I am Nicolai Brodersen Hansen, and This is How I Work

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Nicolai Brodersen Hansen for the "How I Work" series. Nicolai holds a PhD from Aarhus University, Denmark and specializes in Codesign and Participatory Design design processes with a specific focus on materials and materiality. He recently joined TU Eindhoven as a postdoc where he is working on empowering citizens through smart technologies using both co-design and urban prototyping strategies. Also dabbles in Human-Computer Interaction and should spend more time programming.



General:
Current Job: Postdoctoral researcher at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), the Netherlands
Current Location: Eindhoven and Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Current mobile device: Sony Xperia Z5 (I know, embarrassing)
Current computer: MSI GS63VR Stealth, a really highpowered windows laptop that feels like a gamer machine

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us
I am a Postdoc at Eindhoven University of Technology, researching empowerment through smart technologies, materials and creative design processes.I finished my phd in Interaction Design and Participatory Design from Aarhus University in Denmark september 2016. I am employed for three years as a Postdoctoral researcher here at the TU Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and my job is to drive and develop the agendas of a new research project focusing on empowering citizens through smart technologies, or to put it in another way, finding new bottom-up approaches to involving citizens in ie. politics, urban planning and product development through technology. A good example is how facebook for instance has allowed people to mobilize and organize around issues they care about locally, but I am also keenly interested in how we can involve people in the design processes of the now very technologically advanced products they use.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
Evernote and Zotero are so integral to my academic workflow that its not even funny. I also use Atom, a hackable text editor... for some reason I like having barebones text editors for writing. I have recently taken up Trello too, which I really like, especially for its ability to add forwarded mails to a todo-list in Trello. Just forward a mail to a special email address, and boom, its on your todo - I think that highlights how I think about tools... they need to be lightweight but also integrated so that I don't have to switch modes or keep double tabs etc. For heavy writing I love scrivener too.

What does your workspace setup look like?
I alternate like crazy and like sitting in new places... however I seldom have the opportunity to work at home, given how I have a one-year old son and that just doesn't allow for off hours work for me. Apart from that I have two workplaces, my main one being at Industrial Design at TU/e where I am employed. We are currently in the process of moving to a new fancy building that is under construction so I currently inhabit the Play-Lab, where lots of fancy VR stuff goes down too. It's a bit of a mess using a lab as an office, and I think I am constantly disturbing work there or vice versa, but it's just three months until we move to the new building so I will suffer it for now. I also have a seat in an open office at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam in Amsterdam where I work some days of the week. The project that employs me is mainly with Amsterdam partners so it makes sense to split my time between two cities.

Amsterdam office

Eindhoven office

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
Let's get honest, I suffer from pretty bad anxiety most days, so I always always second guess and overthink. To combat that I need to let go in the moment and just do the thing... one good trick I have learned is to jump right in and not overthink it. Just look at whatever is in front of you and resolve to spend 5 minutes on it, right now, no thinking further, just get going and resolve to spend five minutes on it. That little mindtrick helps me a lot since I don't have time to plan and fear and guess, but just hack a bit on it. As they say, every paper is written one word at a time.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
Trello is probably my answer right now, along with google drive. As you can tell I use more or less the cookiecutter things, but I am also a firm believer in the best tool for the job being the one you know how to do the job with.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
I have a kindle that I sometimes read academic books on.. however I am the kind of guy who has a workflow so integrated with zotero and pdf highlighting that I kinda prefer screenreading unless I am doing the famous medium-shift trick where you write something on a screen, and then print it out and read it again and change it and back and forth, until you are satisfied. This change of medium allows me to 'see' the text in a different way I think.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
I really don't think I am a very outstanding as an academic, but you can drop me in the middle of a bar fight and I will make five friends before the night is over. In other words, I am good at networking and that will take you quite far, even if you need the writing and researching skills to back it up. Typically I will be the guy who knows everyone and that makes me good to know for setting up collaborations. I am also quite a wiz at picking up a working knowledge of almost anything very quickly.

What do you listen to when you work?
This is terrible, but I like to listen to either ambient soundscapes (example here) or if I am tired and just needs to get fired up, some symphonic metal like Nightwish, Epica or even, gasp, Within Temptation. This is getting awkward isn't it?

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
So, of course I try to read a lot of academic papers and being very well-versed in Participatory Design, I keep up there, reading skimming a lot of what comes out. I did a literature review on Participation in Design too, and I feel like I should revisit it, since it draws on data from 2002-2012 and a lot has happened since then. Apart from that I just switched jobs to this new project which means that I have to read a lot of new things on play and games.

In my private time, I like to read sci-fi or fantasy, preferably anything from the Warhammer universe OR very serious history books like the memoirs of panzer generals. I was never very good at reading what most people would consider good literature, although I have dabbled a bit in a bit of Dostojevsky when I was young and depressed.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
So, I am quite extrovert I believe most people would say, but it is of course way more complex than that - I love talking and being with people but it drains me a lot. So in other words, if you want me to do some work, you gotta offer me a secluded space and some solid chunks of time, something I currently struggle with finding. The easiest way to kill my productivity is actually sitting me in an open office and throwing lots of impressions at me. I guess I loved writing my dissertation actually, sitting there and fighting at 2 am listening to for instance this: ... all alone. Bleeding and just typing my little heart out in glorious solitude.

What's your sleep routine like?
I have a small son and now you are just being mean aren't you? It's bad trust me. Anyhow, I typically go to bed at 10 pm, then get waken up once or twice by the son before 2 am, then the night shift pulls in and we go like that until dawn where I wake up at 6:30. I am definitely sleep deprived these days and it's hurting everywhere including my budget for energy drinks and pain killers. Don't be like me kids.

What's your work routine like?
I TRY to focus on one or two easy tasks a day and one hard. So tomorrow for instance I have a poster for a accreditation meeting, a status report for the project etc. All easy enough. Apart from that, I want to formulate a research experiment or two for some of our partners - not so easy. I am also writing a paper for the Digital Games Research Association conference together with my colleagues.

What's the best advice you ever received?
Get enough sleep. I still don't follow it. My own best piece of advice is that contrary to popular belief, in academia you can polish a turd: given enough bad writing about a subject, you will eventually be smart enough to write something GOOD about that subject. What you can't do, is think and think about a subject and then write something good. So just sit down and write some bad stuff, you might not even show it to anyone. And then, after a while, it turns out that within all of those pieces of writing about a subject that you know quite well (you are a researcher remember?), you will be able to re-write something fantastic.

How much time does it take to review a paper?

I recently ran a poll on Twitter to ask people how much time they spend on reviewing a paper. For me, it usually takes me roughly 4 hours in total, so I was wondering if my experience is in line with others'.

Here's what I found:

I am a Psychology Professor, and This is How I Work

Today, I am hosting an academic who would prefer to remain anonymous.

Current Job: Associate Professor
Current Location: Pseudonymless City, USA (at least that’s what I call it on the blog. It’s a somewhat rural college city, popn’ 200,000)
Current mobile device: iPhone 5
Current computer: 2014 MacBook Pro

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I’m an academic clinical psychologist who is not currently practicing but in the past has done private practice work on the side. I currently do consulting work here and there as well. My research falls under the umbrella of abnormal psychology and functioning, but I can’t really say more than that with my pseudonym. On my blog I say I am an “Agricultural Psychologist” which is a the pseudonym for my research niche I created to allow me to blog about it.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
- Mailplane, which is a software that allows you to manage multiple Gmail accounts at the same time. 2 years ago I switched from using Apple Mail to having all of my email automatically forwarded to a gmail account dedicated to work. This allows me to search for things more easily and not waste time filing. I have a label called “Needs Action” that I use to mark emails as they come in. Once a week when I’m making my schedule for the week I review my “needs Action” emails to make sure they get replied to or assigned to my to do list. I also combine Mailplane with Boomerang, which allows me to schedule emails for later. There is also a new feature that tells you the “answerability” of the email as you write it.
- I use Scrivener for larger writing projects because it allows me to break my documents into sections and drag and drop them into a new order if needed. I can also store my research materials within the same program and color code things. I use it for grant applications and I’m currently using it to write a book
- both SPSS and NVivo are musts for me as a mixed methods researcher
- When I am having difficulty focusing I use the Pomodoro technique and the free timer available at mytomatoes.com
- Related, I keep minimal interesting apps on my phone, because I know I will find it distracting. I often leave my phone in another room or my purse during work hours so that I don’t get distracted by texting other people. There is no email program on my phone.

