AcademicalNerd @academicalnerd@social.cleverlibre.org
People are more important than wires.
Joined Jan 2021
2021-06-25 #blog
I desperately want to start new coding project with roughly 24 hours left until the exam. Let me clarify.
The academic education, the entire cycle from undergrad to PhD, is the ultimate form of delayed gratification. The first four years you torture yourself through numerous exams and test just to start the journey. No, sincere affection for the subject won't save you, stress and struggles persist no matter how much you like the descipline.
And coding projects are an easy way out. Build something, compile the code and see if it works. Sometimes it works as intended and it is satisfying to see things you built working. And whenever I am in the midst of exams it takes a lot of willpower to resist the urge to build things. Fortunately, I will have two months to entertain myself with these projects. once this clusterfuck of a semester is over.
2021-06-24 #blog
The exam date was moved from 27th to 26th of June, which leaves me with little time for preparation and a few time management hiccups. So here are a few tips for working "non-stop" that generally help me. Probably useless, but I need a break from semiconductor physics.
1) Realism. You can't work non-stop in a focused mode for a day. And you can't work long hours multiple days in a row without ultimately burning out and sacrificing your efficiency. It's important to keep it in mind, you need breaks and some time to sustain your body and mind.
2) Hydration. A lot of water and tea; coffee is good, but it won't provide you with enough liquid. I'd say, during intense work I drink 1.5 times more than usual.
3) Nutrition. Three protein and fiber heavy meals with a bunch of carbohydrate snacks inbetween. Healthy? No, not really. Jumpstarts the brain? Yes, very much. Make sure to not make this a habit, though.
4) Breaks. You can do more in less time if you make short breaks once every hour. I don't mention classic pomodoro here, since 25 minutes isn't enough to go deep into a complex topic.
5) Workout and walk. A walk after the lunch or a workout before release some tension and allow you to go for longer after this break.
2021-06-22 #blog
I'm surviving in 30-35 C heat in Moscow, and hot water will be cut for a week or so for maintenance. This will be terrible.
I have fixed my physical shape and even cut caffeine consumption below one cup per day, partly because there is no jezve in this place and I'm a lazy ass to buy one. There is a good cafe nearby but it's too hot to go there in the morning, and there is no way I'll drink coffee after 4 pm.
Exercise routine is sloppy because playgrounds are closed and all the pull up bars are off limits as well. I manage to get by with pushups and various legs and abs exercises. This is good enought to keep me in minimal shape.
Thx. Looking forward to live through these stories myself!
2021-06-19 #blog
I am temporarily living with my girlfriend, away from my parents. Not in a hotel, in a proper flat for the first time. It is only for a few weeks, but I am uncovering a lot of truths about myself everyday. It was necer evident to me just how many of my habits and rituals were imposed onto me by living with parents. It is, in a way, liberating. Maybe I'll list some of these.
I do not necessarily care about "standart of care" and keep in touch with research, at least parts of it. For me primary concern is my health, which requires fixing occasionally. I wouldn't want to mix existing meds I take with something untested.
You could link a few articles or a podcast, if there is one, I'd appreciate thed, but I'll only get to them once the exams are done. Right now I'm not in a position to read anything lengthy or not un-related, unfortunately.i
I am very sceptical when it comes to supplements, especially outside of the "conventional" vitamins. I take things my doctor prescribes occasionally and that's it. There are multiple reasons for such attitude, including my personal health and position on science and drugs in general.
2021-06-16 #blog
Back to work. I need to write a ten-pages summary on thermoelectric semiconductor elements. At least the topic is interesting and I am expected to describe fairly complicated physics in there as well as some general information on how and why are these things used.
I wish I could brag about my mental stability, but this is not the case, unfortunately. The load is pretty heavy and wearing me thin. Fortunately there are less than two weeks left and one difficult exam to pass. The rest is at least feasible.
2021-06-15 #blog
The exam never happened. Professor decided to grade our work during the semester. Ones that disagree go to the exam, but I am fine with 5 (out of five). A can of dry Strongbow for celebration and tomorrow preparation for the next one starts. This time - solid state physics, interesting but complicated.
2021-06-14 #blog
The exam is tomorrow. It will happen online because Moscow went into a five days long quarantine. This helps, but not that much; at least I won't have to commute to University.
I am more or less on track with my recovery plan, except for limiting sugar consumption. Carbohydrates are addictive and kickstart brain activity fairly well, despite the price one pays later.
2021-06-12 #blog
I give up; I choose to protect my mental stability, exchanging it for worse performance on the exam. Because the exam is a one-time occasion and my brain should last as long as possible.
2021-06-12 #blog
I am walking on a thin line between mental breakdown and full on apathy. Successfully, for now.
2021-06-11 #blog
Yesterday I passed another exam. The one on continuous medium mechanics; I got an "A". The next one is on the 15th of June, on crystal chemistry. That one is a lot harder and I am studying a lot.
The recovery plan is going fine for the most part. I still tend to consume too much carbs. It should be easier to cope with now, since I have a 4 days break between stressful exams. I even got back to writing on a somewhat regular basis, that's something.
Surprisingly, I have a decent social life for a nerdy person (it's literally in the name, lmao). These people are the only reason I managed to get through some of the events in my life. So yeah, this is a good idea.
And I am allergic to pets, unfortunately :(
20211-06-10_2 #blog
At the moment I have cut excess coffee (3 days ago) and all alcohol (5 days). This solved the majority of immideate problems, but I still operate on like 70% of my average capacity. Today is the first day of fixing sleep schedule, woke up at 7 am. This is reasonable by my standards. Hopefully I'll stop waking up in the middle of the night once the cyrcadian rhythm stabilizes.
2021-06-10 #blog
The premise I wrote yesterday but lost due to unfortunate circumstances.
I sometimes have to give up healthy habits and rituals in order to get work done for a tight deadline. I did it a few weeks ago to deal with intense finals. Now the annoying ones are done and I can't afford this lifestyle any longer. Excess of caffeine, carbohydrates and disrupted sleep schedule are taking a toll on my body, along with high levels of anxiety.
To offset a consequence of unhealthy behaviour one generally needs at least as much time as was spent engaging in an unhealthy behaviour, or longer. I estimate a month long recovery after roughly two weeks of questionable choices.
Of course I have a plan. It includes:
* limiting coffee by one cup a day
* having a break on Saturdays
* moderate physical activity (I tend to exercise more during stressful periods, and it's not always healthy)
* decent food with high protein/carbs ratio
* no alcohol (which is default for me)
* fixing a sleep schedule
* writing rituals
This is more or less default "get back on track" sequence I have to do every once in a while.
2021-06-09 #blog
A wandering mind always comes up with ideas. And if you have a good idea and don't start working on it within the first 24 hours - it's unlikely that you ever going to do it.
So whenever a good idea comes to your wandering mind - hold tight onto it and start working, even if the time is annoyingly unsuitable for it.
So I'm now in a weird position where there is a lot to do for all the finals and not much resources left to actually make progress. I'll post here on how it's going.
Currently it's 13:30, Tuesday, I'm more or less done with lab work and starting exam prep, there is a bunch of stuff I need to read and take notes on for tensor analysis and mechanics exam.
This may work for some cases, indeed, but trying to figure out, say, divergence theorem using top-down approach... I wouldn't do that, honestly.
