Halfway Done! Revisiting 2015 Goals

June. It's June already. Where did 2015 go? Time is flying by at a ridiculous pace. In January I wrote a post about goals I wanted to achieve for 2015. Since 2015 is halfway over, let's revisit.

Professional:

• Publish in a policy journal again - Not even close, and maybe not something I want to focus on.
• Plan & execute DC networking trip - Went to DC, but not for this purpose. still managed to get some networking in.
• Identify & explore specific science policy careers - This is still a struggle
• Find session/panel to moderate at future conference - I'm going to a conference in October where I may look for future opportunities.
• Finish strategic outreach plan for CCH - Done! Interesting side project, glad it's over.
• Co-moderate PhD Career Conference 2015 - Currently in the final stages of setting up workshops, this event is at the end of June.

School:

• Submit F31 grant - Still writing, writing, writing. Submission deadline is in August.
• Pass qualifying exam - Committee is formed, this will be scheduled for September.
• Attend 2 conferences - Done! Going to a 3rd in October.
• First author scientific paper - Done! Submitted earlier this week, keep your fingers crossed that comments are kind, and revisions are light.
• Read at least 1 paper per week - Not quite. I've been scanning more abstracts, but need to focus on more indepth reading.

Fitness:

• 300lb deadlift - Not even close
• Gym at least 2x/week - Only for the last month or so. As this continues more of the other goals in this category will seem more attainable.
• 10 sec L-sit
• Freestanding handstand
• 5 pull-ups
  

Personal:

• Travel out of the country - Twice! Once for a conference, and once for fun.
• Complete Linux online course - Nope. This isn't a goal any more.
• Practice piano 3x/week - I don't think I've looked at my keyboard since January.
• Take singing/piano lessons - No longer a goal, but I might take lessons after I pass my Quals.
• Blog monthly - Obviously this hasn't been happening.
• Have more science-specific Twitter discussions - This has been happening periodically, and it's always enjoyable. 

Looking over the list, I'm pretty okay with my progress so far. Some goals have changed, and that's acceptable. I specifically didn't add goals to this list, but priorities have definitely shifted to focus on personal fitness, and my research project. In January, I was still in classes, and focusing on bigger picture, career orientated goals instead. This mid-year shift seems appropriate, and we'll have to see what I think looking back at the end of this year!

How are your goals coming along?

Science of Being Happy: Sleep

Building on a previous post about using basic needs as a coping mechanism, I am very interested in research on happiness. Considering some of the dark episodes I've had in my life, I get a little angry when people think my buoyant optimism comes naturally. Happiness can take effort and work, just like any other goal worth pursuing.

In the hierarchy of health, sleep is king. Like many other things in life, happiness starts with basic needs being met. It's much easier to be happy when you sleep well, eat well, and get a moderate amount of exercise. Specific needs may be different for different people. I need a fair amount of sleep, and boy howdy, everything in life is easier when I get it. Thinking is faster, and clearer, mood is better, and productivity soars.
But it takes more than going to bed at a regular hour (even though that's still important). Here are the things that work for me:

• Sticking to a schedule: We've all heard this, so why don't we stick to it? It's hard to implement, but it really does work. I get tired around the same time every night, and getting up during the week is far easier if I didn't sleep in all weekend.
• Get away from the screens: There's interesting research about the effects of light from computers and smart phones. The over-simplification is that the wavelength of light given off from these screens is similar to sunlight. This light stimulation is enough to stop all the night-time hormones from kicking in and helping you wind down for the night. Remember that we evolved to be in tune with sunlight, so by playing on the phone in bed the same as telling your body that it's daylight and not time to sleep yet. However, I'm in grad school and you might have a similar obligation that means turning off the computer hours before bed isn't an option. Instead, I got these super fashionable amber-colored glasses (About $15 in late fall of 2013):
  
  
  
  
  
  Yes, I look pretty fantastic there. Sex appeal aside, these things have been amazing. Supposedly, they block the wavelengths of light that keep you awake, and let your body send out all the sleepy-time signals. I noticed that I get drowsier earlier, and fall asleep faster.
  
• Daytime light exposure: The other side to this is getting enough light during the day. I work in a lab with no windows. During the winter it's usually dark when I'm walking in, and dark again when I'm walking home (yay, Northeast winters). This means that unless I make a conscious effort to go for a walk or get near a window during a break, I get zero light exposure. My sleep took a significant turn for the better when I started taking a 10 minute break in both the morning and afternoon to get near a window, and usually a brisk walk right after lunch. 
  

• Exercise: This is another obvious, but easy to forget item. Don't sit at a desk all day. Get up and move when you can. At least stretch once in a while if nothing else. Movement during the day always helps me sleep better at night. Even simple activities, like an afternoon walk, work well.
  