What does your workspace setup look like?
I primarily work from my home office, because I find it too distracting on campus. Over the years I have found I am unable to write on campus, in particular. My home office consists of my desk and nothing else except a white board and one cupboard where I hide my office supplies. I need minimal clutter in order to work. I have a very large window that faces East and some plants in the windowsill. So it’s very sunny and empty and I love it.

On campus I have the standard assigned psychology office - 1 small window, uncomfortable furniture that came with it. I dislike it but am not willing to spend my own $ on new furniture at this point in my career. I also have a lab at work that was renovated by my university as part of my hire where my grad students all work and I can meet with them to do analyses together and where they run participants through experiments.

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
1) Know yourself, your habits and your personality well and this will probably be the best recipe for you to be productive. Everyone has certain times of the day they do certain work best, their own level of tolerance of working in larger chunks vs. shorter periods of time.
2) Be willing to invest $ in your own productivity. I used to try and “get by” with what I had but then realized spending the money on things that helped me get my work done - subcontracting tasks, buying a computer monitor to connect to my laptop in my home office, software for my MacBook instead of schlepping to the free lab on campus - was an investment in my own career.
3) Learn to accept that there will always be something you are behind on and limit interruptions. There will always be more emails to answer, but is that the best use of your time?

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
I have an Evernote notebook that lists ongoing projects and what stage each project is in. I also use a whiteboard in my office to keep track of what manuscripts need to be finished and what stage of writing they are in. This tends to be a list in priority order and I aim to work my way through them. At the beginning of each semester I use Kerry Ann Rockquemore’s “Every Semester Needs a Plan” webinar from the National Centre for Faculty Development and Diversity (but she also has articles about it on Inside Higher Ed) to map out what my research goals are for the semester. I then map these goals on to the weeks of the semester. Each week I have a “Sunday Meeting” (from the same webinar but also available on Inside Higher Ed) where I review my “Weekly Brain Dump,” a list I keep in Evernote where I jot down my ongoing to do items as I think of them during the week. I add anything from my semester plan that needs to be done to the list. I then map that list on to my weekly schedule. Related, after a few years of being really discombobulated about the number of projects I had on the go, I reprioritized and made a plan. I now only research 2 areas and this means I don’t forget projects anymore. My philosophy is that if I can’t easily remember the projects I have on the go, I have too many of them.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
These are old school “technology” but I use a Passion Planner for my weekly schedule and to do list. I also have a large supply of the specific highlighters I like and the specific pens I like (I do a lot of my research work on paper, because of the mixed methods).
I also use a white noise machine in my on campus office that allows me to focus over noise in the hall and from the offices next door to me.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
I am good at seeing seemingly disparate areas of research and connecting them together. Must of my research is unique because it is influenced by areas that others would not expect.
In addition, I think I see myself as a writer not an academic and as a result of my passion and practice I consider myself to be a very skilled writer.
In addition, having a life outside of being an academic is very important to me. I think this space and time to refresh allows me to be efficient, creative, and innovative.
Last, I design my research by research question not method. As a result I have a lot of breadth in the research methods available to me and this makes fewer areas “off limits”

What do you listen to when you work?
Spotify, where I keep a library of playlists that allow me to focus. I listen solely to Baroque when I write and it has conditioned me to focus better.
Sometimes I listen to white noise or sometimes I simply put earbuds in without any actual music.
For some tasks, like editing or blogging, I like to go to coffee shops and enjoy the background noise. The app Noisli has a coffee shop setting I sometimes use at home.

What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading Dark Money by Jane Mayer. I read several books that have nothing to do with work every month. I no longer work evenings and I read for a minimum of about 30 minutes before I go to sleep. I’m prone to insomnia so I have a really rigid bed time routine that helps me keep it at bay!

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
I am extremely introverted and like many introverts this has taken me a long time to accept about myself.
It influences my working habits in two ways. First, I know that I need to keep stimuli to a minimum or I become frazzled (In addition too many stimuli prevent me from being able to do the deep work I need to do as a writer). So I keep my email closed unless I’m checking it, I don’t check it more than a couple of times a day. My phone is set to give me very few notifications and most of them have no accompanying noise. Second, it means that I am easily overwhelmed by too many meetings in any given week. If I am overwhelmed, I don’t get as much of the really important work done. So I only meet with my lab members when they need me to, not regularly by default, and I try to limit the number of service obligations to what I can handle without ignoring my own research. I need to look at my weekly calendar and see some open stretches of time or I am stressed and unproductive.

What’s your sleep routine like?
Often terrible! I unplug from all of my devices about 90 minutes before I want to sleep, minimum. I also use the night filter on my iPhone. I make sure to read before bed and do a sleep related meditation if needed. I have a tendency toward biphasic sleeping when insomnia is happening, and I do my best to just get out of bed and accept it. This means as much as possible I avoid meetings first thing in the day in case I’ve been up working already in the middle of the night and need more sleep. As much as possible I try to wake up without an alarm clock.

What’s your work routine like?
As much as possible I treat being a professor as a 9-5 day job. I write first thing in the morning for an hour minimum so that I make sure it happens. I generally do concentration-intensive tasks in the morning and things that require less focus in the afternoon. I check email at the end of the day only as much as possible and reply to only what is urgent. Everything else I respond to 1-2 times/week. If I check email outside of 9-5 I use Boomerang to schedule a reply so that I at least condition others not to expect evening or weekend emails from me. I also divide my week up into 2 days/week of dedicated research time, 2 days/week dedicated to teaching and 1 day for my admin and “busy work.” On my research days I work from home.

What’s the best advice you ever received?
I’ve received a lot of advice but what resonates with me the most lately is from Hope Jahren’s book Lab Girl: “I don’t take advice from my colleagues, and I try not to give it. When I am pressed, I resort to these sentences: "You shouldn’t take this job too seriously, except for when you should.”

I am Coleen Clemens, and This is How I Work

Today, I am hosting Dr. Colleen Clemens in the "How I Work" series. Colleen, an associate professor of Non-Western Literatures and Director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, earned her Ph.D. in Post-Colonial Literature at Lehigh University. Previously, she earned her M.Ed. in English Education at DeSales University (where she still teaches courses on South Africa and English Composition) while teaching twelfth grade English in the public system. She earned her undergraduate degrees in English and French Education from Penn State University. She's the co-creator of the Inside 254 podcast. Colleen lives in Bucks County with her partner, two dogs, and daughter. She can be reached via her blog kupoco.wordpress.com. Her professional editing, writing, and tutoring site is clemensphd.weebly.com.

Current Job: Associate Professor of Non-Western Literatures, Director Women’s and Gender Studies
Current Location: Kutztown University
Current mobile device: iphone
Current computer: a slowly dying macbook air

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
At this point, my research brings together my twenty years of teaching and researching. I am working and writing primarily about how we can all move our students forward in regards to social justice and equality. I write mostly about teaching, pedagogy, and social justice in and out of the classroom.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
I would die without word. I am still pretty old school in that regard, but to be fair, I grew up typing on wordperfect on a blue screen.

What does your workspace setup look like?
I have a five-year-old, so I work wherever and whenever I can find a pocket of time. I have a desk at home—a gorgeous office—but I don’t often get to work in there. I have a chair that I work in often at home—downstairs in the morning, away from my sleeping kiddo.

