Oh well, this one is tough. Grad school is especially hard because you need to organize your own time. There is no one to tell you what to do and frequently there are not so many deadlines. Except, of course, occasionally when there are simply too many deadlines and you can't make them all. The best way to work I have discovered, is to decide on working hours and stick to them each day. There will, of course, be days when you skip work completely, and yet others when you have to pull an allnighter, but on the average sticking to regular working hours can do miracles for your motivation and effectiveness. What worked best for me is to come early in the morning, around 9 am, and work until lunch. Then go and have lunch somewhere (eating wending-machine junk in front of your screen is about the worst thing you can do), come back and work until 6 pm. I am not a morning person and getting up early is not my favorite thing, but after a few tries I discovered that I can be amazingly efficient in the morning hours and that my lab is almost empty so no distractions either. Another good thing is that you come to work when the rest of students, professors, staff do so you can talk to them if you need to. Also, your advisor will have high opinion of "your hard-working" if you are at work early every morning. Chances are, they will never notice your hard work if you come at 4 pm and work until midnight (been there, done that), because they will never see you working that late - they'll be home eating dinner at that time.

A very important thing to keep in mind is that you also need to live through grad school. This means that you need to organize your time so that it's not all work, work, work. Maniac working mode can be effective for a few weeks or months (especially before deadlines) but in the long term will make your motivation and productiveness diminish. So make time for other things in life: have fun, go out, see friends, go to a weekend trip, go to a gym, learn how to cook (useful later in life, too), clean your room, learn a foreign language. Be careful not to procrastinate - assign time to each of these activities, and make sure you get your 8 work hours a day. Balanced work and fun schedule will keep you invigorated while at work, and relaxed the whole day.

It is extemely important that you get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. Skipping on a sleep for a few nights, when you have a deadline, is fine, but prolonged sleep deprivation can seriously harm you. You will grow increasingly tired and it will take you hours to finish things that otherwise would take a couple of minutes. Your brain will refuse to cooperate, and be sluggish. Your stress levels will increase, making you easily irritable. Besides, if you drive to/from school, lack of sleep can endanger your life and lives of others.

Short point summary

• Decide on your work schedule (preferably regular hours)
• Plan fun and rest in your schedule, apart from work
• Get enough sleep