Monday, September 25, 2017

Motivation is bullshit


I watched a video by Mel Robbins and she mentioned motivation is bullshit. Basically, if we wait for motivation to do anything some of us would wait forever. I know for me I love to say when i get in the mood I would read this paper, do this experiment, write introduction to my paper….i need to be in the right mood then I can do this quickly and excellently. Although, this may be true it could be weeks or even months before we start tackling our work. If we wait for motivation our procrastination could be growing larger and larger. Instead don’t be driven by feelings but do with or without mood . The mood will come when you start. Just think of a moment you didn’t want to do something but once you got started you were fully wrapped in. Like i didn’t want to write this blog today. but i want to stick to my daily writing so i decided i better right today and i realized i have a lot to share.
Motivation is important and great but it is not necessary to start our work we will find it along the way. Hence, why we do what we love. I love physics, love find out new information, so even if they are days when i don’t want to get out of bed and come to lab, when i don’t want to be doing an experiment for hours or reading some paper that is quite obscure and have to fight to finish. Along the way in my low moments  my love resurface and reminds me why I am here.

Today, i feel a little stress because i am always worrying about being mediocre. I am in a mediocre university and mediocre lab, so how can i still shine in my scientific community. How do I gain the skills of a good researcher when I can’t learn them effectively from my supervisor. And sometimes, my mind want to succumb to being mediocre but something  ingrained in my body just forces me to think differently. It wants me to be great. Sometimes I want to be great. Sometimes I just want to be simple and just go by. But most times I dream of success and put many things in place to achieve this”success that I want”. It is quite overwhelming, success is not a secret it is through love, dedication, failure , perseverance and planned direction. It not a straight path but crooked, down the valley and whirlwind of road and I want to achieve this.
I wish it was easy and I am glad it is not. i have purpose to fight for what I want.

I summarized my first results in a short paper and is waiting for my Professor to finish revised it so we can determine where we will submit. I am so nervous about others judging my work and afraid of rejections, corrections…everything. I am afraid but I will not avoid. If others don’t see this work as important to be published I just have to make sure the next one is! Being stressed out will just slow down my progress so i better learn from my failures and correct them. If it is accepted by an international journal I will be over the moon!!

Now I am working on a new topic. My last work was on the optical and electrical of iii-V semiconductors. Now I am studying the properties of TMDS(transition metal dichalcogenides). I haven’t received the results I wanted yet. I had some difficulty in fabrication process. My professor and the team I work with had figured a way to overcome this difficulty. My professor and I will try this tonight. Hopefully it is successful and I can proceed in making the FET device. I will summarize the results in a paper. I was waiting to obtain my data to start writing my draft but after watching a video on YouTube “how to write a great paper” they mentioned  the following tips and I decided my writing for this paper begins today:
  • . Don’t wait to write! a. Idea b. write paper c. do research writing papers is a primary mechanism for DOING research (not just for reporting it

  • 2. identify your key idea a. goal is to convey an idea to reader b. can you hear the “ping i. many papers contain good idea, but do not distill what they are ii. make certain that the reader is in no doubt what the idea is. Be 100% explicit 1. ‘the main idea of this paper is…’ 2. ‘in this section we present the main contributions of the paper.’

  • 3. Tell a story a. Your narrative flow imagine you are explain at a white board i. Here is a problem ii. It’s an interesting problem iii. It’s an unsolved problem iv. Here is my idea v. My idea works (details, data) vi. Here’s how my idea compares to other people’s approaches vii. Structure (conference paper)
and more see the video here :https://youtu.be/g3dkRsTqdDA.


In addition, i watched a video that gives some tips for scientific writing it focused on structure(80%) vs substance(20%). The point is to write from your reads perspective to grasp them and keep them interested and allow them to think they way you want them to think. I found it useful to my writing development. Here is a link:
https://youtu.be/LCHPSo79rB4

it is now 12 noon in Korea i am at my desk. I have some fabrication work with my professor at 8pm. And I need to find some optimal condition for my research for some future development. so i have some reading to do and i need to classify my reference in endnote. How do you guys reference your writings. I found endnote very useful.  Bye for now! Have a successful research. Let’s work hard

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Why this blog?




When i first came to Korea(by the way I am from Jamaica approximately 13,000km away) I was so motivated and ready to take on my task as a combined masters and Phd  student. I was enthused everyday to do my assignments, read new papers and learn techniques needed my research. That was 1 and 1/2 years ago. Today I feel burntout. I have been feeling that way for some months. But I new i had to change my attitude if my life as a Phd student would not be successful. So daily I have been battling with myself to do more and study more, read more and become excited about my work. And I have found how powerful the mind is. If you fool your mind long enough it will align in the path you need it to! So little by little by mood and work ethics had been drifted to path I wanted. I recovered  my love (I was always deeply in love with physics since I was a child) and I was up at 6am in morning ready to conquer my day( with help of Mel  Robbin's 5 second rule) and I was in the lab by 9:30am. I was able to prepare my breakfast and lunch for the day and had resumed my schedule of morning motivational videos.

It amazing how your mind can explore some times when it is functionally well. I was just thinking in my head "how can I be a successful Phd student" and type that exact phrase into google and found some well appreciated answers one of which led me to this blog. Writing  and note keeping daily(one site mentioned writing 10,000 words in a day, can you imagine?!. let's see. When I am at that point i will definitely tell you). I always found writing my thoughtrs down on paper very therapeautic so i think this just what i needed to help me progress overall. So this why I started this blog today. Now i am sitting at my desk. it is tuesday 5:41pm and I feel so good after saying all this. until the next entry bye!