2016 has so far been quite successful when it comes to working focused on my PhD project: My second article is starting to look like the real thing, and it's not that long until I can send it to my co-authors (I hope - everything takes more time than I think it should), and after that to the journal where we'll try publishing it. I've also finally managed to "go back" to working on some stuff that will hopefully be part of an article with my extremely talented colleague, Cecilie. Together with my office mate, Fabio, I'll also probably have what we need for a third/forth article.
The key word is focusing, and that's what I want to talk about now:
I'm unfortunately extremely "good" at procrastination! In addition I a have an "illness" where I sort of tell myself that if I haven't started some task after a certain time of the day (let's say it's already two 'o clock, and I have to leave early, at four, to get Alexandra in kindergarden) then I might as well just not do anything - extremely stupid of me! However, often it's just not enough to tell yourself to get a grip - I'v tried that several times, but it's just so easy to fall into the old, bad habits again :/ Luckily, there are apps to help you with this, and here I want to present my three favourite apps, that are helping me on my path towards my degree (and world domination, of course 😛 ):
1. Pomodoro
The Pomodoro technique is a time management method, where you use a timer to break down your work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes, separated by short breaks. The "steps" in the method are as follows:
- choose some task to be accomplished
- set the Pomodoro timer to 25 mintes
- work on the task until the Pomodoro rings
- take a short break
- every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break
Of course, you don't really need this app - you can just start your own timer - but I prefer the app, since you keep track of what you've done (and what needs to be done), and it almost becomes competition with your self (for me, this is extremely motivating), and you learn more about how much (or little) time certain kind of tasks actually take, which is extremely valuable.
Personally I have 25 minutes where I work, and then a 4 minute break. Works like a charm!
More about the pomodoro technique HERE.
2. SelfControl
This is a very simple, but extremely efficient, app for your computer, that I just started using. Maybe my most important app, and it's already changed my life <3 SelfControl helps me not to procrastinate by blocking disturbing websites, mail, or whatever on the internet. You just set a period of time to block for, add sites to your blacklist, and start it - after you've started it you're unable to access any of the sites on your blacklist (no, it doesn't help if you restart your computer, or delete the app 😉 ).
So now I start every day with a quick trip to the websites that are on my blacklist, so that I sort of get it out of my system - then I start the app, and then I can work for hours without disturbing myself with stupid stuff on the internet.
More about SelfControl HERE.
NB: When I first started it, I thought you could block different sites for a different amount of time. That turned out to be incorrect. If you block for 4 hours, you block everything on your blacklist for 4 hours. If you want to override this app you have to re-install your operating system. In other word: it's quite efficient - just the way I want it to be 🙂
Health
Maybe this sounds a little silly, but I truly believe that the Health app on my Apple watch will help not to completely become a physical wreck as I try to finish this PhD work. (I may become a mental wreck, but that's another story.) The feature I probably like the most just now as there are many hours sitting in front of the computer, is that it makes me stand for at least one minute every hour (unless I ignore it, of course) - "standing hours":
The thing is that "fitness" isn't just about going to the gym, but also about being active throughout the day. So the Apple watch measures all the ways you move, and keeps track of when you stand up and encourages you to keep moving <3 Because it all counts, and it all adds up.
Just now I don't have time to go to the gym, but at least this app on my watch makes me compete with myself, and I try hard every day to fulfil my goals, in exercise (you should be active for at least 30 minutes every day), standing, and moving around. I'm not saying this is better than actually working out, but when you actually don't have time to go to the gym, this is awesome 😀
Hope you like my tips, have a great week everyone!
Sent – and back to start again
...or something like that.
Yesterday I sent what I had on my draft for this article I'm working on to supervisor-Sunniva - you, know, according to what I wrote last week I'm supposed to finish stuff and this draft should have been "finished" by Friday. Then guess what: it isn't! Even though I sent it away yesterday (2 days into this week, which is supposed to be about another article) there are so many questions about my results that I don't even know what to think. Today I asked everyone in our research group what I should do, and I basically got the answer that I have to do stuff again, several times, and just change some parameters and check if I can still reproduce my results...
Sometimes I hate science. Something about those 70% extra work for 5% extra quality - except just now it feels more like 90% extra work for 1% extra quality. Is it really worth it? Somewhere you have to draw the line, right...?
----------------------------------------------------------------
BTW: Alexandra did algebra for the first time today! After we went to the dentist this morning, she was so proud since we figured out that she had already begun to get a new tooth, and her front tooth is becoming loose, so we had to go and visit Anders who was teaching the quantum physics students before she went to kindergarden. And we were goofing around at the blackboard (there were only two students there so early in the day, and they were working by themselves at this time) and then she wrote an A and a B ("AB") on the blackboard and asked "what is A plus B?".
