hours is what I get most nights, and I've learned to make it work.
Monday to Wednesday belong to class. Lectures for my MTech in Project Management run from 9 to 4. Sometimes a course gets postponed and a gap opens up. Those gaps never stay empty for long.
When I get back from class, I start work and keep going until I've put in my eight hours. Some days I rest a little before I start.
Class is only one part of the week. I'm also a software engineer at an early-stage startup. At a company that size, the title covers more than it suggests: building features, handling deployments, helping with design, and sometimes uploading products myself. And I'm a graduate research assistant at FUTA.
When it all lands at once
Some weeks the calendar doesn't care about your plans. There was a time I had a three-day event in Lagos, and that same week we had a group presentation in class. I couldn't be in two places at once, so I did the only thing that works in that situation: I told my group members early, and I reached out to the lecturer in charge before the week arrived, not after.
That week taught me something I still use. Most clashes aren't really time problems. They're communication problems. People can work around you when they know early. They can't when they find out on the day.
Knowing when to step back
During exams, I take a break from everything else. It's never a complete break, because there are always a few hours where one or two things still need me. But I protect most of that time for studying, and I've stopped feeling guilty about it. Doing everything at half strength is worse than doing the important thing properly.
People sometimes ask what I've had to give up to keep all this going. Honestly, not much. I think that's mostly because I plan ahead instead of reacting to each week as it comes.
It's a full life, sometimes a tiring one. But I chose every part of it, and that makes the long days easier to carry.
- Work
- Study