Today morning showed every symptom of turning into a disaster. I woke up with a headache. I was also feeling morose and worried about a certain situation. Saridon lowered the headache, but not the moroseness.
Since I was not in the most focused state of mind, I started out with routine tasks: writing out my annual report and the evaluation report for an external thesis. This student seemed to have done a very good job in writing up his thesis. Seeing a write up where all the notations, definitions and results are arranged in a logical sequence can do wonders to one's mood and I was soon engrossed in it. From there onwards, the day picked up. The relief at taking care of these things instead of postponing them lowered the "cognitive overload" and helped to get back to research with a renewed mind.
I kept working through the day, with a few short breaks to enjoy natural Vitamin D (our building has a lot of open area where one can enjoy sunlight and breeze), a view of Panchvati mountains and CCD Coffee [1] just one floor below.
By evening, I had typed up two pages of a paper [2]. The moroseness had more or less vanished. It felt nice to have got some work done. It seems to me that the most recurring challenge in an academic career is to not give in to despair at the beginning of a day: in the absence of immediate deadlines, it is very tempting to give in and postpone work on days of low motivation and regret it afterwards. A friend of mine, very productive himself, keeps saying that research is simply the art of showing up at work every day and typing away. "One page a day keeps the counsellor away," he says.
Work really is the best anti-depressant, or for that matter, the "best" Saridon.
Meanwhile, soon after reaching home, I received an email which took care of my worry and entirely dispelled the moroseness factor. I wonder if I would have felt as relieved had I wasted the whole day.
For people who are reading this post, please do share your motivation and productivity hacks. Or are you the types who never have a bad day?
[1] We also have a filter coffee place in the same building, but I prefer the Cafe Coffee Day vending machine. Filter coffee is a treat usually reserved for Prakruti at IISc.
[2] The reason this blog is getting updated almost on a daily basis is that I have set some Math writing goals for each day. The blog writing is done as a self-reward after those goals are reached :-)
Since I was not in the most focused state of mind, I started out with routine tasks: writing out my annual report and the evaluation report for an external thesis. This student seemed to have done a very good job in writing up his thesis. Seeing a write up where all the notations, definitions and results are arranged in a logical sequence can do wonders to one's mood and I was soon engrossed in it. From there onwards, the day picked up. The relief at taking care of these things instead of postponing them lowered the "cognitive overload" and helped to get back to research with a renewed mind.
I kept working through the day, with a few short breaks to enjoy natural Vitamin D (our building has a lot of open area where one can enjoy sunlight and breeze), a view of Panchvati mountains and CCD Coffee [1] just one floor below.
By evening, I had typed up two pages of a paper [2]. The moroseness had more or less vanished. It felt nice to have got some work done. It seems to me that the most recurring challenge in an academic career is to not give in to despair at the beginning of a day: in the absence of immediate deadlines, it is very tempting to give in and postpone work on days of low motivation and regret it afterwards. A friend of mine, very productive himself, keeps saying that research is simply the art of showing up at work every day and typing away. "One page a day keeps the counsellor away," he says.
Work really is the best anti-depressant, or for that matter, the "best" Saridon.
Meanwhile, soon after reaching home, I received an email which took care of my worry and entirely dispelled the moroseness factor. I wonder if I would have felt as relieved had I wasted the whole day.
For people who are reading this post, please do share your motivation and productivity hacks. Or are you the types who never have a bad day?
[1] We also have a filter coffee place in the same building, but I prefer the Cafe Coffee Day vending machine. Filter coffee is a treat usually reserved for Prakruti at IISc.
[2] The reason this blog is getting updated almost on a daily basis is that I have set some Math writing goals for each day. The blog writing is done as a self-reward after those goals are reached :-)
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