I told her she had to put a plus between the A and the B if she wanted to write "A plus B". And she did.
"If A is 2 and B is1, then what is A+B?" I asked her:
So she looked at me with this face telling me "please stop asking such silly questions" and instantly replied "It's three!"
Well, that made me a very #proudmommy <3
Finish it!
I need to start finishing stuff, or, really "finishing" - meaning, I need to work hard on one thing at a time, and then send it off, instead of just saying to myself oh no it's not good enough yet, I need to work just a little bit more, and then a liiiitle bit more, and the even a liiiiitle little bit more. If I continue like that I will never be able to make this phd. Therefore, my new mantra is Finish It!
And here's my "finish it-plan" for the next three weeks:
Tomorrow I'm "finishing" the draft of the uranium-234 article, next week I WILL make stuff for Cecilie (that I should have done several months ago), after that I'll analyse fission of uranium-233 and make figures and send it all off to supervisor-Jon, and after that I'll make some kind of outline for one of the most important chapters in the actual thesis - "the bridge" (and by the end of the week I'll send it to supervisor-Sunniva).
Since I'm "finishing" the uranium-234 article tomorrow, I spent much of today on the webpages of the journal where we're planning to submit it, and when I left the office this afternoon it was really starting to look like the real thing (it's amazing how much getting stuff in the right style can do 😉 ).
I also read the guidelines for people who are planning to submit manuscripts, and I had to smile about this (highlighting done by me 😀 ):
LanguageIf your native language is not English, please consider enlisting the help of an English-speaking colleague in preparing the text.
Use a spell checker. (Referees are not favorably impressed by careless mistakes.)
Luckily, I have a native English speaking supervisor/co-author, so I think he'll make sure there are no careless mistakes in the final manuscript - we don't want to p*** off the referees 😛
70% extra work – 5% extra quality (#phdlife)
I've heard this saying about science: you work 70% extra to rise the quality of your work by 5%.
Yesterday I went through my analysis again, to be absolutely certain that I know exactly what kind of parameters and numbers and stuff that I put into it, and I've reproduced two figures. So it's not just about producing results and figures, but also about reproducing. Not like a big leap forward, but I really feel that yesterday was a good example of those "70% extra work", just to rise the quality of my work with more or less nothing.
At least; don't accuse us scientists for being lazy and not walking that extra mile...;)
beautiful library last spring <3
Today I'll hopefully reproduce two more figures, and continue writing on my article. It's library day today, like every Wednesday - meaning I'm spending the day at the library with some of my fantastic colleagues, since they're awesome, and the library is a great place to work when I need absolute silence and concentration mode <3
Looking at plots, looking at code, again. Phd life as normal.
Good evening hearts <3
Today I've spent most of the day on going through the program code that sorts all of my experimental data for the millionth time. I had to check some numbers and plots in three different versions of the program that should give exactly the same results. This morning they didn't, but after going through them, first alone, then with Supervisor Sunniva, they finally gave what seems to be the same result! That means I can correct some things that I now know were wrong, and then I'm certain that everything that goes into my article is correct 😉
And I learned more about how the program works, so even though I hate spending time on these "silly" things, I guess it's still good. But it's kind of boring, though; not everything about science is SUPER FUN 😛
These are the plots that first made me wonder if there was something wrong in one of the sorting programs/codes. See they're not the same? The upper one is shifted somewhat down on the y-axis. After I finished playing a code detective today, both plots look identical 😀
I'm also trying to read up on the molten salt reactor, which is not my field of expertise, so if anyone can tell me how it's not a problem if you loose the flow in such a reactor I would be really happy! I know that in such an emergency the temperature in the fuel would rise, and then all of it would go into the emergency dump tanks, but I don't really understand why this is always presented as some sort of "quick fix"...
---------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow is "writing day", and I'll spend it at the library, with my article. Yes, it's the same as always. The plan is to work on the introduction/motivation part of the paper, and then some on one of the sub parts of the results. I also want to make a figure that shows energy of the particles together with energy from gamma-radiation from the experiment ("particle-gamma coincidences"), if there's time *hoping*.
Guess I have to start the day by blocking Facebook with the SelfControl app - I tried it today and it seems promising 😉
Submission successful!
