So last night when I was drafting a lecture to send to the course instructor, I was just sitting there writing my teaching notes and my PI pings me asking to quickly check some statistics and to reply fast. I turn on the light and start opening the data, reply that I’ll check it around nine-something and ask them to send the file because I want to download it first so I don’t disturb colleagues.

Crickets. No file.

Wait until almost ten and a single file arrives, but it’s this mashed-up thing — 50 slides with shorthand notes, totally different from what the PI described in chat. It’s all mixed up, explanations are incomplete, one line says “add a graph here” but doesn’t say what kind, and the whole message is one sentence: “Please fix this.”

It’s not like I can’t do it, but this kinda communication forces me to fumble around by myself, and there’s a student seminar the next day so the pressure is intense, like really. LOL. I’m 36, based at a faculty in Nonthaburi province, doing a PhD while teaching part-time. The PI isn’t the only boss, but this one loves to dump tasks at night and then vanish. During the day they’ll walk into the room, look at you like nothing happened.

Some teammates are like, “That’s just their style,” and laugh it off. Others tell me to build in buffer time. I try to, but sometimes the PI changes requests in the morning to something even bigger and says, “Hurry, fix it before the meeting.” It feels like my time is being squeezed out, and my teaching schedule is already set. I have to split time between prepping classes and research — it’s impossible to do both perfectly all the time.

I’m not just whining. I’ve tried suggesting fixes — made slide templates, created a revision request form — but the PI goes, “No need for that,” then acts like a different person later. It’s confusing. If they were clear from the start I could sort things out in time, but this makes me redo stuff repeatedly until I feel like my life hours are disappearing.

Tell myself to chill, but sometimes I wonder if I’m being petty or overly complaining. I want to do a good job, but can they at least communicate in a more orderly way? I’m not after praise, just clear instructions, or at least send the complete files before asking for edits so I don’t have to stay up late alone like this.

Anyone else dealt with a PI or supervisor who assigns work and disappears? What do you do — confront them directly or just adjust how you manage tasks? Or am I worrying too much? I’m a bit baffled but also weirdly amused at the same time.

P.S. If you’re going to say “keep records,” I do — I save the chats — but it’s really exhausting T_T