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
Know thyself. My brain doesn’t function for academic writing past noon. I need to save non-production types of work for that time of day. I know that I need to do my heavy lifting in the morning. Honor your brain.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
Lists and more lists. It helps to have a color-coded calendar on my computer. I immediately put dates on there. I have daily, short-term, and long-term lists (those are usually determined by projects that I have committed to).

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
I have a digital recorder for podcasting. That’s about it!

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
My view of the long-game. I was advised early in my teaching career that this run is a marathon, not a sprint.

What do you listen to when you work?
Absolute silence. I get distracted easily. Plus, with having a kid, silence—when I can have it—is golden.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
I decided in grad school that I would have a pleasure book always going, that I didn’t want higher ed to ruin my love of reading. These day I find that my pleasure books still have an element of work. I am digging Jessica Valenti’s Sex Object.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
I am an introverted extrovert. I love being alone because I don’t get to be alone very often. When I am with students, I am give it my all and am extroverted.

What's your sleep routine like?
Sleep is non-negotiable. I don’t watch much tv because I choose sleep. I get at least eight hours a night. Full time working and parenting leaves me wiped.

What's your work routine like?
Get up early and write, read, grade—whatever is most pressing. I basically work every second—check email in between crafts with my daughter, write in the morning, sometimes read. When I have two full time jobs, I have to use every second.

What's the best advice you ever received?
The mantra I always use is “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I remember reading something that encouraged you to just write for five minutes and then stop if you have to. The idea is you won’t stop once you have started. Good advice!

I am Rebecca Gelding and This is How I work

Today, I am interviewing Rebecca Gelding for the "How I Work" series. Rebecca is a PhD student investigating music cognition, specifically what is going on in the brain as people imagine music. She began part time in Feb 2013, as she was also looking after her 2 small children. Said children are both now at school this year (hooray) and so she's changed to full time. Prior to starting a family, she worked in the finance industry, but realised when she had kids that life is short: spend it doing something you are passionate about. She told me: "I've has always loved maths, music and the brain and now I get paid to discover and write about it every day, whilst still enjoying being a mother. Best of both worlds."

Current Job: PhD Student in Cognitive Science. Aiming to submit mid-2018.
Current Location: Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Current mobile device: Samsung Galaxy S7
Current computer: Acer Aspire V5-431

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I’m just over half way through my PhD which investigates what is going on in the brain as people image music; specifically imagining pitch and rhythm. To do this I use a technology called magnetoencephalography (MEG) which measures changes in magnetic flux from the outside of people’s heads. From this we can get an understanding of what brain regions are doing while imagining music compared to listening to music. It’s compelling research because while the experience of imagining music is universal, there is still a lot we don’t yet understand in the dynamics of our brains as we imagine.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
I use Word and Endnote for writing, and a variety of software packages for analysing and presenting data (BESA Research, MATLAB, R)

What does your workspace setup look like?
This year I’ve begun some new routines to try to develop writing as a habit, and I have three workspaces. Each morning when I arrive on campus around 9:20am after school drop-off, I will order a coffee from the brilliant coffee shop at the bottom of my building, and get out my laptop. While I savour that coffee, I’ll use my phone timer to do one pomodoro (25mins) session of nothing but writing.
Then I’ll head upstairs to my university desk and try to either do a few more pomodoros while I’m on a roll, or attend to whatever other work I need to do. I have a computer on campus which I will sometimes use, but for portability, most of my writing is done on my laptop.
I leave campus at 2:25pm to pick up the kids, and spend the next few hours with them, doing normal afternoon / dinner routines. Once they are off to sleep around 8pm, I’ll head to my home office (AKA desk in the corner of the lounge room) for a couple more hours of work. As it’s the end of the day I normally don’t do anything that is mentally taxing, but try to allocate tasks that are necessary but easy to these evening timeslots.
When need be I’ll use the analysis computers at university as well, but most of my work is on my laptop (and backed up on portable hard drives).

Rebecca's desk at home

Rebecca's desk at university

Rebecca's work setup at her favorite cafe

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
Work out how you work best. One of the biggest benefits of academia is flexibility. Use that to your advantage, to discover exactly when you are at your most alert, then organise your day around those times. Over Christmas last year I read “Rest” by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang and he discusses of a whole bunch of ways in which to increase productivity without working longer hours. Unsurprisingly prioritising rest was one of them.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
I love the idea of a bullet journal but I’m not disciplined enough to keep at it. I generally have an everything notebook that I keep in my compendium and take everywhere. For every major project on at a given time I’ll list the tasks that need to be done on each one. At the start of the year I did a term by term break down of the goals I wanted to achieve, and a weekly plan for this term. Each Sunday night I try to have a look at that to see how I’m tracking (eek…. I’m already behind due to unforeseen set-backs….) and to map out a rough guide for what I want to achieve in the coming week. I try to spend the bus ride on the way to university reviewing and planning for that day as well.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
Not really.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
I’ve inherited an optimistic outlook on life, which will usually see me putting my hand up for opportunities thinking, “what have I got to lose?” While an attitude might not technically qualify as a skill, in academia where rejection and setbacks are part of the landscape, it takes skill to maintain a positive attitude! During the PhD candidature, there are plenty of chances to do things outside of the direct “thesis” work. I’ve tried to make the most of these chances (eg three minute thesis competition, science communication outreach, writing for various outlets, teaching, blogging, etc). Some of these things have a snowball effect and bring more opportunities, but I think it has all stemmed from my optimism.

What do you listen to when you work?
I love the environmental noises of the coffee shop, or a noisy storm outside, but I can’t stand any music on when I’m trying to work – I just get too distracted, probably because I’ll want to sing along. Can’t have the TV on either when I’m working at home. I prefer to work in silence.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
I’ve just started Steven Pinker’s “A Sense of Style” and I love it. I’m making a conscious effort to improve my writing. After all, if I’m going to be an academic, then I need to get a handle how to write. An obvious way to get better at writing is to read good writing! Funnily enough, now that I am full time I find I have more time for reading, as I’ll allow myself time on the weekend or some nights before bed to read for pleasure.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
I find being around other people energising, so I’d say extrovert. I love making it to the department morning tea each Wednesday, and would sit and socialise through a whole hour of lunch if I could. But with such short hours on campus each day, I have to restrict myself and get back to work. It also means that the days I spend working from home are super lonely for me – even if it’s just 6 hours.

What's your sleep routine like?
I’d love to be in bed by 10pm, but usually its more like 11pm. As part of my new year routine I set the alarm for 6am and get out first thing for a half hour run each week day morning. (Having said that I don’t think I’ve managed any week with 5/5 runs, but the intention is there!) I generally try to get at least 7 hours sleep. On the weekends I’ll get a bit more as my husband and I take it in turns for a sleep in (which is ~8am), while the other one gets up to make breakfast for the kids.

What's your work routine like?
In addition to the routine I mentioned with the workspaces, once a week I’ll work from home for the day. That usually involves planning a series of chores that need to be done and allocating them 15 min slots during a break time. (ie writing for 45 mins, mop kitchen for 15 mins, writing for 45 mins, hang out washing & put another load on). It's efficient, but quite tiring.
The main difference I’ve found from going part time to full time, is that now I have more time to work, I need to make sure I keep working smart so I don’t burn myself out. I allocate my hardest tasks (normally writing) for the first thing in the morning, and then between morning tea and lunch I’ll do something that requires attention to detail but not as hard. After lunch I’ll generally do administration tasks and other stuff that has to be done. Sometimes I find when I come to sit down in the evenings I’ve come up with a solution to a problem earlier in the day purely because I’ve had time to think (usually unconsciously) as I’ve been doing other things in the afternoon with my family. I am more tired as a full timer than a part timer though, so I’m making sure I spend quality time resting on the weekends, to be fresh for a new week.

What's the best advice you ever received?
The best academic advice I have ever read came from twitter: “We are all smart. Distinguish yourself by being kind”. Anne Galloway was quoting Prof Charles Gordon, then Head of Department, Sociology & Anthropology, Carleton University.

