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Guest post from Rachael Sirianni, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Yale and fellow member of a truly rewarding Facebook group called Academic Research Moms. She sent this note to her lab group as a follow-up to a lab meeting about productivity. I hope you enjoy it!
Hi all,
We spoke on Thursday about productivity. To reiterate, I don't expect anyone to be at full steam right now. I can't pretend that I don't feel worry or pressure about our inability to do lab work. I think we all feel that, and it is normal to struggle with expectations when the world has been turned upside down. But going on as if things aren't any different than they were a month ago is not a solution to the problem at hand. We have to take our current situation and see what is possible for each of us. I hope in the weeks to come that we can continue to challenge ourselves to think differently about our work so that we are prepared to hit the ground running. I hope each of us will have the opportunity to better understand ourselves and be more resilient in the face of pressure.
I've been through a few rounds of significant distraction from work. My coping mechanism? I try stuff. I just try stuff and try stuff and try stuff. Here are some of my favorite strategies to turn on my mind when it isn't cooperating
1. Pomodoro technique. Here’s Urmimala’s post on this productivity hack. You can choose whatever kind of interval works best for you (5 minutes, 15 minutes, 40 minutes, etc.). Be strict if you do it - it's the structure that helps.
2. Mental bottlenecks. Identify them and get through them. Is it that you need the sink to be empty of dishes? Your work-space organized? Need to respond to those last few texts? One more check on the news sites? Don't tackle everything. Don't expect your plate to be completely cleared - that won't happen. Just figure out what the one or two most nagging/irritating distractions are, and knock them off the list.
3. Change. Work location, noise level (music, white noise, familiar noise, background conversation), format (try a paper pad instead of a computer screen; change your font or background color of your screen), comfort (change into PJs, out of PJs, get comfortable), subject (manuscript outline not happening? Move onto something that will). Random note? I work best at 2am with Harry Potter on in the background. Seriously. It's my grant-writing go-to. It is the only time I feel truly not distracted by other needs or interests.
4. Rewards. This is similar to Pomodoro, but task-oriented instead of time oriented. Break down what you need to do into clear, distinct tasks. Decide on a reward for each thing done. A piece of chocolate, 10 minutes on social media, a cup of coffee while staring out the window, a chat with a friend, whatever will refresh you!
5. Block time. This is another version of imposed structure. You have to stick with this one. Block your time for a whole day. Be both realistic and wholistic: exercise/movement, social connection, chores, and work. Be specific about the kind of work you will do: writing XX paragraphs for the proposal, outlining manuscript figures 1-4, summarizing educational opportunities, reading background material for journal club, etc. Take your own choice out of the equation: your schedule tells you what to do, so you do it.
6. Task organization. There are hundreds of ways to do to-do lists; googling this topic alone should get you back into gear. I have found two particular strategies that work well for me. 1) I like listing EVERYTHING. Every. Little. Thing. Because then I get to cross off a bunch of things, which is rewarding. It also forces me to break down large tasks (that often feel insurmountable) into each of the steps necessary to ensure their completion (for which I have no excuse to not do!). 2) I will rearrange my to-do list in various ways, most commonly utilizing the 2x2 [urgent, not urgent] x [important, not important] quadrant approach. Sometimes I rearrange by project, person, or category of work, too. And then I mark priorities or set deadlines for each thing. I have to do this on paper, not electronically. Visualizing and arrow drawing and crossing off really helps me.
7. Permission. Get yourself out of the shame cycle. Shame will not help, ever. If you can't work now, step back. The trick is not to force yourself, but to unlock that part of your mind that is just so on lockdown right now. Forgive yourself. Lower your expectations. Ask what you can do right now, and then do it, and then know that you are making progress. Turning something that feels impossible into something that is possible requires introspection to know yourself, your abilities, and your limits. Just work on that edge where something is achievable instead of unrealistic.
8. Do something rewarding that is low on the priority list. That may be what I'm doing in this very moment 😉Remember, work is hard, but it should feel good. Find the parts that you enjoy, and align it with what is going to get you to your long-term goals.
OK. Those are the things I use for myself. Please feel free to comment with any other ideas you might have!