Wednesday, October 04, 2006
my brain is exploding
The new job is good. Very interesting. Too interesting. And more work than I can handle.
I am supposed to be working 4 days per week but have been doing 4.5 - 5 days per week and longer than paid hours and there is still too much to do! And I am even contemplating working 6-7 days this week.
This could be a problem. It could end up like this: too interesting -> work too much -> feel underpaid -> feel resentful.
I am also finding it "difficult" (ie brain exploding and overstimulating) because I am working in, let me count.... 8-10 different and completely new to me areas of knowledge/research all at once, many of them requiring proposals in the next week, which isn't much time to absorb entire fields of study. And it seems that it is me that needs to absorb the fields of study rather than other people absorb what I do. Hmmm.
At the same time I am also learning and applying 2-3 newish technical skills. And I have to read and write academic "stuff", which I haven't done in years. I am finding it quite hard to translate my thoughts (which seem to be in either "thing/stuff" mode or programmer mode or blog mode) into academic language. And it is especially hard translating into academic languages that I have never learned. Especially when I am a physical scientist/programmer who has spent the last 4 years working with engineers and almost all these new fields of study are social science. My goodness what a shock! Not only is it a completely different language, it is also a completely different way of thinking! Labyrinthal. Is that a word?
And I keep getting distracted by the fascinating journal databases and it is very very hard not to venture off track when I do a literature search. So many fascinating things! So many potential thesis/research ideas!
So. I am overloaded and distracted and overstimulated and very very busy and enjoying it all immensely but keeping one eye on the potential for it all to turn to custard and thinking I ought to be thinking of strategies.
I am supposed to be working 4 days per week but have been doing 4.5 - 5 days per week and longer than paid hours and there is still too much to do! And I am even contemplating working 6-7 days this week.
This could be a problem. It could end up like this: too interesting -> work too much -> feel underpaid -> feel resentful.
I am also finding it "difficult" (ie brain exploding and overstimulating) because I am working in, let me count.... 8-10 different and completely new to me areas of knowledge/research all at once, many of them requiring proposals in the next week, which isn't much time to absorb entire fields of study. And it seems that it is me that needs to absorb the fields of study rather than other people absorb what I do. Hmmm.
At the same time I am also learning and applying 2-3 newish technical skills. And I have to read and write academic "stuff", which I haven't done in years. I am finding it quite hard to translate my thoughts (which seem to be in either "thing/stuff" mode or programmer mode or blog mode) into academic language. And it is especially hard translating into academic languages that I have never learned. Especially when I am a physical scientist/programmer who has spent the last 4 years working with engineers and almost all these new fields of study are social science. My goodness what a shock! Not only is it a completely different language, it is also a completely different way of thinking! Labyrinthal. Is that a word?
And I keep getting distracted by the fascinating journal databases and it is very very hard not to venture off track when I do a literature search. So many fascinating things! So many potential thesis/research ideas!
So. I am overloaded and distracted and overstimulated and very very busy and enjoying it all immensely but keeping one eye on the potential for it all to turn to custard and thinking I ought to be thinking of strategies.
// posted by suze @ 8:04 PM 
