Don't compare your beginning to someone's middle. That's something I have to remind myself when I was completing my PhD. Kudos on the channel. There is a gap for graduate student vlogs that needs filling.
Thanks for this Hira. This is such an important topic to talk about. 3 key things that I enjoyed listening in your video: 1) "People who acted like they knew everything about everything in fact knew very little about many things" Very relatable indeed as I've also realised this myself. 2) I actually laughed out loud when you whispered "that's also fine" when you're not better than yourself yesterday. Really like this spirit 🙂 and yeah sometimes we just need a little break and not compare to ourselves yesterday, not to mention comparing ourselves to others. 3) "Everything in the world needs recharging, so does your brain" Yes exactly!
It really is and for some reason there are no signs of a mindset change anytime soon, too few people are talking about this. Yes, will definitely keep making these - have made a whole playlist on the channel on "compassionate productivity" which I hope to keep adding to! Cheers for the comment and supporting the channel!
Amazing video as always, thank you! Also, for those of you who feel that they are not as productive as a "40-hour week" kind of implies (I definitely do!), let me just double down on what Hira's postdoc said about only being productive like 3 days a week or something. This is true! In jobs like ours, our output is often measured in good ideas ("quality thinking"), and the relationship between the number of hours you put in and the quality of what you deliver is not trivially linear! It is hard sometimes for me to let myself off that "productivity" hook, so I'm jealous of Hira's postdoc's attitude because I truly believe she's right! Here's a video where Didier Queloz, a Nobel laureate in physics, backs this up: th-cam.com/video/GjetiiixY8I/w-d-xo.html He says, "there's something I don't understand-it's going to my office and working 8 hours a day. I'm just... I can't do that! I mean, my level of creativity is maybe one hour a day, that's the maximum! Some days there's nothing, and some days there's a little bit more... Sometimes, some very good ideas I'm having is because I'm in my garden or walking by the river. So the idea of the productions [productivity] and creativity and lacking ideas is something that can be quite volatile, and you have to grab it when you grab it."
So true - a lot of times we think a PhD is just an intellectual endeavour, but in fact many of the habits that artists develop, we would probably really benefit from. That's why I love learning about how artists' create and become great at their art. Because in a way a PhD is also art!
Don't compare your beginning to someone's middle. That's something I have to remind myself when I was completing my PhD. Kudos on the channel. There is a gap for graduate student vlogs that needs filling.
Thanks so much! Hoping to fill that gap 😊
Thanks for this Hira. This is such an important topic to talk about.
3 key things that I enjoyed listening in your video:
1) "People who acted like they knew everything about everything in fact knew very little about many things" Very relatable indeed as I've also realised this myself.
2) I actually laughed out loud when you whispered "that's also fine" when you're not better than yourself yesterday. Really like this spirit 🙂 and yeah sometimes we just need a little break and not compare to ourselves yesterday, not to mention comparing ourselves to others.
3) "Everything in the world needs recharging, so does your brain" Yes exactly!
Thank you so much Minh! So glad you enjoyed watching 😊
Recently read a bit about slow productivity. grind culture is harmful and I'm glad you did this, hoping for more human centred content 👏
It really is and for some reason there are no signs of a mindset change anytime soon, too few people are talking about this. Yes, will definitely keep making these - have made a whole playlist on the channel on "compassionate productivity" which I hope to keep adding to! Cheers for the comment and supporting the channel!
Beneficial information. I wish I learned before my Ph.D.
Thank you for your comment! I see this a lot in the workplace too so I'm sure you'll be able to apply it after your PhD as well. Best wishes! Hira
Amazing video as always, thank you!
Also, for those of you who feel that they are not as productive as a "40-hour week" kind of implies (I definitely do!), let me just double down on what Hira's postdoc said about only being productive like 3 days a week or something. This is true! In jobs like ours, our output is often measured in good ideas ("quality thinking"), and the relationship between the number of hours you put in and the quality of what you deliver is not trivially linear! It is hard sometimes for me to let myself off that "productivity" hook, so I'm jealous of Hira's postdoc's attitude because I truly believe she's right!
Here's a video where Didier Queloz, a Nobel laureate in physics, backs this up: th-cam.com/video/GjetiiixY8I/w-d-xo.html
He says, "there's something I don't understand-it's going to my office and working 8 hours a day. I'm just... I can't do that! I mean, my level of creativity is maybe one hour a day, that's the maximum! Some days there's nothing, and some days there's a little bit more... Sometimes, some very good ideas I'm having is because I'm in my garden or walking by the river. So the idea of the productions [productivity] and creativity and lacking ideas is something that can be quite volatile, and you have to grab it when you grab it."
So true - a lot of times we think a PhD is just an intellectual endeavour, but in fact many of the habits that artists develop, we would probably really benefit from. That's why I love learning about how artists' create and become great at their art. Because in a way a PhD is also art!
Barak Allahu feekum