I am Annelies Van de Ven and This is How I Work

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Annelies Van de Ven in the "How I Work" series. Annelies started out her academic career studying classical archaeology at the University of St Andrews, but soon found her way into reception and museum studies. Though her MA is in Ancient History and Archaeology, and she is currently doing a degree within the archaeology department at the University of Melbourne, she considers herself a proud interdisciplinary researcher and is currently doing a video project that focuses on possible interdisciplinary futures within the Faculty of Arts at her institution.

Current Job: I am doing PhD full time as well as working as a university tutor, trench supervisor, research and curatorial assistant on a casual basis.
Current Location: Istanbul, trying to get permissions to go excavate our site.
Current mobile device: An iPhone 6 that was given to me as a combined birthday and graduation present.
Current computer: A slightly dented HP Laptop, the sticker on the keyboard tells me it is an intel CORE i5.

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I am currently a full time international PhD student on a university funded scholarship at the University of Melbourne. I just passed the 3rd year review hurdle, so I am nearing the end. I am currently set to submit in mid-September, and at this moment in March, have about 90% of my thesis written. The main issue at the moment is cutting words, editing my spelling/grammar, and finessing my appendixes and bibliography, which is going rather slowly.

My research focuses on how museums can better present archaeological objects, for a more engaging visitor experience. I am looking specifically at the Cyrus Cylinder, analysing how people perceive it, and whether these perceptions have been addressed in its past and present display strategies.
I live with my partner who completed his PhD in bio-chemical engineering last year and is currently working as a researcher at the university while I finish my thesis.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
Well, Dropbox, Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint are pretty essential. I also have a fantastic app called Camera Scan, that means I can scan books in my office rather than having to spend hours hogging the printer.

When I am teaching LMS, and Turnitin are the main tools I use, I don’t print out student essays unless I have to, I think I use up enough paper already.

When I am in the field I use filemaker for databases, GIS or CartoDB for mapping, as well as Illustrator, Photoshop or Coreldraw for illustrations. There are a number of other individualised software packages for archaeologists that we use for our surveying, artefact processing and data analysis, but they are not in my field of expertise.

For communicating I mainly use g-mail, but lately as more and more academics create social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter, I find more of my communication is going through those channels.

What does your workspace setup look like?
I am lucky in that my department guarantees us international research students a space throughout our candidature. However, I have changed office five times over the past 3 and a half years. I started on a part-time desk in an open plan area called the ‘research corner’. This was a communal space where early degree history, philosophy, classics and archaeology postgraduates were placed. There were no computers provided, but most of us had laptops and the library was not far off. The next year I was moved to a corridor in the attic. There were only 8 of us in the office, all classicists or archaeologists, and we were all given computers. However, the space was possum infested, and though they couldn’t get into our office space, others on our corridor were not so lucky, and we all suffered from the smell. The year after that I was moved to a different office on the floor below, which seemed far too large and grand for 2 grad students, we even had our own bookshelves. I was only able to stay there for 1 semester before the entire department was moved to a new building, Arts West. Here I was given a desk in an open plan space on the top floor right across from the printer, as shown in the photograph below. The views were fantastic, and the height of the desk could be re-adjusted but the number of people coming in and out was not particularly conducive to work.



The latest move brought me to an office 2 floors below the open plan area, as shown in the photograph below. I now share this office with 2 other archaeologists, who are both wonderful to work with.



After moving so many times I have learned to keep less stuff in my office, however this means that my desk at home has become increasingly cluttered and I have started working at the dining table rather than sitting at my desk when at home, see below. I also regularly try to switch it up and go work at a colleague’s house, in a café, or in one of the communal reading rooms on campus.



What is your best advice for productive academic work?
Erm… don’t listen to other people’s advice? Find what works for you.
I have found over the years that the advice given by university staff and supervisors, doesn’t always match up with my personal experience. I don’t necessarily work better in silence, I do not write out full references while writing, I like working in a group setting, and I don’t work to a fixed schedule. These things work for me, but not for everyone. So try things out and see what works for you.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
I used to literally just have a piece of paper with a list of things I needed to do organised into rough themes. I loved crossing things off the list. However, I soon realised this was not the most efficient way of doing things, as I ended up having to re-write the list every few days, and ended up with about 5 different versions of it, so I now have a digital to do list that is organised based on deadline, priority and effort needed to complete them.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
I have a kindle, that I love. I moved around a lot as a kid, and the worst thing about moving was always that I had to throw out books. The kindle means I can take my books with me and it doesn’t take up all my luggage space. I still prefer physical copies, but the kindle gets a close second, especially as mine lets me annotate my books, making it useful for academic reading as well.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
I tend to say yes, and I am good with deadlines. I have been told these are not necessarily common traits amongst academics. I have a lot on my plate, but I actually like it that way, it makes me feel like I am accomplishing things and contributing to a wider community of research, teaching and outreach. Sometimes this can be stressful, and I often get advised to only do projects that are directly related to my research or to some kind of monetary/position gain. However, I think that all these project enrich my research, they give me skills and contacts I would not have otherwise, and they give me more tangible outcomes than my long term thesis research, which helps motivate me to continue. They have also taught me the value of doing things to a strict deadline. If you are juggling a lot of projects, it is important to get the high priority ones out of the way fast, so you don’t end up eating into the time you are meant to spend on other things.

What do you listen to when you work?
It really depends on my mood and on what I am working on. While I am reading I tend to not listen to anything. While writing it can be anything from instrumental movie soundtracks, to rap or even country music. Lately I have been listening to a lot of Broadway musical soundtracks. Often I just need something to get me going and then to keep me motivated. I tend to get bored easily, so music actually makes me more likely to keep at it when I am not feeling particularly inspired.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
I just finished an amazing book by Joseph Assaf called ‘In Someone Else’s Shoes’. It tells the story of a Lebanese Australian man who built a successful career around the advocating for the significance of cross-cultural empathy in the business world. It is a fantastic read.

The next book on my list is Ken Robinson’s ‘Creative Schools’. It has been described to me as a manifesto for engaged educational programs.

I find it very difficult to find time to read during a regular work week. It is not that I don’t have any spare time, but I tend to want to fill it with other things, after a full day of sitting in my office reading and typing. When I do make time for reading I often end up feeling guilty about reading non-thesis related things.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
I am definitely more of an extrovert. I get very frustrated when alone with my own thoughts. I have less of an issue with having leisure time on my own, I can watch a movie, read, go for a run, but when I am doing work, I find being alone to be difficult. Research is already such an isolating experience, particularly at PhD level. In order to avoid daily meltdowns, I try to work with others, and allocate time to discussing my work in a group. The danger with this is that these discussion sessions can sometimes go on far longer than expected, but I’d prefer to lose a day of work to exchanging ideas with colleagues, than to lose one to a burn out.

What's your sleep routine like?
When I am alone at home, which happens for about 1 to 2 months a year nowadays, I tend to wake up around 10am and work until about 2 or 3am. I am definitely not a morning person and I find night times to be oddly productive, particularly for writing. Unfortunately, this schedule doesn’t really line up with normal university working hours, and my partner has a 9-5 university job, so when he is around I try to adapt to his schedule and sleep from about 11pm to 7am. It still feels slightly wrong to me, though I seem to be in the minority on this one.

What's your work routine like?
This varies so much depending on what projects I am working on and whether or not I am teaching. I tend to do administrative work in the morning, as I don’t feel I am at my full research capacity, and I always seem to have more than enough forms and emails to keep me busy for a few hours every day. Then around lunch (11 to about 3) is when most of my meetings, social or work related, happen, so there is a lot of flitting around across campus and the city. Once I get back to the office I then get into reading and writing, until around 5:30 when I take a short break to go for a run or walk followed by dinner. Then if I have nothing else planned for the evening I continue to do writing, reading, or if I am feeling really out of it referencing or editing until around 10. If I am working on an exhibition, or a class, I am much more focused, as there tends to be a tighter deadline involved, particularly when there is marking to do.

