Thinking differently

There has been a real shift in the way that I have been approaching and tackling problems lately. I used to be unmotivated everyday. (Think procrastination at its worse, I used to spend HOURS doing other things completely unrelated to my work). I used to let little things get me down and I was terribly unorganised. But not anymore...
So, this has had me pondering the reasons why (but not in a procrastination type way :) ).

Could I just be growing up? I am 26 now, but I have a 5 year old so I have been responsible for myself and my family for a while now, so it is probably not age related.

Is it my research? I have just recently started post-graduate studies but I have been working on this project as an RA for almost 2 years. So while my official title has changed, my work hasn't.

I am going to tell you a story about Little Man now.
He is 5 years old and is a clever little thing (even if I do say so myself!). He has a vocabulary that would rival most adults but has never tried hard at anything. If it is perceived as too difficult he won't even attempt it. Last Easter we went on a camping holiday east of Perth. We went on a hike together that was only about 3-4km and he found it really tough. He whinged and complained like nothing else and no one enjoyed themselves that day (particularly Little Man).
On our next camping holiday, last month we went on another hike. This one was around 8km and when we set out I had serious doubts about us finishing it. During the walk we talked about challenges and how worthwhile they are and although they seem difficult at the time the sense of achievement when you finish makes the challenge even more worthwhile. Well my Little Man did the whole thing and barely complained once. And since that day I am proud to say that he has approached the challenges in his life (learning to read, riding his bike, telling the time, more hiking) with the same positive attitude and has made some significant achievements (particularly at school).

I hadn't thought about this in relation to my own challenges until recently. Could his shift in thinking have led to a similar change in mine? I have never been so motivated professionally. I have submitted my first abstract to an international conference and am presenting at two national ones in August. I am almost finished my first paper, and working on another. My research proposal is due soon and I am excited about it! I have never been so organised at work, and at home.

I hope that I can hold on to this positive attitude and be able to remind myself what it feels like, even when things aren't going so well in the lab (please refer me back to this post if necessary!)
I guess I am discovering what Little Man is, overcoming difficulties and facing challenges head on is addictive!

And just as a little aside:
I like this thinking in 10's thing that everyone seems to have going:

In 10minutes: I will back working on my presentation

In 10 hours: Serving very rich people expensive wine and amazing food at Balthazar, in the city - my night job.

In 10 days: I will have finished my presentation and have received back the comments on my paper from my supervisors/collaborators.

In 10 weeks: It will be my husbands birthday and I will be preparing to fly to Melbourne for conferences.

In 10 months: I will know the outcome of 'my big mistake'.

In 10 years: We will have had another baby and built our house and I will be earning a comfortable living because they will have changed the way research is funded in Australia*.

*yeah right.

More productive after midnight, before 6am?

I have a lot going on with my research at the moment.
So much that I find myself unable to sleep. This is really quite strange for me as I am usually asleep before my head hits the pillow - my husband teases me about it all the time.
So I was lying in bed last night at 10pm trying to sleep but all I could think about was this abstract that I am supposed to submit to a national conference by the weekend.
So rather than lie there I got up to work on it (ie. start it). After about 15 minutes of reading, I had a brilliant idea (a relative term obviously) and the whole thing just came together in the next 4 hours or so. I went to bed about 2:30am only to lie there awake for a couple more hours thinking about my research proposal. *sigh*
This nocturnal activity seems to work for me. I have been known to set my alarm for 4am to work on something for a few hours before Little Man (whose 5 now) wakes up. I find that I get so much more done in those few hours than I would get done at other times of the day. The problem is, that while lab work and writing can be done at anytime of the day, family life doesn't quite accommodate it.
But we just do what we need to do, right?
All I need is some more coffee, with a little discipline.

A new kind of procrastination

Ok so I admit it.
I used to think that blogging was a bit strange. Why would you want to write your thoughts down for other people to read, and more importantly, why would they want you to?

That was until I started reading.

My best friend started writing about her love affair with all things food and cooking (see Cookbook Fiend) and that lead to me to looking at other blogs related to my professional interest - Science. I have never felt so motivated in my own work (and interested in the lives of people that I do not know).
I enjoyed "Am I a woman Scientist", "A lady scientist" and "The mother of all scientists" so much that I check for new posts everyday. In particular, I found Dr. Mom's series for "writing your first research paper" at a time where I was doing just that (Thank you so much!).

Can there be people out there that don't know that this resource exists?!

I am now four months in to my Australian Master of Medical Science (molecular biology/genetics), which I intend to convert to a PhD in the next 3 months or so. Given I am at the beginning of my research (and my research proposal is due in a few weeks time) this blog is intended to be a tool for helping me to stay focused, ranting when its needed (and probably when its not) keeping track of my achievements, a place to set goals and practice my writing.

Time to make another coffee.