Postdoc Hannah Gaines Day was recently interviewed by Rock Your Research, a website dedicated to helping graduate students find success.  In the interview, Hannah discusses her experience as a dissertator finding her path to productivity (also detailed in this blog post). 

Listen to the interview here.

Take home messages from the interview:

Listen to the “elephant”: If you need to do something (e.g., clean your desk, take out the garbage, drink coffee) before you can sit down and focus on your work, do it.  It will take more time trying to convince the elephant to get right to work than it will to just get the task done.

Read: Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath

Ask questions.  Your job as a graduate student is to learn.  Asking questions is the first step. 

Build your toolbox.  Acquire as many skills as you can.  It will make you more attractive to employers.

Embrace your hobbies.  It’s easy to get stuck in the academic bubble and forget about the things you enjoy.  Make time each week to focus on your hobbies.  Your brain will thank you.

 

This article was posted in Lab Blog.