What's the best advice you ever received?
If you have something that you want to or need to do, don’t just leave it until tomorrow, tomorrow there will be new things to do, new opportunities and new hindrances.

I am Maryse Bourgault, and This is How I Work

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Maryse Bourgault. Maryse is an Assistant Professor at Montana State University Northern Agricultural Research Center in Cropping Systems and Agronomy. Her aim is to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of agricultural systems in Montana and other dry areas through diversification of cropping systems, in particular using pulse crops (field peas, lentils, chickpeas) in rotation in cereal-based cropping systems. She is a crop physiologist by training and uses these methodologies to bridge the gap between field- and farm-level productivity and genetic improvement for drought and cold tolerance. She previously conducted research on the effects of elevated CO2 in Australia at the Australian Grains Free Air CO2 Enrichment (AGFACE) and at CSIRO with the Climate Adaptation Flagship program. Maryse graduated with a Ph.D. from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) in 2009.

Current job: Assistant Professor, Cropping Systems Agronomy
Current Location: Havre, MT
Current mobile device: iPhone (but I don’t know if the next one will be)
Current computer: DELL

Please explain your current situation and research to us.
I have just started as an Assistant Professor at Montana State University Northern Agricultural Research Station. My research direction is yet to be defined, but I am particularly interested in using crop physiology to support breeding by variety/advanced lines characterization. I am also interested in testing new crops for increased diversification for benefits in soil health, reduced disease pressure, etc.

What tools, apps, or software are essential to your work flow?
For better or for worst, the Microsoft Office suite. We use the outlook calendar as a group quite a bit, and it allows us to see what everyone is up to.

For statistics and data visualization and making graphs, I use R.

I also like the software FreeMind, a mind map software, although sometimes, my white board is just as good.

What does your workspace look like?
I used to like to alternate between offices (home, lab, library even), but I am increasingly appreciative of a fixed workplace. It allows me to compartmentalize work and leisure activities/rest. I find it helps me with my work-life balance. This said, I do not get interrupted much at work, so it does not break my flow when trying to write (or I put a sign on my door saying “Trying to write; enter at your own risk” – which knowing me people know it is a joke (I won’t bite their heads off), but they also know not to bother me for too long). I would like to have my desk clean and uncluttered, but I tend to have unread papers in various piles (something I’m working on…).



What is your best advice for productive academic work?
What has helped me a lot is to have a regular schedule. I know not everyone is like this, and of course during the field season, this does not apply, but at least when I am in the office, I do an 8 to 5 day. And I focus on work and only work during this time. If I know I’ll work on the weekend, then I start doing other things (paying bills, checking things out on the net, etc.) and I don’t feel guilty, because, hey, I’ll be pulling more hours this week. However, I find that I get more distracted, and I might do more hours, but I am not convinced I achieve more in the end.

How do you keep track of projects and tasks?
Every month, I take some time to reflect on my achievements of the last month, I plan the following month, I think about what might go wrong, and I identify priorities. And I write it all down. I have a special lab book for this. I have been doing this for the last nine years, since mid-way through my PhD, and it has worked great for me. I still underestimate how long it might take for tasks, but I’m getting better at it. I will sometimes have another look at it if something crops up that I didn’t expect. At other times, especially if I feel overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done, I use it just to remind myself of what really needs to be done, and what can wait a bit more.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
I do have a tablet, mostly for reading, but honestly, I still use a lot of paper and ink. My “agenda” (besides what I need to share with others which ends up on our shared calendar) consists of blank monthly calendar sheets I print off Outlook and I fill these by hand (usually in pencil, so I can erase). My lab books are all paper and ink – often I’ll print graphs off and paste them in. The paper calendar helps me count days better (for example when growing plants), and I find the paper lab books are better when trying to find something. It might take a bit longer, but I think it also allows me more time to think.

Which skills make you stand out as an academic?
I have checked with colleagues about this, and the first thing that I was told was that I was personable and friendly and that I could talk with just anyone. It’s important when dealing with farmers to be approachable, and I think it has helped me a lot to get this new job.

What do you listen to when you work?
I used to listen to Sarah McLachlan, Enya, Miss Higgins, Nora Jones… easy listening, soothing music or classical such as Chopin and Mozart when reading or writing. In the field, anything goes! In the last few years though, I found that when reading or writing, I prefer to work without music at all as I find it distracting.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
I do read a lot both at work and at home. I have lived without a television at home for years, listening to the news on the radio and catching some programs on the internet only. So, I read a lot of fiction for entertainment, crime thrillers, sci-fi fantasy, romance, drama, etc. At work, I will sometimes book specific time slots for reading, especially as part of a literature review for a project proposal and when I start a manuscript. I also take time during lunch to read the Societies magazines and trade magazines.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
This is a little hard to say because every test I have done is putting me either a little of one or the other, so I think I am mostly in the middle. I do tend to feel a little lonely if I am working from home for too long, but I also get a bit overwhelmed with everyone in conferences. For every day routine though, it is good. I’m happy to be around people without talking to them much during the day, but I’m also happy to have a good long (productive) chat with someone once in a while as well.

What is your sleep routine like?
I sleep a lot! I love sleeping! LOL. I like to get to bed at 10 pm and get up around 6 or 6:30 am, although I often get to bed a little later (and end up throwing myself out of bed at 7:30…). I often sleep until noon on Saturdays. It also happens on Sunday, but I try to get up earlier so I’m not turning in bed for hours on Sunday night trying to get to sleep.

What is your work routine like?
I like to follow the routine of everyone else around me. It sort of forces me to get to work in the morning – and to get home not too late at night. These days, I’m working 8 to 5 pm. During field work, we can pull long days and then it is a different story. This said, I’m not a workaholic. I really like to focus on work during office hours, and do other stuff during evenings and weekends.

What is the best advice you ever received?
It’s important to know what you want in life. Things will not always go your way, and no one ever only does what they want, but at least when the going gets tough, you don’t have to go adrift as well. There might be situations where the choice is to stay or leave, and if you know what you want, you can make that choice and not feel victimized.

I am Arun Verma and This is How I Work

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Arun Verma for the "How I Work" series. Arun is a Social Psychologist/Health Professions Education researcher, with over 7 years experience specialising in Equality & Diversity, Professionalism and Qualitative Research Methods. As an expert in this field, he has presented his research at international conferences. Arun has been successfully recognised for his academic research and won a number of awards in to support impact in his teaching and research. He completed his Masters in Clinical Psychology in 2013. He currently provides academic tutoring, assessment and feedback for students on the Master's in Medical Education program and is nearing completion of his PhD titled; "Retention and succession health care education: Exploring the influence of gendered identities in male- and female- dominated environments".


Current Job: PhD Researcher and Part-time Staff Tutor
Current Location: United Kingdom
Current mobile device: Apple iPhone 6s
Current computer: Macbook Pro

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I am currently a Higher Education Academy Mike Baker doctoral researcher, with my PhD titled “Retention and success in healthcare education: Exploring the influence of intersecting identities in male- and female-dominated environments” and in the last few months before I submit. I am also a Part-time Staff Tutor at the Centre for Medical Education (University of Dundee), teaching on multiple modules (i.e. Management & Leadership). I am on the Editorial board for the upcoming Psychreg Journal of Psychology, and an active reviewer for prestigious journals - Medical Education, International Perspectives in Equality & Diversity, and The Student Doctor Journal.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
There are so many but, for project management the key ones are Slack (online collaborative software), Doodle (scheduling), Microsoft Outlook (for scheduling meetings) and Timely (for tracking my time management).

For analysis, I use ATLAS.ti (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software: CAQDAS), SPSS, Microsoft Excel and Papers (reference manager).

