A bit of a funk

I had another day working in the lab and this evening I went to a PGSA Interactive Forum.  Also, today there were a few emails and I had a quick meeting with the PGSA Executive Assistant.  All-in-all I could say I made progress on numerous fronts, but unfortunately I am in a bit of a funk.

I suppose studying towards your PhD is like many other jobs in the sense that there are few milestones.  Sure every 6 months we submit a progress report, but otherwise, day to day, there's little in the way of external management.  For the most part I am happy with this and when it comes to my work, my supervisor and I have found an agreeable balance between conference and independence.  What I find difficult about this arrangement is continually evaluating my output to say whether my studies are moving in the right direction.  Add in the fact that my days are split between research and other activities (e.g. teaching, sitting on boards/committees, and working with students' associations) and it's all the more difficult to know I am on the right track.

And this leads to my current situation.  After days like today, where I've had my nose stuck in code for hours on end, I have to wonder if I am making progress and if I am making it fast enough?

Trending to normal

After being out of the lab last week and a busy past couple of days, today went pretty smooth.  I focused on lab work and I am pleased with my progress.  Ultimately a head cold forced me to pack up and head home in the evening.

Not to plan

As I promised yesterday, today I went into work knowing what I needed to do and having a rough idea of how long each task would take.

The good news is I got through most of my to do list.  The bad news is that in no way did my day progress anywhere close to the schedule I had laid out last night.

Coincidentally I came across a quote in a newspaper story last night that perfectly sums up my Tuesday:

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” 

- Mike Tyson

After a chaotic day like mine and keeping in mind Tyson's quote, some folks may be resigned to giving up on planning and just take work as it comes.  However, this is a mistake.  Sure my day was derailed before I even left the house, however, my planning and tentative schedule was a constant reminder of the tasks I had to accomplish and kept me on track even when my plans were derailed.

Tyson's words resonate with me, it's easy to make plans when you're safe or in relative comfort and I am no stranger to life throwing the proverbial monkey wrench into my gears.  However, I am learning it's what we do after we get punched in the face that matters.  And for me, if I've really put forethought into my plans, after a jab I can get back on track with a quick consult of my notes.

I am not discouraged that I didn't get to everything on my list and I am not in the least put off that my day didn't go down as expected.  If anything today has demonstrated the strength in preparation and it's a trend I will continue.

Unprepared

Wow.

I knew my Monday would be busy and hectic as I had morning meetings and a volunteer shift off campus in the afternoon, but I am stunned by how quickly the day went.  I had no opportunity to sit down at my desk and I just moved from one task to another.

This week I wanted to focus on planning my time and getting the most from my workdays.  Today would be a prime example of why this is a skill I need to develop.  As my Mondays are always cut short by leaving in the afternoon, I see now I need to spend time on Sunday organising my week so that I come in and hit the ground running.  Also, if I don't plan prior to Monday, this means I am going into work on Tuesday without thinking through my week.  That's far too late.

For my own benefit, I've written myself a to do list for tomorrow.  Even in preparing my list and setting approximate time slots for the work, I had to exclude a couple tasks as there's a finite amount of time available.  This is the thinking I must train myself to do to make sure that each day I complete all necessary work and have reasonable expectations.

Week in advance: 3-9 August

Looking ahead to the coming week, I am back at uni and I have a typical "busy" schedule.  On Monday I have a morning meeting and in the afternoon I volunteer off campus.  I have other meetings on Tuesday and Friday morning and on Thursday evening, I am helping at a PGSA event at the Te Aro campus.

My goal this week is to put into practice what I've learned from my my past two Saturday reflections: 1) appropriate plan your time/days and 2) set aside time for reading and reflecting.

Week in review: 27 July-2 August

Being away from school for most of the week it was easy to escape the distractions of my desk and the lab.  As I tried to explain yesterday, I thoroughly enjoy my work, however, my enthusiasm can lead me astray during the day and cause me to lose entire days to various side tracks.

Spending time reading papers and textbooks I was reminded that these exercises are not simply to build references for manuscripts and ultimately a thesis.  In fact these source materials are boundless sources of motivation and inspiration.  Over the past two years I've spent the majority of my time tackling scientific problems through engineering and design.  For most of my studies, I've tackled basic questions in my field that were previously unanswerable because the hardware didn't exist to perform the experiments.  After considerable effort, the fruits of my labour are starting to come together, but now I need to apply these emerging methodologies to new research problems.

Last week I discussed the importance of (realistically) scheduling my days to make my time as productive as possible.  Moving forward I'll need to figure out how to integrate "quiet" time away from the lab so that I can continue to tap into the wealth of knowledge (and inspiration) that exists in published works.

Things just got real

As I accompanied my wife on her conference excursion and to her conference dinner in Queenstown earlier this week, I was introduced to a number of folks.  When the conversation turned to myself and what I did, I explained that I was a PhD student.  At this point, without fail, the next two questions were always "What do you study?" and "How far along are you?"  The question of when I'll finish my thesis always made me smile as this is the typical question of a PhD student and the inspiration for the name of my blog.

Today is the 1st of August and is hopefully the start of the last year of my PhD as I plan to submit my thesis for examination on the morning of 31 July, 2015.  For motivation I've added a timer widget onto the blog to remind me of the precious time remaining.

Now, in no way am I in a rush to complete my thesis; and why would I?  This is a point in my career where I get to ask and answer questions that I want to explore.  Not only do I get to expand my understand of physics, soft matter and magnetic resonance techniques, but I am also free to explore new tools and methodologies to perform my research.

That said, my scholarship will not last forever and at some point I need to move along to a new set of challenges.  Thus my focus on submitting next year.  Time is my most precious resource and I need to keep that fact in mind over the next 12 months as I plan and prioritise my work.