Monday again! I've started this week by sending away an abstract for a conference i Belgium in the middle of September (if all goes according to my plan, this conference will be just the week after I have submitted my PhD thesis, and if I actually get to give a talk at there I will probably hate myself for submitting this abstract today 😛 ). The title of what I want to present ended up as:
Prompt fission gamma ray emission from the (d,p)-induced fission of 233U
----------------------------------------------------------------
After I had successfully submitted my abstract, the rest of the day was spent on working on my data analysis program, and looking at different plots, and try to understand details of the experiments we do, and stuff.
Then I got home, prepared for a talk I'll be giving in Hamar tomorrow, and then I made dinner for Anders and me - an easy, Indian thing this time. I'm working on another Working your ass off dinner, and when I have perfected the recipe I will share it with you guys - if you want me to, of course 😉
Now it's time to go to bed, since I'm getting up super early tomorrow... Kiss and hugs, and sleep tight <3
Visit
This week we have visitors from France (my great supervisor, Jon), Belgium, and Sweden. We're working on gamma radiation from fission (of uranium-233 and plutonium-239). It's a lot of hard, and EXTREMELY INTERESTING, work, and hopefully we'll get a very nice article out of this. If so, I'll very soon have the articles I need for writing up my thesis...wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!1
Now I need to get some sleep, so that I can get up early tomorrow, and finish preparing a talk I'm giving for a workshop and discussion we'll all have tomorrow.
Sleep tight darlings <3
Goal of the day
Today I've been at the library, writing all day. It takes forever, but I'm starting to get used to it - and therefore better at making goals and to do-list. My goals today were:
- finish (for now) the part about the so-called "Oslo Method" in my next paper
- fix/make a figure (that f****g Fig. 4)
- delete all the comments and thoughts (from my self) in the paper, so that it's actually possible to show it someone else without them saying WAT
- send a draft of the paper to Jon supervisor in Paris
- start making the talk I'm giving for our workshop on fission and gamma rays and stuff next week
By the end of the day I managed all but the one about the figure... "Figure 4"continues to look like a very bad drawing or something, and it will probably not be fixed tomorrow either, since then I have to work on thoughts for my actual thesis, since Jon plus more are coming next week. But the important thing is that I did send my draft to my supervisor even thought the figure isn't any good, and that was really the most important goal of the day 😀 😀 😀
----------------------------------------------------------
Here's a picture of a typical staying at the library all day, writing and therefore trying to wear something comfortable, but isn't all that keen on wearing a sweat suit out in public-outfit: tight but stretchy jeans, a simple grey sweater, and my big Russian scarf that I got as a gift from Sunniva supervisor after I finished my master degree - and I love it <3
Working your ass off-dinner #phdlife
I love thai food! Often we order take-out (and I always have some kind of curry), but our "new year's resolutions" are about spending more money on actually going out, and then less money on just stupid take-out (not that it's always stupid, but we end up ordering take-out that isn't particularly tasty, and even though it's fast, it isn't that fast, and even though it isn't that expensive it adds up to being money that would have been more fun to spend on going to a restaurant, or the movies, or whatever). The "problem" is that both Anders and I work a lot these days, and we are often dead tired when we're finally home - that's when it's too easy to just grab the phone and order something to our door 😛
Yesterday was one of those days when I wanted to make something for us, but didn't really have the time, so I decided my new thing for 2016 is working your ass off-dinner 😀 Something that's super easy to make (so that we don't end up ordering take-out instead), and at least as tasty as the take-out we would have eaten instead - for people who are "working their ass off" 😉 A real working your ass off-dinner (either you're working hard because you're trying to do a phd, or you're a student or whatever) has to be:
1) easy
2) no planning needed - it has to be possible to make the moment you think I'm hungry, I want dinner
3) cheap (if you're not a student it doesn't have to, but it's nice to save money on everyday stuff even if you're not a student 😀 )
4) fast - it has to be ready almost the moment you think I'm hungry, I want dinner
The goal is that you can use stuff that's in your freezer, or canned, or dry - stuff you can buy long before you're actually going to use it. I have now filled my freezer with frozen vegetables: broccoli, green beans, spinach, and a "thai wok vegetable"-mix thingy. Also I buy a big bag of mushroom that I chop and put in plastic bags in my freezer, and I do the same thing with chicken. I also have canned stuff, like coconut milk and tomatoes - they last forever <3
Yesterday I made working your ass off-thai curry, and here's my recipe:
You need:
- curry paste (on the picture is a green curry paste, but I could just as easily have used a red one)
- tomyum paste
- mushroom - I use champingnon (prechopped, from the freezer)
- coconut milk - I normally prefer the normal, not light version, but this was what they had this time, and it was ok (buy many at a time, since they're canned, they last forever :D)
- vegetables - yesterday I used one small bowl of broccoli and one small bowl of green beans (both frozen)
- meat - I use mostly chicken, but all kinds of meat works
You can also add: lime/lemon, fish sauce (Nam Plah), some cream - these are ingredients I always have, and I added. Yesterday I happened to have some spring onions that needed to be eaten, and they are perfect for more or less everything so 4 of them went into the curry.