For writing, I use a Moleskin notebook (pen and paper), Microsoft One Note (collating and organising ideas) and Microsoft Word.

For presenting, I use Microsoft PowerPoint.

What does your workspace setup look like?
I am doing my PhD by distance, so I try to vary my working environments. I currently switch from my home to coffee shops. I try to keep my PhD desk relatively minimal, with a couple of supportive faces (i.e. Mr Potato Head and Optimus Prime).

Home office setup

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
I currently have four PhD supervisors so I have had to learn and embrace four very different styles of feedback, whilst ensuring a smooth team working process. This has meant my resilience and thick skin has really grown from when I first started the PhD.
My advice is to invest in developing your resilience to help bounce back from feedback and adversity. I also think you shouldn't give yourself a hard time when getting feedback from the academic network. Academic work can be cognitively and physically consuming, so treat yourself kindly when you can.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
During my final year, I made 3 to 4 month project timelines to map out what tasks needed to be done and when. I found writing a week-by-week schedule was helpful to plan realistic goals. I also use the Tasks and Reminders settings on Microsoft Outlook and Calendar to ensure I don’t leave things until the last minute!

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
My iPod classic, because I can’t receive emails or notifications on that device. It means I can listen to my music without interruption and I find music is my way of having a time out from academic work.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
My tenacity, which is my strength but also a limitation. As a strength, my tenacity means that I do not give up on a task and can retain and apply knowledge in innovative ways, whilst being adaptive and getting out of my comfort zone. As a limitation, it also means I can jump head first into a task without spending time planning or preparing for it. I’ve been spending time learning and developing these planning skills to help continue my own professional development.

What do you listen to when you work?
I listen to different genres of music for different types of work:
When I’m writing, I typically listen to instrumental and classical music, like the London and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Ennio Morricone or Vangelis.
When I’m analysing data, I listen to dance/electronic music, including DeadMau5, Shapeshifters and Daft Punk.
When I’m preparing presentations/reviewing my own work, I listen to rock/pop music, including The Pixies, David Bowe, Prince, Solange, Aretha Franklin.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
I signed up to Audible, and am currently being read the book “Sapiens: A brief history of human kind”, which was recommended to me by an Australian colleague at a conference (OTTAWA/ANZHAPE) in 2016. I try to spend about an hour a week (usually in the morning or evening) doing this.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert?
I would probably say I lend myself more to the extrovert side of the spectrum. I enjoy talking and meeting new people, which has been great for conferences as I have met some fantastic people and made some great connections. It also has meant I can get more involved in different workplace environments quite easily.

What's your sleep routine like?
I try to get to sleep between 21:00-22:00, and I aim for about 7-8 hours an evening to feel rested.

What's your work routine like?
I work 6 days a week quite comfortably. I’m currently looking for post-PhD research work, so I find some of my time is dedicated to extra-curricular activities to help with my employability. My typical hours range between 8-12 hours per day.

What's the best advice you ever received?
I wasn’t given advice per se, but there has always been one quote that has resonated with me, and that I use to draw on a lot. It’s something Ghandi said,
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world”.

I am Christian Olele and This is How I Work

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Christian Olele from Nigeria in the How I Work series. Christian is a registered Professional Engineering Geologist with the Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG) and Project Manager experienced in the sector of Geotechnical Engineering in Nigeria, West Africa. He received his B.Sc. and PGdip. degrees in Geology from the University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Nigeria; and his M.Sc. degree in Project Management from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, U.K. Christian supervised several Sub-Structure Projects that deal with Geotechnics on the Lekki Toll Road Infrastructure Project (Pedestrian Bridges, Falomo Ramp Bridge and Toll Booths & Plazas), Bored and Precast Concrete Piles & Metal Sheet Piles for Osborne Jetty Terminal, Ikoyi, Lagos. Currently, he is heading the construction management team of EdgeGold Concept Services Limited, Lagos.

Current Job: Project Manager
Current Location: Lagos, Nigeria (West Africa)
Current mobile device: Iphone 6
Current computer: HP ProBook 4330

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
MS Project, Primavera, Tsoft.

What does your workspace setup look like?

On the job site

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
My M.sc Thesis (The Challenges of Public Private Partnership (PPP) Projects in a Developing Country: The Case Study of the Lekki Toll Road Infrastructure Project in Lagos, Nigeria).

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?

• I create my list of Tasks in a Project
• I follow up on the resources needed for each tasks
• I check daily with Progress on each task to make sure the Project is within time and Budget
• I call for review meeting with the team to motivate them
• I meet with the Project Stakeholders to brief them about the progress on the Project.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
I use an iPad and camera.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
My skills with regard to presentation, writing, and communication

What do you listen to when you work?

• I listen to learn something new in my profession
  
• I listen to the plight of people so as to solve their problems and give advice
  

What are you currently reading? Currently, I am reading "The New Rules: Emotional Intelligence" by Dr. Rob Yeung

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?

• I am an Extrovert and have impressive powers of concentration and problem solving 
• I volunteer for everything that comes along. Work on several committees at a time, even if the committees have little in common. 
• I involve myself socially with everyone and instigate personal discussions. 
• I can become overly friendly with staff and clients and keep Proper boundaries to maintain the respect of others.  

What's your sleep routine like?
I sleep between midnight and 6 am  

What's your work routine like? 
 I work in the office 3 days a week and field 2 days (Sometimes 3 days a week).  

What's the best advice you ever received?
“If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you are not sure you can do it, say yes. Then learn how to do it later.” — Richard Branson

I am Pranoti Kshirsagar and This is How I Work

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Pranoti Kshirsagar for the "How I Work" series. Pranoti was born and raised in Nagpur, India. After finishing her bachelors in technology in Metallurgical and Materials Science and Engineering, she moved to Germany. She holds a masters degree in Materials Science from the University of Stuttgart. Check out her website or follow her on Twitter.

Current job: Working on my PhD
Current location: Tuebingen, Germany
Current mobile device: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and Mi 4i
Current computer: Macbook Pro

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I am developing a reliable and reproducible fabrication technique for integrating carbon-based materials into microelectrode arrays (MEAs) which are used in biomedical applications. MEAs are used to record signals from cells such as neurons. The focus of my work is on two wonderful forms of carbon: carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene. Both these materials are extensively researched in the past two decades, although their entry in biomedical field is relatively recent.

My work is fairly interdisciplinary. As a materials scientists I produce CNTs and graphene out of thin air (read: gases in a vacuumed chamber), integrate into the MEAs and voila, the device is ready for the cells to grow on. Our biologists then culture either cardiac or neuron cells on my devices. If they are in the mood, my devices host retina slices. Goal is to record cellular activity from different kinds of cells and maybe in the future excite the neurons with laser and witness the information transfer.

So in a nutshell, I collaborate with chemists, physicists, neurobiologists, biomedical technologists and several other field experts.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
I use a lot of machines for the characterization of carbon. A few of the common ones are the atomic force microscope, the scanning electron microscope and the Raman spectrometer. I use a bunch of software packages like MATLAB, Origin, Coreldraw and TeXstudio to name a few.

What does your workspace setup look like?
I work in the labs at my institute and also at the university. So far I have a office at the institute, home and soon will be getting a desk at university.

home office

work desk

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
There are several pieces of advice I can offer. :D

Smart time management is the key. The quality of the work is more important than the quantity of the work. Always have a goal in mind when working on a project / report. Every once in a while take a step back and judge your work from a third person's point of view. It helps to have the big picture in mind.

Exercise of any kind is very helpful for both physical and mental health. I am more productive and positive on the days starting with workout. Type of exercise can be of your choice jogging, gym, swimming, biking, yoga..anything that keeps you focused and pumped up. Make a schedule and stick to it.

Set personal goals. Try to be as independent as possible. Always work towards a goal. I set goals for every day, every week. Remember, big picture!

