A touch sidetracked

This morning, admittedly, I worked on some projects that are less of a priority.  Why, because I've been putting off working on them for more than a week and I wanted to start organising my ideas other than my scribbles on scratch paper.  To be fair, I've talked about most of these with my supervisor, at some point, and we both think they are worthwhile, the issues are time and priority.  As long as I finish a thesis and submit the papers we've discussed before my imposed deadline at the end of next July, there's no stopping me from taking on extra work.  Well there's money, but that's always an issue.

After lunch I got back with the game plan and worked on setting up experiments to collect data, which will contribute to my current paper draft.  Later on I left school to read a stack of material for one of my remaining PGSA obligations.

Traction

I started today with 3 hours of scheduled writing.  During this time I ignored email, shut myself off to distractions in the lab and as difficult as it was I resisted the temptations to wander off to more "interesting" work.  The result was a significant amount of writing, albeit not the highest quality prose, but certainly a first step in crafting a manuscript.  In the process I was able to identify missing data/work necessary to tell our story and in the afternoon I double checked my list with my supervisor.  I now have a clear idea of the essential work required before I can complete this article and I plan to start ticking items off this list tomorrow.

In addition to speaking with my supervisor, in the afternoon I spent time on formatting figures.

Staging

Today was an excellent opportunity to line out work for the next couple of months.  I spoke with my supervisor about some of the specific work I'd like to do and we had a great discussion about expectations.  The content of my thesis is coming into focus and I feel comfortable with the amount of time and work I have left.

I did work on some figures today, both for my paper and a fellow student's draft.  To make sure I continue my writing progress from last week, I've blocked off three hours tomorrow morning specifically for writing.  In the afternoon I'll work on figures, some PGSA business and my other projects that I'll maintaining in the "background."

Labour Day

As I mentioned yesterday, today was a public holiday and as such I didn't go into the lab.  Having worked both Saturday and Sunday afternoons, I was fine with running errands and enjoying some time away from school.  Although, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about designs (mechanical, electronics and programming) for my next projects; I am still focused on writing, when I am at my desk, but elsewhere my mind has other plans.

Week in advance: 26 October-1 November

As I've mentioned numerous times last week my goal right now is to knock out a paper draft.  I will still be working on other projects, to keep "progress" moving forward, but I would very much like to get this paper submitted.  I hesitate to set any deadline or target date, just as right now I don't feel I have a strong grasp on how much work will be required.  There's writing the manuscripts, but there's also a couple final experiments to finish to really sell the story.

In reality, I think a goal this week is to get a grasp on the task and figure out what will be required to complete the first draft.

Tomorrow is Labour Day in New Zealand, so I won't head into work in the morning, but I still have volunteer work in the afternoon.

Week in review: 19-25 October

This week I wanted to spend some time planning out my work for the next few months.  In the end this never happened as I started to write a paper draft.  The message from my supervisor and others in the science community is clear, "publish."  As much as I'd like to put all my time into jobs in the lab, writing is a big part of a PhD and I can't put it off any longer.  Also, the soon I finish writing, the sooner I can be back to doing the other stuff I want to do.

That said, I am (and will) take small bits and pieces of my days to do my own things in the lab.  Also, I am not finished all the experiments I need to complete my thesis, so I need time to keep progress moving along.  Finally, I'll have a few odds and ends tasks for my current draft.  All of which will help relieve me from constant writing.  I guess the struggle will be to balance my time and simultaneously make progress on all fronts.

Hidden Work

Today was more of the same: writing, figures and programming.  With regards to the first two, this is where I spent most of my time today.  I am continuing with a stream of written diarrhoea in the hope of building some critical mass for my paper.  To paraphrase my supervisor, "just get words down so the page doesn't look so empty."  While I know I'll have a lot of editing and formatting in the future, for now, the more I write the less intimidating the task becomes.  I am also working on the figures as these are the core of any paper.  I've heard from numerous supervisors (with regards to writing a paper), "start with the figures."  In both writing and plotting I am continuing to learn new Latex or Python skills (these are the tools I use for the previously mentioned jobs), which helps to keep me interested in the tasks at hand.

This evening my wife needed to work late so I was able to stay a couple extra hours.  Having already spent the day on what I "should" be doing, I decided to work on things I "want" to be doing.  To be fair I do "want" to finish my paper, but I am talking about indulging in some new electronics and programming ideas.  What can I say, I wanted some Friday night fun!