Overview of this session

At work, one of the main contributors to wellbeing is a healthy work-life balance. Being a postdoc in academia can be very flexible in terms of when you work, how you organise your own work and sometimes even where you work. Used well, this flexibility can enable you to maximise your efficiency, thus contributing to a positive work-life balance.

This course will provide information, tools, practices and general clarity on how to manage your time and work effectively to help you deliver on your research and other duties without compromising your wellbeing.

In addition to providing you directly with some knowledge, we will enrich the session by encouraging self-reflection and share good practice and tips between participants.

We will notably cover topics like expectations for postdocs, prioritising, multi-tasking, weekly planning, minimising distractions, links between working cultures, behaviours and work-life balance etc.

This session was developed based on a suggestion from postdoc representatives.

For more information on work-life balance for postdocs, visit the work-life balance page.

Programme Objectives

The main objectives of the workshop are to:

• Provide you with information, tips and tools to enhance how you organise your work
• Help you prioritise and focus
• Help you self-reflect to adapt your working patterns to your personality and circumstances 
• Reflect on how behaviours and practices related to time management influence others and the wider working culture.

Facilitators

Alice is a former biomedical postdoc now the Manager of the Postdoctoral Development Centre. She established the PDC as a Faculty pilot in 2018 in the MHLS Faculty and has been running it since, providing personal support to postdocs, organising courses and events as well as influencing policy relevant to postdocs. Alice loves nothing more than ticking tasks off her list and is often described by those who work with her as "very organised", and sometimes "planning-freak", even if she doesn't always feel like it!

Alice is particularly keen on improving research culture at Queen's, especially for postdocs, by redefining norms and behaviours, promoting proactive and compassionate attitudes and empowering people to take their career, wellbeing and future into their own hands.

Lisa joined the PDC in August 2024 and oversees the development and delivery of researcher development opportunities, training, events and guidance, ensuring these initiatives meet the needs of the postdoctoral researcher community at QUB. She also actively engages with the postdoctoral community through one-on-one support and collaborates with and supports the PDC Representatives’ Network and Postdoc Society. She was previously a postdoc at QUB herself; working in the School of Pharmacy where her research focused on novel therapeutic approaches for chronic airways disease.

During her time as a postdoctoral researcher, Lisa benefited from numerous development opportunities organised by the PDC and more broadly at Queen’s. She therefore has firsthand experience of the advantages these opportunities offered and how they helped shape her career. Lisa is passionate about aiding other postdoctoral researchers in their personal and professional development and has a special interest in enhancing and supporting researcher wellbeing and contributing to a positive, welcoming and inclusive research culture at Queen’s.