Take time off. Try to stick to working hours. Your brain needs rest. To be more precise, your brain needs to think of other aspects of life than work. Take at least a day off every week. If you worked on the weekend take a day off during the week. Go to holidays twice a year. It is very important to cut off from the lab and make a fresh start.

Treat yourself. When you finish the task at hand on or before deadline, treat yourself. It can be as small as buying yourself a butter-brezel. If you like solo travel, do it. I treated myself with a 2 month long holiday before starting PhD.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
Each working day starts with making a plan and ends with updating the plan. Everyday I take a step back and look at the progress I have made. If the day is not as productive as expected, I invest more time in the project the next day till I am at par. It helps to prioritise the projects. Not every project needs attention on daily basis. Instead of writing email to colleagues I prefer to walk down the hall and speak about the work in person.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
All my machines are very dear to me. I need all of them at least once a week.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
Perspective. Motivation. Drive. Science communication.

It is very important to have the right perspective. Many scientists are unaware of where their work stands in the real world. One of the main reasons for doing a PhD should be the passion for research. This is something I miss in the aspiring PhD students.

Motivation is often lost over the course of PhD. But one has to keep the spirits high. The experiments are bound to fail hence I always have a plan B. There is a plan B1 in case plan B fails. :D You should believe in the power of your results. This comes in handy when presenting at conferences.

Drive to make things work is essential. As a PhD student you are expected to step in and take control of the project. Don't rely on your supervisor / prof to solve your problems. Its YOUR PhD, not theirs. Try to solve issues yourself before approaching anyone.

Communicate your science. It is very important for future collaboration. Take advantage of the available resources to attend conferences, seminars, workshops. You should be able to explain your work in 1 min. It is very important to engage an audience of experts from varied fields in your work.

What do you listen to when you work?
This is an interesting one. I always have my headphones with me. I listen to Indian music and several other artists around the world depending on the mood and work at hand. While writing I prefer Indian music as it is comforting. In lab the music ranges from Alela Diane to Dire Straits to Artic Monkeys, the list goes on. There is so much good music out there!

What are you currently reading?
It is a tad bit difficult to keep up with reading literature other than science papers. But I try. Last book I read was pretty intense so I am giving myself some time off now. The next book on the list is 'Alone in Berlin'. I read while commuting and before going to bed.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
I am a very selective extrovert. My work benefits from this. At conferences and workshops I am more of an extrovert. This helps a lot with networking and communicating science. I love presenting my work in front of a diverse audience.

What's your sleep routine like?
I go to bed between 10 pm - 11 pm and wake up between 5 am - 6 am.

What's your work routine like?
I start work between 7 am - 8 am depending on if I was swimming or at the gym before. I work till 5 pm - 6pm.

What's the best advice you ever received?
Research isn't only lab-work it is also how you package your work and present it to the public.
Be aware that you are woman in science. You will have to go an extra mile every once a while to prove your worth, it's the bitter truth.

I Am Jennifer Askey and This is How I Work

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Dr. Jennifer Askey in the "How I Work" series, from EnergizedAcademic. Her goal as a coach is to help clients work through frustrations, blocks, and setbacks to optimize their productivity and happiness--whether inside the academy or outside. She also coaches people who are ready to see their currently successful academic careers grow and flourish. 

Her academic career has spanned a wide array of jobs, types of institutions, and research contexts. She has worked as an adjunct/sessional instructor, been on the tenure-track and achieved tenure (Kansas State University in 2010), and worked on temporary full-time contracts. She has been an academic office administrator, served on personnel committees and on university Faculty Senate. She spent two years developing new academic programs and working on cyclical program review and have shepherded new academic requirements through approval processes. She has seen the university from multiple vantage points and isfamiliar with both the problems and the potentials there for graduate students, faculty, administrators, and staff.

Her academic training is in Political Economy and German literature. She seeks to impower het clients to harness their own experiences to maximize their potential. She is working toward ICF (International Coach Federation) certification with the Coach Training Institute. 

General:
Current Job: sole proprietor and coach at Energized Academic
Current Location: Hamilton, Ontario
Current mobile device: LG4 android phone
Current computer: MacBook Pro 15" laptop, circa 2013, Acer Chromebook c 2016

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I run a coaching business that offers productivity, coaching, and personal/leadership development services to academics (broadly defined). Instead of researching German literature of the 19th century, like I did in my professorial gig, I research paths in and outside of academia; research on positivity and habits, and small business stuff.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
I use both digital and analog tools. I have modified the Bullet Journal set-up to work for me as sort of a long-range to-do list plus daily accountability tracker. I have a vast array of pens in many colours. My phone is 100% essential for meeting reminders, as well as mobility on skype or phone with clients. I use Dropbox and Google Drive to share docs with my clients; with the acquisition of the Chromebook, though, I find myself navigating more toward Drive and wish that everyone else did, too. I appreciate having all of our shared notes and records in one common space and the version tracking that both of these services provide.

Recently I've begun using Trello.com, a kanban-style workflow board online, to track issues and questions my clients and I want to cover, are currently covering, and have covered. It is also a way to keep our meeting notes in one spot.

What does your workspace setup look like?
I work from home, in a cozy corner of a refurbished attic.

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
Schedule your time well, give yourself hard deadlines, remember that the perfect is the enemy of the good, and don't let little things gobble up all your time. Hire a coach to optimize your productivity and focus on your values and goals.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
Trello boards and the Bullet Journal

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
Not really

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
Well, I'm not a practicing academic at the moment but a lot of the skills I used in teaching and research apply to my current position as coach. I am an excellent public speaker and lecturer. I really listen to students and colleagues. I understand the big picture that comes into being at the intersection of a person's individual agenda and the university's mission.

What do you listen to when you work?
Instrumental/classical music, if anything.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
I am currently reading Motorcycles and Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor and am listening to a murder mystery in the Danish Dept Q series on audiobook. Audiobooks are for dog walks; printed texts are for bedtime or family reading time (instead of TV!). I'm also reading Hey Ladies, Stop Apologizing to review for my professional blog; I fit that into my work day in fits and starts.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
I am an extrovert. This definitely influenced my decision to become a coach, which requires marketing myself to people, reaching out to them, sharing my opinions and expertise, and--occasionally--pushing people outside of their comfort zones.

What's your sleep routine like?
In my fantasy life, I go to bed at 11 and get up at 6:30. The 6:30am time is proving to be a bit optimistic when I don't have transit to catch or a class to show up to.

What's your work routine like?
It is variable because my non-negotiable work times are when I have calls or meetings scheduled with clients. These vary from week to week, so does my routine then, as well. I try to fit in a bit of professional reading each day, and make time for physical exercise (walk the dog, yoga) and meditation almost every day. I answer a lot of email and keep up with book keeping and scheduling, which takes up a fair amount of time.

What's the best advice you ever received?
Know what a fulfilled and content life look like for you; know what your non-negotiable values are and use all that information to find the career, life partner, etc. for you.

168 Hours Time-tracking challenge

One of the first bloggers I started to follow during my PhD journey was Laura Vanderkam. While her world is very different from mine, and my view of the world may be not similar to hers, I always liked reading her blog posts, and more than seven years later, I still enjoy her writing style.

The first book I read by Laura Vanderkam is "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think". Again, my world and my experiences are quite different from hers, and when I was a PhD student, hiring somebody for cleaning or other chores would have been financially impossible. Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading the book, and I was inspired by it to consider my planning on a weekly level. Add in the weekly template of Dr. Golash-Boza and Dr. Pacheco-Vega , and you have all the elements for my time-scheduling approach. It took some iterating, and I constantly adapt to changes in life and general work demands, but my basic block of time is a week.

When Laura Vanderkam wrote about her time-tracking challenge earlier this year, I knew I wanted to have a closer look at my time as well. I've used software tools in the past to track the time spent on my office computer, but that just gave me an idea of how I spent my time at work. To have an idea of everything, I decided to track my time for 168 hours, from January 18th, 9PM to January 25th, 9PM. I used a little notebook that I carried in my purse to write down exactly what I did and when, and at the end of the week, I calculated everything.



