Work From Home Hacks For Scientists / Researchers

Scientists Work From Home Hack

The emergence of COVID-19 and its ensuing cascading impacts, as well as exigency for quarantine shelters and social distancing, have capsized the whole work routine of academics and companies parallelly. With the closure of numerous active labs and brusque arrests in running experiments, researchers are forced to work from home- an unfamiliar encounter for most.

We all are aware of the fact that the work-from-home mode of living is difficult, especially if you spend the entire day at the bench. There are no simple solutions for this condition, however, we want to offer a hand with a few work from home tips for a smooth switch to this new working environment. In this article, we provide all the specifics for a productive and effective Scientists Work From Home Hack.

Create A Daily Routine

Routine is a crucial factor in our day-to-day life- it facilitates us to remain focused and be inventive. When your everyday regimen is cut off, it is unquestionably tricky to function as normal. Organizing inevitably helps!

• Fabricate a things-to-do list: Plan yourselves ahead and create lists for the weekly (everyday) activities.  Check daily and update with the completed tasks by the end of the day as well as the end of the week, ensuring that you clear out the list. This meticulous time-table lets you informed every morning on the duties for the day. Keeping targets for the day will mold your working pattern into a productive one.
• Employ Pomodoro Technique for Time Management: Keeping track is the most difficult problem when it comes to work-from-home, worsening it more if you are new to prolonged desk confinement. The most adopted and approved approach for optimizing time is the Pomodoro Technique. This method encompasses the allocation of 25 minutes for each broken down task with an in-between 5 minutes resting period.
• Maintain a border between your work and personal life: It is highly recommended to have an exclusive working zone, wear formal attires, and stipulate your work period. These are a few strategies that can assure a distinct work life from your personal interests. This clear boundary is necessary to prevent exhaustion or else you will end up working all day and night, reviewing emails right from the time you are awake till you retire to bed.

Edify on Literature Updates

The prevalent contingency plan for remote working scientists is to update on literature publications. This is absolutely perfect as continuous lab experiments give little or no time to refresh your knowledge on the latest findings in your field of interest.

• Thorough construe of the publications: Even though working from home enables an exceptional chance of reading papers, it could be quite hard to accomplish silent reading, diverted from your daily work pattern. If this task becomes monotonous, which eventually will happen, here is a handy article on how to perfectly read a scientific paper to confront the issue.
• Arrange your references: Relevant reports and publications collected would certainly be needed for further citing or referencing. You can never find a befitting time like this to orchestrate the retrieved references. There are a plethora of tools available like ResearchGate, Endnote, Mendeley for simplifying this procedure.
• Stir up your inventive front: More than reading, literature is the source for novel theories for researchers. Once you finish reading, concoct new research proposals for further studies. When winds up in the lab, you will be armed with new insights to drive forward your research.
• Resist beguilements: This might seem conspicuous yet has to be emphasized because it is particularly significant: Place your mobile phones away. Brief periods of silent reading is way more productive than discontinuous reading for long periods. The effective way to achieve this is by the Pomodoro Technique mentioned above.

Compose That Thesis/Review/Paper/Grant – Scientists Work From Home Hack

Drafting is a job that certainly demands lots of discrete-time devoid of external interruptions. House confinement is the best time for composing- be it a long-planned research article, a thesis chapter, or even an incomplete review.

Here are some resources that can back you in a successful composition:

• Proper arrangement of your paper: Although you have previous experience in composing articles, believe me, this will be beneficial. In this article, you can find the best hacks for composing a scientific article.
• Maintain a plain tone throughout your writing: The thesis/grant/paper framework is a crucial facet of writing. Here are a few methods to be adept in scientific writing.
• Embody figures in your content: A picture is worth a thousand words, so if you get tired with the writing part, pause and assess the data or design an applicable figure for the writing. Biorender is an amazing software to create smart science pertinent pictures.

Scientists Work From Home Hack

Evaluate & Rearrange Your Report

Lab experiments often take up your time and your day will go in the blink of the eye. Besides not having enough time to compose a paper/grant or update yourself on literature, in a few cases you won’t even have time to assess your findings. Lack of proper evaluation, particularly huge data files, could result in the loss of an important result.