• Light while sleeping: I'm not 100% sold on this one, but experts that I generally trust say it's important. We live in a very electronic world. Clocks, phones, computers, TVs, etc all have little lights that are shining on us all night. Just for the fun of it, try covering them up or turning them all off. Every pinprick of light you can see from your bed and see how you sleep. I found some improvement.
  

• Light while waking: Once upon a time, in a land far way, I used to live somewhere that got sunlight. Waking up in the morning with a large, East-facing window was easy and felt natural. Now that I'm in the Northeast, if I waited for sunlight to wake up, I'd sleep until June. Instead, I invested in a sunrise alarm clock (about $80 in summer of 2013). This is the most expensive clock I ever bought, and it's been worth every penny. It gradually gets brighter during the 30 minutes before the alarm itself goes off, up to a final brightness that you set. The alarm is either wind chimes, or bird chirping. The gradual brightening of the room makes those gentle sounds enough to wake you up. Waking up in a brightly lit room to birds chirping is so much nicer than waking up to a pitch black room with an alarm beeping angrily at you. I can't recommend this thing enough.
  

So here are some of the things I do to make sure I'm well rested, at least some of the time. Like many of my ideas it works great in theory, but doesn't always get put into practice. However, when I'm starting to feel overtired or stressed out, sleep is one of the first things I try to focus on improving. I'd love to hear about what you tried, and what's worked and what hasn't.

Goals for 2015

Oh, you know. It's one of those posts.

I don't want to reflect too hard on 2014, because I had no idea what I was doing for most of it. With my personality, I'd rather look ahead. I'm halfway through my 2nd year of grad school, and here are my goals for 2015:

Professional:

• Publish in a policy journal again
• Plan & execute DC networking trip
• Identify & explore specific science policy careers
• Find session/panel to moderate at future conference
• Finish strategic outreach plan for CCH
• Co-moderate Career Conference 2015

School:

• Submit F31 grant
• Pass qualifying exam
• Attend 2 conferences
• First author scientific paper
• Read at least 1 paper per week

Fitness:

• 300lb deadlift
• Gym at least 2x/week
• 10 sec L-sit
• Freestanding handstand
• 5 pull-ups
  

Personal:

• Travel out of the country
• Complete Linux online course
• Practice piano 3x/week
• Take singing/piano lessons
• Blog monthly
• Have more science-specific Twitter discussions

A few notes:
I feel the need to separate Professional goals from School goals because even though I'm in a traditional research lab, my current career plans are aimed at science policy. About that 300lb deadlift: my max pull has been around 225-245lb since the very first time I tried over 5 years ago. I've been claiming 300lbs as a goal for a very long time. Time to stop screwing around and get at it. Some of the other goals seem a little lofty, but might as well think big, right?

What are your goals for the upcoming year?

Surviving an Academic Schedule

This is a guest blog post for PhDtalk as part of a series on academic schedules. I was asked for “a narrative about how a (normal) day/week in your life looks like, and how you combine research / writing / teaching (if any) and other activities on a regular basis, and how (or if) you manage to squeeze in some time for yourself as well.” Original post can be found here.

The President of the United States doesn't decide what to wear or eat every day. Humans have a limited capacity to make decisions. Once the quota is reached, there has to be a rest period before being able to make more decisions or it starts to feel physically draining. The POTUS spends his day making important, far-reaching decisions. There's no point in waste precious energy making small ones.

I keep this in mind when devising my daily and weekly schedules. Having a routine keeps my mind free for the things that matter, and still ensures that everything gets done. I optimized my morning routine by writing down everything I wanted to accomplish before leaving the house, then put those things in an order that made sense. A few key points: I don't look at my phone before getting out of bed. I'm a graduate student. No email is so important that it can't wait a few hours. Looking at my phone makes me laze about too long. Secondly, I do a small amount of physical activity as soon as I roll out of bed. This might be a few yoga poses or a set of pushups. Something short and fast to get blood flowing and let me body know I'm up.

Mornings are my golden time. I can get more quality work done before 9am than the rest of the day combined. I recently started harnessing this by going to school later. Once I'm ready for the day, I spend about an hour (7:30-8:30am) writing, or working on one of my side projects. If I go into the lab this early, there's almost always something to distract me. Staying home, I have a comfortable setup, with no one to interrupt me.

My morning hour of productivity is broken up by day. The night before when I'm setting my to-do list, I decide what will be the priority the next morning. It's usually one of the following:

• writing: blog post, homework, abstract, manuscript, whatever is in the pipeline
• policy work: I'm starting a student science policy group. This is when I research speakers, write emails, plan meetings, etc
• networking: send emails, research people I want to meet, career paths I'm considering, etc
• GSS: another student group I'm part of at school. During this time I plan events, write emails, read over meeting minutes
• reading/lit search: I have a never end list of papers I'm trying to read. I try to get through a few during this time.

