In five more days I am presenting my data to the department. It's not really that big of a deal as far as presentations go, but I don't want to embarrass myself in front of people I see on a daily basis. Not to mention, having a seminar looming has many positive side effects.
1. Extra motivation.
I try to keep myself moving at a steady pace in the lab, but despite my best efforts, sometimes motivation is lacking and I don't accomplish as much as I should. When a presentation is looming, it provides that extra little bit of motivation to get more accomplished.
2. New data.
Thanks to the extra time and effort put into lab work, I have an entirely new data set. This is not only great for my presentation, but it is also going to make my progress report for my post-doctoral fellowship that much more awesome. Of course, this data is all meant for a publication and I'm so close to wrapping up this paper I can almost taste it.
3. Analyzing Data
Putting a presentation together requires thinking about your data, something that can sometimes get overlooked when you are working your ass off. I often come up with new and interesting ideas when putting together a presentation and end up even more excited about my project that before. This is particularly nice since I am typically feeling a bit burned out as the seminar approaches due to aforementioned longer hours and quicker pace. It's like putting the seminar together is the cure for working your butt off in preparation for the seminar.
I didn't get everything accomplished...maybe 85%. The damn weather and crystal violet were determined to get in my way. While they did slow me down, I am still pretty happy with everything that I got accomplished.
Anyone else find motivation as a result of giving a presentation? If not, what does or are you one of those people that stay at optimal motivation all the time (a.k.a. people I am totally jealous of.)
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3 comments:
presentations are my most pushing motivator. Like you, I hate going to them without new and exciting data.
could we make a potion to keep us at optimal output levels all year-round? that would be incredible!!
since my motivation to even come in to lab waxes and wanes like normal people, i have to try to spread out conference deadlines and seminars thru out the year. i need that push of "OMG NEED NEW DATA!!" to churn out quick data. otherwise, i work at a normal pace.
Yes. I find it helps me in writing the manuscript on the data because you have to figure out how you are going to frame the data.
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