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Then strikes the reality of what applying for jobs means. I'm reading miscellaneous advice, and samples of cover letters and other application materials. Some positions will be teaching-focused, and things must be tailored towards that goal. Others will be research-focused, and things must be tailored towards that goal. I've pulled out some older materials and realized they have to be largely scrapped.
The hardest step is getting started. I have to write out those first drafts, the ones that sound wretched - lumpy and awkward - before I can start to work the dough, knead the sentences, shape the thing and set it to proof.
Plus, other things aren't going to stop. I'm going to a Bio-Math meeting in October, and have to figure out how to give a talk to a combined audience of biologists and mathematicians. That talk is somewhat exciting, as I am an Invited Speaker (of course, so are a number of my colleagues from ASU). There's another meeting in November, in Austin, and yet another Austin-based meeting in early January.
And always more papers waiting to be written.
The worst in all of it is deciding how to settle in on a project, and how to switch between projects. What to pick when, especially when my agenda isn't only determined by me, and isn't determined in a consistent way (how classes and meetings tend to operate).
There are two times of day when things are quiet, the best two times of day to be doing things that require thinking space. Those times are very early in the morning, and very late at night. In the past, I've taken advantage of the quiet evenings in the lab to work away at things. I can recall, in high school, when the rest of the house would be asleep and I would still be up, trying to finish writing papers, taking five-minute catnaps when I could barely keep my eyes open. This morning, I tried the alternate tactic, with some success. I didn't arrive especially early, I just went to the lab straight after the gym, saving myself the 40 minutes of bicycling back home and then back to the lab. But then I rocketed out at 5 pm, because Brazos Natural Foods doesn't believe in staying open past 6 on weeknights, or past 4 on Saturdays.
The hardest step is getting started. I have to write out those first drafts, the ones that sound wretched - lumpy and awkward - before I can start to work the dough, knead the sentences, shape the thing and set it to proof.
Plus, other things aren't going to stop. I'm going to a Bio-Math meeting in October, and have to figure out how to give a talk to a combined audience of biologists and mathematicians. That talk is somewhat exciting, as I am an Invited Speaker (of course, so are a number of my colleagues from ASU). There's another meeting in November, in Austin, and yet another Austin-based meeting in early January.
And always more papers waiting to be written.
The worst in all of it is deciding how to settle in on a project, and how to switch between projects. What to pick when, especially when my agenda isn't only determined by me, and isn't determined in a consistent way (how classes and meetings tend to operate).
There are two times of day when things are quiet, the best two times of day to be doing things that require thinking space. Those times are very early in the morning, and very late at night. In the past, I've taken advantage of the quiet evenings in the lab to work away at things. I can recall, in high school, when the rest of the house would be asleep and I would still be up, trying to finish writing papers, taking five-minute catnaps when I could barely keep my eyes open. This morning, I tried the alternate tactic, with some success. I didn't arrive especially early, I just went to the lab straight after the gym, saving myself the 40 minutes of bicycling back home and then back to the lab. But then I rocketed out at 5 pm, because Brazos Natural Foods doesn't believe in staying open past 6 on weeknights, or past 4 on Saturdays.
