The Research Internship Experience: Part 2

Nathan Wang-Ly
Aug 23, 2017 · 4 min read

Successes, stresses, and finding balance.

Two weeks have passed since my first post, so it’s time for an update!

  • Ben and I have finalised our experimental design (finally!)
  • We’ve already got our ethics approval
  • One of Ben’s PhD students, Aba, is currently coding the experiment. We should be able to begin testing participants in the next two weeks

So, progress is looking good! I’m looking forward to running my first batch of participants and hopefully getting the results we expect.

In the meantime, I need to make a start on my research proposal. It’s slightly different to what I’m used to — I need to outline my experiment and, more importantly, outline the why.

How is your experiment different to previous research? What unique contribution does it make to the existing literature?

These are pretty intimidating questions… so you’ll have to wait until my next update for a definitive answer. :)

While working on my research proposal, I — like every other university student — have a lot I am trying to balance. There’s studies, work, extra-curricular commitments, friends and family, health, and the list goes on…

From speaking to others in this course, I know that some are struggling to cope as the assessments continue to pile on. I’m starting to feel the pressure too, but so far I’d like to think that I’ve handled things well.

To my peers in the course, and to multi-tasking students everywhere, I wanted to share my system of finding balance.

As a caveat, I am aware that everyone has their own systems, so my only goal in sharing what works for me is for others to find elements that they can incorporate into their own systems.


1. Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise

Week 1 was possibly the busiest week of my year (so far). I was asked to conduct interviews for a student organisation I am part of, and they filled almost every availability I had from Monday to Thursday. Sometimes that happens, and you need to be prepared to handle it.

I faced that week head-on and lived to tell the tale. My advice to you is the same advice I heard from AirTree Ventures founder, John Henderson, at a panel discussion:

“It all comes down to ruthless prioritisation.”

Know your priorities in advance. For me, it was Week 1 of uni. That meant that I could afford to fall behind for a week and catch up on lectures the week after. And that’s what I did. There was no way I would have survived if I was trying to keep up with my classes with everything else going on. If you’re finding yourself overwhelmed with everything you have to do, take a moment to ask yourself:

Is this really a priority? Does it have to be done now? What would happen if I didn’t get this done?

You may find that something is stressing you out when it shouldn’t be.


2. Write everything out

Following on from the previous point, I find it extremely helpful to write out everything I need to get done. Before I did this, there would constantly be thoughts in my head as I tried not to forget anything. The end result? Feelings of anxiety and a perpetual fear that I had forgotten something important.

Now, I write everything down. Some of the tasks in the “Long -Term” list are things I eventually plan on doing some time in the future, but now I don’t have to worry about forgetting. I’ll be constantly reminded of it every time I check my to-do list.

It’s definitely brought me peace of mind.

If you think it might work for you, I would strongly recommend trying out Trello!


3. Block out “nothing time”

My last point unfortunately doesn’t come with an image. I want it to be simple and to-the-point.

The previous two points are great for getting things done. But you don’t need to be in a constant state of completing tasks. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is… nothing.

By this, I don’t mean procrastinate. Procrastinating means you planned to complete a task but you are finding excuses not to. By “nothing time” I mean that you intentionally plan to take time off during a block of time.

Read a book. Catch up on Game of Thrones. Hang out with your friends and family.

Or, do nothing. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need.


That’s all I had for this post! I hope that sharing my experiences helped you reflect on your own systems, and where they could be improved. I’m always looking for new ways to be more efficient and productive with my time, so share your own tips with me!

We all need some balance in our lives :)

Journey of a Psychology Research Internship

Students completing a research internship

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Nathan Wang-Ly

Written by

Journey of a Psychology Research Internship

Students completing a research internship

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