How to Cultivate Work-Life Balance as a Data Scientist

A data scientist’s work-life is hectic. From working with data to learning programming languages and keeping up-to-date with recent trends, it seems as if there’s no time for rest, but is that true? Does data scientist work-life balance really exist? 

How long does the average data scientist work? Do data scientists work on weekends? All these questions and everything else you need to know about how data scientists balance work with everyday life will be answered in this article.

What Is Work-Life Balance?

Work-life balance occurs when a person’s professional and personal obligations are given appropriate attention according to their levels of priority. A healthy career-life balance has multiple benefits. It can reduce stress, prevent burnout, and lead to a stronger sense of well-being, which is advantageous to both employees and employers.

What Does It Mean to Have Work-Life Balance?

Work-life balance can be seen as a situation where neither your work nor your personal life overtakes the time and attention needed for the other. While an even distribution of time is not necessary, work-life balance requires you to determine your priorities and provide the time and care they deserve. It’s important to note that work-life balance looks different for everyone as determining priorities is a personalized event.

Why Is Work-Life Balance Important for Data Scientists?

Establishing a healthy balance between your work and personal life can prevent stress and improve your mental health. When you feel balanced, you can deal better with negative feelings, thoughts, and emotions. People in the tech sector have a lot of responsibilities, and a balance between their careers and personal lives is the best way to ensure they don’t burn out too quickly.

Data Scientist Job Responsibilities

Data scientists use their skills to construct data modeling methods, develop algorithms and forecasting to extract the data the business requires, and assist in analyzing the data and disseminating insights among colleagues. To become a data scientist, you need to master the skills below.

Data Collection

Data collection is a highly valued data science skill. Data scientists are tasked with gathering information obtained from the actions of millions of people around the world. They work with many primary data sources, including surveys, social media, and even website cookies. It’s an important step that requires hard work.

Data Cleaning 

A data scientist sifts through large amounts of raw data and categorizes it appropriately. When conducting their analyses, they must search for inconsistencies and missing data to ensure there are no errors. This requires meticulous attention to detail as well as technical expertise to ensure that the data scientist has good data sets to start with.

Data Analysis

Data analysis is the practice of looking for patterns and trends in data. A data scientist starts the information-gathering process by analyzing the data. This step involves a lot of statistical analysis and visualization to show the data to others and reveals areas that require additional research. Data scientists can use visualization tools to identify and investigate outliers.

Data Interpretation

Data interpretation is the process of getting ideas from a data model. Data scientists need to show their findings in a way that the people interested in them can understand. This is where they go back to the drawing board and apply the insights they’ve derived to the current project.

Data Modeling

Data modeling is all about analyzing and structuring how data should be collected, updated, and organized. A model can be constructed in various ways. Machine learning or statistical modeling are two popular ways to build models. Data scientists can begin drawing conclusions from their findings only once they have completed the modeling process.

How Many Hours Do Data Scientists Work?

Data scientists have better working circumstances than many corporate positions and it’s not just about the salary. They typically work 40 to 50 hours per week, but this varies by industry and company. The least exciting element of the job is cleansing data, which can take up a lot of time.

Do Data Scientists Work on Weekends?

While some tasks may require more time than others, data scientists don’t officially work on weekends. Many of them work 40 to 50 hours on average, separated into eight to 10 hours per day, over five days.

How to Achieve Work-Life Balance as a Data Scientist

• Set your limits: The first step is to manage your time correctly. This requires learning how to say “no” when it’s necessary. If you’re to have time for the things that truly matter, such as spending time with your family and friends, you need to set limits for yourself and others. If your employer is asking more of you than what’s appropriate, you need to communicate that. 
• Care for yourself: To manage stress, you should eat healthily, exercise regularly, and get adequate sleep. In addition, try to take a break and unwind regularly. Set aside time to do something you enjoy, such as reading, gardening, or practicing yoga. A hobby can help you unwind, de-stress, and re-energize.
• Seek help: Talk to a mental health professional if you’re having a hard time coping with the stress in your personal life, and take advantage of employee help programs if you have access to them.
• Consider your options: Find out if your company offers any flexible schedule options, such as flextime, reduced workweeks, job sharing, or hybrid work. More control over your working hours means less stress for you.
• Build a support system: Join forces with coworkers who can step in for you if there are problems at home, and vice versa. When you have to stay late at work, enlist the help of family and friends you can trust to take care of responsibilities that you can’t attend to.

Tech Companies with the Best Work-Life Balance

While you can create a strong work-life balance by yourself, a healthy balance sometimes depends on the company you work with. Some of the best tech companies with the best work-life balance ratings are listed below.

Microsoft

• Headquarters: Redmond, Washington
• Locations: Texas, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, and others

Data scientists, risk analysts, software developers, mobile developers, strategy managers, software engineers, and other tech professionals all have a variety of career paths available to them at Microsoft. On average, employees work nine hours per day, earn competitive salaries, and enjoy a positive work environment.

Amazon

• Headquarters: Seattle, Washington
• Locations: Georgia, Maryland, Washington, and others

Tech roles in data science are available at Amazon, with opportunities ranging from managing supply networks to projecting consumer demand. At Amazon, there are many problems for data scientists to solve, which keeps the job interesting. Even though eight hours per day is required of Amazon data scientists, the company has flexible work hours and the annual salary is industry-standard, so you can go to work earlier or later. However, you must spend eight hours at work.

Airbnb

• Headquarters: San Francisco, California
• Locations: Texas, California, Missouri, and others

This company has a culture that promotes self-reflection and critical thinking. Using data science, Airbnb has improved its services and its employment processes. It was able to identify and eliminate bias in its employment practices using data analysis. Airbnb data scientists’ salaries are also great.

HubSpot

Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Location: New Hampshire, California, France, and others

HubSpot has a 90 percent positive outlook from employers, according to Glassdoor. There is a high level of satisfaction among HubSpot employees when it comes to remuneration, perks, and career progression chances. These factors are all foundational for a healthy work-life balance.

IBM

Headquarters: Armonk, New York

Locations: Texas, Louisiana, and others

IBM is one of the world’s largest employers. It operates in over 171 countries and is known for notable inventions such as the hard drive, floppy disc, ATM, and SQL. IBM data scientists earn an average annual salary of $135,647.

Is Work-Life Balance Possible for Data Scientists?

Yes, work-life balance is possible for data scientists. However, data scientists work long hours. A typical work week is at least 40 hours long, and sometimes much more. However, like with many jobs, hours may vary depending on a variety of factors such as employment type, firm size, and business needs. Many data scientists also comment that they have high levels of job satisfaction.

Data Scientist Work-Life Balance FAQ