As Laura Vanderkam points out, when she asks people to track their time, they often may say that "this week was not a typical week". My week, too, included almost an entire afternoon with medical appointments, and some blood work at another point that had to be done. The fact is, there is no such thing as a typical week. As such, the results of my 168 hours give you an idea of what a week in January 2017 looked like for me. I compiled my results into different categories to make the overall breakdown clearer.

The first category is Work. Even though I missed an entire afternoon because of the medical appointments, I worked 51 hours. The categories of work activities that took most of my time were: email (8 hours), writing papers (8 hours), research (7 hours), writing my book (5 hours), teaching (3 hours), and meetings (4 hours).

The second category is Hobbies, for which I tracked 26 hours. I had a cut in my finger, so I couldn't play music. The categories that took the most time were reading (8 hours, not counting the time I listened to an audiobook while cooking or doing other chores), yoga (3 hours), walks (2 hours), and some other categories. I also played Zelda for two hours that week, something I hadn't done in a long time.

My third category is Personal, for which I logged 80 hours. I slept 65 hours, which corresponded to the needs of my body at (then) thirteen weeks pregnant (the fatigue of pregnancy, it's been overwhelming!). I spent 6 hours eating, 4 hours in getting ready in the morning, 3 hours in getting ready for bed at night, and 3 hours with medical appointments.

The last category is Chores, on which I spent 11 hours: 5 hours of cooking, 3 hours of putting things in place in the house, and 3 hours for groceries. I have help for the housework three times a week, so cleaning and doing the laundry are not my tasks anymore.

Have you ever logged your time for an entire week? How were your results? Are they similar to mine? If you would be interested in logging your time, please let me know - I'm very curious to learn about your results

I am Nyasha Junior and This is How I Work

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Nyasha Junior in the "How I Work" series. Junior is an amateur and professional bookworm. She writes, teaches, and tweets on race, gender, and religion. Discover more at nyashajunior.com and follow her (flame emoji) tweets @NyashaJunior.

Current Job: Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible, Department of Religion, Temple University
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current mobile device: iPhone 6
Current computer: MacBook Pro

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I teach biblical studies at Temple University. This semester, I am teaching Death and Dying and Feminist and Womanist Biblical Interpretation. My current research project is on biblical Hagar and how she is reinterpreted as a Black woman.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
I use RefWorks for citation, and I use Gcal and Workflowy for staying organized.

What does your workspace setup look like?
I work at home. I’m trying a new setup with a floor desk.

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
Take naps.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
I use Workflowy, Excel, and strategic avoidance.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
I wear wireless noise-cancelling headphones.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
Brevity.

What do you listen to when you work?
I listen to Laura Mvula a lot these days.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
Kindred by Octavia Butler. I turn off electronics an hour before going to bed and read fiction.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
Introvert. I prefer to work alone.

What's your sleep routine like?
Early to bed. Early to rise to get to yoga class.

What's your work routine like?
Email. Work. Email. Highly Questionable. Email. Work. Netflix. All with ongoing Twitter.

What's the best advice you ever received?
Let your light shine.

I'm Alayna Cole and This is How I Work

Today, I have the pleasure of inviting Alayna Cole to the "How I Work" series. Alayna is a doctoral candidate in Creative Arts (Creative Writing) and a lecturer in Serious Games at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She has broad research interests, but she is primarily focused on creating and analysing narratives that improve diverse representation, particularly of gender and sexuality. Her doctoral thesis—entitled Queerly Ever After—comprises a collection of reimagined fairy tales that seek to incorporate plurisexual perspectives.

Current Job: Games writer and academic (among others)
Current Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Current mobile device: iPhone SE smart phone
Current computer: Toshiba Satellite laptop

Can you briefly explain your current situation and research to us?
I am (technically) 18 months into my Doctorate of Creative Arts (Creative Writing), and I am researching representations of sexuality and gender in fairy tales. My research output comprises a creative artefact and an accompanying exegesis. While my doctoral work is in the field of creative writing, I lecture in serious game design, and my publications and conference presentations at this stage have been in both the creative writing and game studies disciplines.

What tools, apps and software are essential to your workflow?
My system is fairly stripped back. I use Microsoft Word for writing and EndNote for keeping track of my citations, as well as a notebook and pen for jotting down ideas. I’m the sort of person who structures her thesis by moving post-it notes around on the floor. I occasionally use Pomodoro apps or websites to assist with focus on days that are all about my doctorate; one I have recently found helpful is called ‘Forest’.

What does your workspace setup look like? Do you have a fixed workspace, or do you alternate between a home office, university office and lab?
I generally work from home. My desk is organised chaos most of the time, but all of my books and research are in one place here. When I’m not working at home, I work at the Engage Lab at the University of the Sunshine Coast. It’s definitely not a ‘typical’ lab and I love its creative atmosphere. Depending on where I’m up to with my creative artefact or research, I might take my notebook or readings out to the park, on public transport, or to some other random location; a change of pace can shake things up.

Here you can see my home workspace and lab. The photo of my lab was taken during a Women in Games afternoon that I helped organise, so the place is bustling!

home office

Engage lab

What is your best advice for productive academic work?
This is a tricky one! It’s about figuring out how you work best. I edit better in the morning and when it’s quiet, but I write better at night with some background noise. I also work best when I have small, realistic goals and I’ve written them down in a clear to-do list; it can be easy to get overwhelmed with a research project the size of a doctorate if you don’t break it up.

How do you keep an overview of projects and tasks?
I used to have my doctoral thesis spread across a lot of different Word documents, but I’ve recently compiled them into one file and have it very clearly marked with comments and headings. I use a handwritten diary to keep track of other research, deadlines, conferences, meetings, and so on. I also use Trello sometimes, particularly for collaborative projects.

Besides phone and computer, do you use other technological tools in work and daily life?
That’s basically it, to be honest! I was also using a digital tablet earlier on in my process to read and highlight research papers and books, as I was starting to go cross-eyed staring at so many pdfs on my computer screen.

Which skill makes you stand out as an academic?
Probably my organisation. It helps me prioritise, and ensures I am working efficiently and strategically. It is helping immensely with my doctorate, as well as the other research and publications I am working on, and I think it will continue to aid me throughout my academic career.

What do you listen to when you work?
If anything, I tend to rely on instrumental music from videogame soundtracks. The OSTs of Bastion, Transistor, Journey, The Witcher 3, and Undertale are some personal favourites.

What are you currently reading? How do you find time for reading?
I’m currently reading novels that are contributing to my doctorate’s literature review or my other creative writing publications. It helps me find time to read when I know it’s actually work! I haven’t read anything that isn’t directly related to my research for a while, partially because I am trying to hold onto a particular creative voice that I don’t want muddied by the different styles of other authors. I’m looking forward to getting back into reading for pleasure.

Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? How does this influence your working habits?
I am fairly introverted. I guess it means that I’m rarely distracted by social influences, but also means I can have a pretty negative work/life balance. Still, I make sure I visit friends sometimes, and I limit my work while they’re around. I also have regular videogame nights on Thursdays to keep myself sane.

What's your sleep routine like?
It varies depending on what I’m working on. Late nights while I’m writing, early mornings while I’m editing, and often my teaching schedule dictates when I have to sleep. I like working late into the night though, when I can, as I often seem to be more productive then.

What's your work routine like?
It changes depending on what I have on my to-do list and the deadlines that are coming up. I don’t keep any sort of 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday working-hour system. I work nights and weekends a lot, but it means I can take time off to rest and think when I need it during the week. It also depends on my teaching schedule, which changes each semester.

What's the best advice you ever received?
An academic career is all about strategy. There are a lot of different ways to approach all aspects of it—doctorate, publications, conferences, teaching, etc.—but some methods make your research work for you more effectively and efficiently than others. As for what those methods are? It takes talking to people and experimenting to figure that out.