Here are some places that may require a few rearrangements:

• Refresh your catalogs: If you working with several distinct cell types, there can be a possibility of you having an outdated inventory with respect to the current ones. Take this time to modify and update your reagent or sample lists.
• Arrange your computer documents: Apart from managing various projects, you will also need to record and collect many files. Even though your data folder looks arranged at the first shot, however, it could be messy when you open the folder. Make use of this time to arrange the folders in your systems. It can be handy in the future when you have less time to spare.
• Re-examine your files: Assessing data is not the only final job to do. Give enough time to re-evaluate your data files twice or thrice. If the dataset you have is not providing you the interpretation you want, try and see whether it can resolve any other queries you already have.
• Transform your details into a tale: All the time you have spent in the lab, you have collected lots of data. If it turns out to be undesired data, you might withdraw and proceed with the next one. What you are unaware of is that you could be drafting an entirely distinct story, after several attempts and over time, with your data than you started with. Utilize this opportunity to review each and every detail of your data by combining everything in a single file (with Google Docs or Powerpoint) and note whether you can fabricate a story with the data you once thought was useless.

Enhance and Spread Wisdom

There will invariably be something extra that you desired to study but did not have adequate time for. Now is the moment to explore beyond this limit.

• Register for online certification programs: We have come to a modern electronic world with surplus digital programs you can attend. Ranging from computational biology to science journalism, you can master any subject through online certification courses.

Visit Biotechnika Stores For Bio-Industry Related Certification Courses

• Explore open-source platforms: Similar to online programs, podcasts, webinars, and ebooks are an excellent alternative to discover and learn new things. Check out Biotecnika’s podcasts and webinars.
• Share your findings: If you are looking for platforms to share your knowledge, there are various means to publicize your piece of art. Reach out to Biotecnika for any information that you may find relevant to Biosciences.

Remain Connected With Co-Workers

Try your maximum to convert your routine activity to the virtual platform. Apart from communicating with each other efficiently, this medium enables mental relaxation as you stay connected with the daily routine.

• Focus more on lab sessions: Attend all the online lab sessions. It is true that you won’t have novel ideas to discuss all the time but there is a sure chance for you to share news findings and learn from different others, who are studying the pertaining topic as well as discuss a new publication. Let chumminess and compassion play their charm to breeze through this predicament.
• Join germane societies: Journal communities or associations wherein you can address your work matters, are a sure-fire way to acquire and impart a holistic image of your research work.
• Spread happiness amidst the pleasant hours: Social gatherings within the laboratories are never for the sole purpose of work, so why is there a need for restricting to just work when it comes to virtual meetings. Jump on a virtual chill time to talk about things other than COVID-19 and work to fetch a perception of regularity in your life.

Keep An Eye On Your State Of Mind

Finally and most importantly, always bear in mind that this is an extraordinary circumstance and it is normal to fall off. There could be several things running in your mind and stressing you, in addition to the distress concerning the outbreak. You might have slaughtered your mice or tossed out many cultures or discarded batches of flies. There could also be a chance that you are now away from your kin in an outside country anxious about their health. Also, you might have your children at home, who require your heed. Irrespective of the situations you are in, here are a few valuable thoughts to relax from the tension.

• Divert your mind and do self-care: If you are going through trouble or tension, stop for a while and do some self-care. Meditate, go for a stroll or exercise. Don’t ever forget that mental health always comes first in priority compared to productivity.
• Chill with your friends: Works without any break is often boring. It is crucial to find means to relieve your stress, with solo trips or video calls with family or friends. Tip: Netflix and Amazon now provide a platform to watch movies together with other people.
• Cultivate a new hobby: Try out something fresh like gardening activities, culinary art, reading your book, improving your art skills…the list goes on. In conclusion, do anything that could keep you relaxed and sound.

We wish that these work from home tips can help researchers overcome the crisis and survive better. Stay healthy and safe.

Scientists Work From Home Hack

Author: Geema George