• Question: How do you cope with the stress of being a scientist

    Asked by surf532tods9 to Will B, StuartM, Daniel C on 7 Nov 2025.
    • Photo: Daniel Chernick

      Daniel Chernick answered on 7 Nov 2025:

      For me, it’s kinda the usual saying of “this too shall pass”.

      If I had too much work to do at the same time, I had to learn to prioritise for which work was actually urgent – and others where it wouldn’t matter as much if it was late (and I’d talk to the person I had to deliver the work to first, to make sure they’re okay with me pushing back the work a bit).

      If one piece of work was really stressing me out because it wasn’t going the way that I wanted (like when I wanted to finish a set of experiments before the Christmas break during my PhD), I had to ask myself: 1. Why is it going wrong?, 2. Do I need to re-think the work from the beginning?, and 3. Does it matter if I have to finish this work after New Year’s Day? When I get stressed it’s because I feel like I’m trapped and there’s nothing I can do, but by thinking about these 3 things I then have actions to help me think about the work in a different way (and it really does help me!)

Comments

  • Photo: melissau

    melissau commented on :

    Being a vet can be stressful, and switching off your brain from work can be difficult especially if you’re worrying about a particularly tricky or sad case that you’re managing – you feel very responsible for the animal and their owner who are relying on you to figure things out. In this case I’d talk to another vet (or more than one vet) to get their advice, to see if they have any suggestions about things which I might not have thought of trying, or, if not, to get reassurance that I’m doing everything that’s suitable for the case. Even on an ‘ordinary’ work day, it’s important to have things that help to manage stress, which for me, means doing something that I enjoy which distracts my brain away from thinking about work – this might be exercise (I love Reformer Pilates, and because it’s complicated I have to concentrate on getting it right) or going out walking with my own dogs (who are very nosy so I have to focus on them to make sure they’re not making mischief) or playing the piano.