These categories get attended to once a week, or less if nothing is needed. The default is always writing. Even if I have no deadlines, I always have a handful of blog posts or writing exercises I'm working on to improve my writing.

I live and die by my calendar and a master to-do list. I carry a notebook everywhere and continually jot down ideas, and things I need to do. I have 30 minutes blocked off at the end of each day where I go through that notebook and transfer things to my to-do list and calendar. I don't necessarily get to everything on my calendar, but if it's not on the calendar, then it definitely doesn't get done.

Let's start with the long-view and work backwards:

Five Year Plan
I have a five year plan. It's hilariously optimistic. I would like to graduate quickly. If there's any chance of that happening, there are many things needed to stay on track. These miles stones are set on this five year plan. They get reviewed and revised about once a month to make sure I'm not missing any big deadlines.

Monthly
Near the end of every month, I set goals for the upcoming month. I look at my five-year plan and my previous month's goals and think about what I need to accomplish to move forward. These might be academic (narrow topic for review article), social (host a dinner party), health-related (do 10 pushups every day) or something else entirely. I then set time aside in my calendar to accomplish these.

Weekly
Every Friday afternoon, I set my schedule for the following week. I look at my to-do list, and block time out for each item. To-do lists are great, but without setting aside actual time to finish things, I never seem to get around to them. This also gives me a chance to be aware of any upcoming meetings I need to prepare for, exams coming up, or similar obligations.

Daily
Before bed I review the next day's schedule. I change or prepare things as needed.

Everything I do goes on the calendar, including exercise, grocery shopping, cleaning, studying, and time with friends. I use one color for social activities, one for lab work, and one for school work. When I'm planning experiments in the lab, I block out time to prepare and set up, time to actually run the experiment, and time to analyze the data. I block out time for classwork, and time to review lectures. I even have a daily reminder to leave time for lunch every day.

I have a super-packed, color-coded, scheduled-to-the15-minute-increment calendar.

Here's an important note: My precise schedule doesn't always go as planned. I'm still horrible at estimating how much time something will take. However, I find it invaluable for making sure I get the important things done. It's hard to tell how much you've taken on until you start planning out the specifics. My calendar had been a valuable tool for letting me know when to say no to new obligations.

Sleep, nutrition, and exercise are all very high on my priority list. They might slip for a week before a deadline, but being healthy and happy are more important to me than anything else. My calendar helps me to not take on too much, and to lead a happy and productive life.

What a Difference a Day Makes

In September, I went on a whirlwind trip to Washington DC. I spent a day and a half in my nation's capitol, to visit Congressional offices and talk about the importance medical research. Almost 300 people were part of the Rally for Medical Research, all with the same message: Now is the time for Congress to come together and support the NIH with continued funding for medical research. We had training on how to deliver our message, and a reception with talks by Dr. Francis Collins and Senator Dick Durbin before being unleashed on Capitol Hill to attend our meetings. AAAS was kind enough to facilitate my involvement with this opportunity.

Thirty-six hours in DC, meetings in seven different offices, could that possibly make a difference? I've been asked many times since returning: Did you make a difference? As a graduate student, I have many, possibly naive ideas about making an impact and changing the world. I want help people live better, healthier lives, and leave the world in better shape than I found it. This might be through my own disease-curing research, or it might be by convincing one more member of Congress to sign a bill that supports NIH funding, thereby helping others with their own research.

As a researcher, I think about disease in a very specific way. I think about it mechanistically. I ponder why a mutation in one gene can throw off an entire system. I want to know how and why this happens. Patients with various medical problems also attended the Rally for Medical Research. They think about diseases differently. Patients and their families have to live with a disease. Interacting with someone who has survived a severe brain tumor pulls the science out of the Petri dish and puts it into a person. Interacting with patients and survivors is a stark reminder of the ultimate goal of medical research – to help people. These patients, along with patient advocates, and other researchers were part of our group that spent the day talking to members of Congress about how continued NIH funding is needed.

But can one day of conversations change anything? We spoke with the decision-makers who seem far away, but who directly impact our lives. Our government is made up of individuals, making individual decisions. As a voter, it is my right and my responsibility to let them know which decisions are important to me. One conversation may not change anyone's mind. However, each conversation is part of a larger movement. A small, steady voice can have as much impact as a single loud one. I view this trip as part of a continuing message, and not a single event.

This is why advocacy is important. Legislators have to take into account the views of many constituents. If one group don't speak up about an issue that matters to them, a different group will. The onus is on the voter to let their views be known. Washington DC is a fast-paced town, and issues can quickly be forgotten. We need to remind Congress which issues matter to us.

So did a day make a difference? It did for me, and I hope it does for the future of funding for medical research.