Hi folks! Thank you for coming back! It has been a few chaotic weeks since my first entry, so I thought it was about time for me to do some reflection and share the last few weeks of my journey. As in my last entry, if you don’t want to read everything, get bored, or just want to see some takeaway messages / general tips, just check out the bottom of this entry! Before I talk about what I have done and learned, a quick word on conferences. A few days ago (31/07/2020), I attended the PsyPAG2020 conference (originally scheduled for Leeds) via Twitter. This was a truly amazing conference that ran very smoothly online. It was amazing to see so much incredible research (both quantitative and qualitative) from so many people, with over 500 delegates tuning in. The poster I presented consisted of only a small proportion of the results of my MSc and can be found at the following link (PsyPAG2020 Poster). It was fantastic to see so many different research interests, and I highly encourage people to attend any conferences you can in the future. I would like to say that over the last few weeks, I have completed lots of work, submitted a draft of my work to my supervisor, made amendments and attended lots of conferences. This is a far cry from the truth. The truth is, in the last few weeks, I have attended a few conferences (as mentioned above), I have attended lab meetings for both the Executive Functions Lab (EFL) and the Social Developmental Vision Lab (SDVL), as well as thesis group meetings. (I became a member of the SDVL as part of my research rotation for semester 2 of my MSc. Currently, although not affiliated with the lab, I am still attending lab meetings to catch-up, connect, discuss papers and more!) Beyond this, my work has been very limited! I did take a week off in July, to spend time with my partner, including exchanging our rings and vows as our wedding was postponed due to COVID. But it is true, both before and after this time off, I suffered a severe lack of engagement. Simply put, I did not have the energy. I did polish my PsyPAG (Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group) 2020 Conference poster, and I tidied my methods section of my thesis. I completed the results, something that despite my best efforts, was continually dragged out (in part because my thesis is exploratory and so we continued to run analyses until the results were ginormous, although having said this the results are incredibly cool)! I read random, unrelated papers as well as articles that were filled to the brim with bad science (several of which have now been withdrawn)! I engaged with Twitter, finding fellow academics to follow, and focused on areas of the thesis such as the acknowledgements, that needed doing, but could have waited. I also produced a substantial word count for the discussion section of my thesis, something that I love to write. I may not have produced as many words for my thesis in the last few weeks as I would have liked but that is OK, and it led me to a few realisations. First, no matter who you are and what you do, your work will always come at different rates. I know there are days when I can write one thousand or more words. Then there are other days where I write fifty. Second, we are in a global pandemic. I can personally say, I have been very fortunate so far, unlike so many, I have not lost anyone to this awful virus. But that doesn’t mean that working in a pandemic is easy (it was certainly very hard having to postpone the wedding, even though we celebrated together). Third, although I didn’t produce words for my thesis, I have just named a whole list of things I did manage. Although it might be hard to see it sometimes, even something as simple as connecting with fellow academics is important and reading papers outside your field of study is good! Reading these recently published papers that were (very) quickly withdrawn from servers demonstrated to me what makes good or bad science, helping me develop into a better scientist. The hard pill to swallow is that the publish or perish mantra is at the very foundation of academia, idealising those that work beyond typical working hours (something that almost all of us are guilty of at some point) and that use every last scrap of energy for their work. But the truth is this is not a healthy lifestyle. We are not our work. As with everyone else, we also deserve time off, and the idea that we should be working longer and harder to spend every waking moment researching, writing or completing any other type of work is not a healthy one. The truth is, in the last few weeks, I have engaged with very limited work compared to normal but this doesn’t mean I am unsuccessful, it means I needed a rest, and that when I do go back to work, both my work and I will be better for it. On reflection (i.e. writing this blog entry), I have actually been very productive these last couple of weeks. I have done a lot, even if it wasn’t everything I needed to do. All of the work, no matter how unrelated, was important and it was progress. Over the coming weeks, I have a lot of work to do, including my MSc thesis and thinking about the next steps of my academic journey when I start my PhD in October. I know that I am in the habit of working weekends, something that simply put, is not OK for me personally and goes far beyond what my typical working pattern should be. At the end of this academic chapter (thesis submission), I have made myself (and my partner) a promise. I am going to avoid working late (9am-5pm) and I am going to avoid working weekends (with the exception of conferences, which while I mention it, academics should not be expected to lose their weekends for). I am going to try to start up my hobbies that I have missed, the things I used to enjoy such as playing my violin and practicing my Karate! I am going to try to learn Welsh because I have lived here for 4 years and would love to stay beyond my PhD and when I have improved this, I am (maybe) going to pick up some other languages that I used to be semi-fluent in! I am going to exercise every day, and finally get fitter! I wanted to be a doctor (M.D.), I am going to try to learn some medical stuff! I am going to read non-psychology / non-medical papers, because educating yourself is great, and there is so much to learn! I am going try to read at least two regular sized fiction books a month, one of which will be new! I’ll watch some great TV, play some cool video games and explore the beauty of Wales! I’m going to learn to cook more and also get back to making desserts (something that might not completely align with my fitness goals)! I’m going to consider volunteering somewhere, so that I can help people! Most importantly, I am going to make the time for myself, and spend time with the person I love and I am going to do all of this, because I should, because I should have prioritised all of this a long time ago, and instead I got sucked into the vacuum of never-ending work, and because ultimately, my work will be better if I take care of myself! I encourage each and every reader to think about what matters to them. Take Away Messages: 1. Your work will come in ebbs and flows. 2. Sometimes you will feel like you have done a lot, other times you will feel like you have achieved very little. Progress is progress. Be patient. 3. Progress takes different forms. Don’t forget your word count isn’t all you do! 4. If you feel like you haven’t achieved much, write a list of everything you have done. You will surprise yourself! 5. You are more than your work! 6. Take some time for yourself. Keep up with your hobbies and leisure activities! 7. Attend conferences. They are a great place to see what other researchers are doing as well as providing networking opportunities! (8. Bonus message for the current climate – we are in the midst of a global pandemic, things aren’t how they were, and neither are you. It is OK to not be OK.) As before, don’t forget you can comment on this blog, or alternatively you can use the Contact Page to find ways to connect with me! Take care, Harry
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