both pastes (curry and tomyum) lasts "forever" after they're opened - just shut the lid tightly, and put them in the fridge
the IKEA zip lock bags are just perfect for freezing food - I have them in six different sizes <3
Do:
Put some flavorless oil, like rapeseed oil, in a pot. Heat it and put in a tablespoon of the curry paste. (You can use more if you want a hotter version, and less if you want a milder version.)
Stir, and put a tablespoon or two of the tomyum paste in the pot. Turn down the heat, and mix the two pastes together.
Put the mushrooms in the pot. Stir. Put the coconut milk in the pot. Stir.
If you have, you can add some cream - I love cream, so for me it's (almost) no question about this one 🙂
Add the meat (chicken or other type) and the vegetables. When the meat is cooked through, it's more or less ready.
Taste it. Add pepper and a little bit of fish sauce (or salt), squeeze a lime/lemon if you have. Ready!
I like to eat it just as it is, but Anders prefer some rice at the side. You can choose whatever you like 🙂
This is of course not my "very best perfect fantastic gourmet"-recipe for thai food, but the very easiest way (I can think of) to do it. It's easy, it's quick, it's simple, and it's quite tasty - what you need when you're busy working your ass off <3
You can of course also change all the frozen ingredients into fresh ones, and suddenly you have an even tastier more "fancy" curry version. And if I had more time, I would have chopped a chilli and some garlic and added them at the beginning, before the mushroom.
The actual cooking part doesn't take any more time, but you have to cut the vegetables, the mushroom and the meat, and you have to buy everything fresh...:)
Bon appétit, and good luck with working your ass off <3
Looking back. Part 1
I started 2015 with a hope that that year wouldn't be so much of a roller coater ride as 2014 was - and luckily, it wasn't <3
In 2015 I've spent more time on my research in a long time, and it has felt really good. And on Saturday I was out, celebrating maybe the best and "biggest" thing of 2015 - my one year anniversary with Anders <3 We even made some "new year's resolutions":
1. go more to bars (a nice cocktail is, well, very nice)
one of my favourite places in Oslo for cocktails: Étoile
2. go more to the theatre
3. go more (once a month?) to the movies
4. go more out to dinner
(5. spend less on everyday "stupid" stuff, like buy lunch instead of making it yourself, buy coffee instead of making it yourself, buy take-away instead of making it yourself - I rather want to spend the money on point 1-4 😉 )
-------------------------------------------------------------------
So I've been looking back at 2015 - a very good year - and here are some of the highlights from the first 6 months:
January
What can I say? 2015 started with me getting the best boyfriend...
I wrote about heavy water, since I was inspired by the fantastic series at NRK ("Kampen om tungtvannet").
I thought about which scientific paper I like more - Chadwick's paper about the neutron, or Einstein's paper about E=mc2.
February
Alexandra turned 5! And I was excited. I was also super excited since Sushi and Nuclear got nominated to American Documentary Film Festival 2015 😀
#phdlife was important.
I went to Paris for the first experiment of 2015, and I had to admit I'd made an embarrassing mistake on the radio...(I guess we all make mistakes from time to time, right?)
March
We started filming Big Bang.
I gave several talks about thorium...
We celebrated pie day - of course 😛
I went on my first vacation with anders, to Barcelona, and missed the solar eclipse. Totally worth it, though <3
While we were in Barcelona, both Sushi and Nuclear and Big Bang premiered!
April
I did science, and asked (myself and others) "silly" questions.
It was finally spring, and the university was beautiful!
May
We went on a trip to the forest - around Sognsvann, with Lise and Joackim 🙂 This was a preparation to see if we thought Alexandra would manage a "real" trip into the forest, where would spend the night and everything... It was a great day, and we concluded she was ready.
I scienced some more, and finally I was starting to figure things out 😀
Then I started to get some actual real results, and it was 17th of May and sunny and hot, and a happy time:
We (the nuclear physics group) arranged a workshop in Oslo, where I talked about my preliminary results, and I gave a talk to the INSEAD Alumni group about thorium and nuclear power - and I met some very interesting people.
--------------------------------------------------------
Hope you enjoyed this little throwback on my first 6 months of a very good year - I can only hope (I do!) that 2016 will be just as good.
Part 2 of looking back will come soon 😉