Thursday, July 17, 2008

nothing really

This morning I had a meeting with Herb to talk about my review paper. I've had a very difficult time getting/staying motivated to work more on this review since I returned from Ukenzagapia, and I told him that. We both recognize that I am a relatively social person who gets a lot of intellectual stimulation from having other people around, so the emptiness of the lab and rest of the department this summer hasn't helped. It's nice to be able to work without distractions, but I think I need some distraction from other people (the internet doesn't count as a beneficial distraction in this case). I was hoping (unrealistically, I know) that Herb would tell me exactly what I needed to do with my review paper and where I should send it. Instead I'm in the same place I've been all summer, not quite knowing what to do.

Actually, I'm in a bit of a funk about everything right this very minute (the review, grant proposal, Ph.D. project, direction in life after Ph.D...) and I wanted to write about it but I'm not finding the words to express myself. Maybe later.

2 comments:

JaneB said...

Ah, summeritis! A familiar syndrome... don't beat yourself up about it, it happens, frustratingly. Maybe picking a first destination for the review paper will help? At least it will set some length limits and style rules... remember, science papers are meant to be finished not to be perfect!

MistressofScience said...

Hey, nice blog.
I got in a funk like that during Christmas break when everyone left to visit their families in far off places. The office got all quiet and lonely. It was really hard to get motivated, the only thing I found that helped was to exercise alot, especially outside exercise.