Take a break, for heavens sake!

Take a break, for heavens sake!

Creative thinking required in science requires time. When you get to the final conclusion, the thought "I should have thought of this 6 weeks ago", pops in your head. But you really needed that time personally to get there. The process itself is pleasing, but suffers from outside pressure severely.

When things like hands on research, classes, and training students take up a large part of your day, the space for thought is decreasing rapidly. By large part of the day I mean 10 to 12 hours of the conventional 24 hour day. Naturally sleep takes up 6-9 hours of the traditional day. Thus 3-6 hours per day can be spent not sleeping or working. Commuting to and from work takes up some of this time, something from 30 minutes to a full hour in total per day. Eating is required and god forbid you have a partner, kids, friends, or pets to entertain in addition.

This leads to prioritizing. In the case of graduate students the things that can be moved to a later date can include physical exercise, seeing friends or family, cleaning the apartment, cooking, shopping, blogging, and even taking a shower. I do not follow news actively, I am far behind on all popular TV shows, I had no idea Big Brother is still airing in multiple countries, and what is all the fuss about Robin Thicke? And do I really need to shower today?  This doesn't make me an ideal conversational partner at any bar or normal social gathering. No wonder scientists sometimes seem weird, boring, and foreign to people with 9 to 5 jobs.

As a treat to myself I sometimes leave the lab early in the afternoon. I gather snacks and find an ideal spot in the library on campus. Open my computer, spread articles and pens all over the table to claim the area, and dive in to the topic of my fancy. And it is sad to realize department heads and professors might not get this time due to responsibilities to their lab and department, pointless paperwork, reporting, and family demands.

I consider this precious time for research and thinking one of the greatest privileges of graduate school. And I wish I could gift a few hours of this time to those in demanding leadership positions in academia as well as politics. So please take a break from your day and read something interesting and inspiring, think impossible things, and take advantage of the information available for you.