The University of Copenhagen has now been shut down for almost two weeks, so how are CBMR staff getting on at home? PhD student Jessie Preston shares her daily routine, which involves baking, starting early, but waiting until mid-afternoon to get ready for the day – why not?
7:15 – For the most part I wake up at about the same time as I did when I was going into the office, however, it does differ each day because, well, I can! I immediately pop a loaf of bread in the oven that has been proofing overnight. Is it just me who has gotten incessantly into baking during the quarantine? There is currently a cake, some brownies, blueberry muffins, and two types of bread on the countertop. It is safe to say the quarantine is not great for my waistline.
7:30 – I have realised that my brain is sharpest first thing in the morning so I have been attempting to complete mentally-strenuous tasks first. This morning I proceed to finish pulling the data from literature for a power calculation, do some calculations for a future animal experiment, and go through my emails for the day.
9:15 – One of our group members has arranged to use this time to teach an R tutorial. It is great to finally have the time to dedicate to learning a new skill that has been on the to-do list for a while. I attend a two-hour video conference via Microsoft Teams with four other members of the Barrès lab.
11:00 – I go through and respond to a few messages from colleagues. Our team has mostly been engaging in “chats” using Microsoft Teams. Although not the same as having casual encounters with them in the office, it is a meaningful replacement.
11:15 – After several hours of using my brain, it is feeling a bit foggy. I decide now is a good time to get in some exercise while the sun is shining and go for a run in the park.
12:30 – The CBMR Labguru Working Group has set up a Labguru Training webinar via GoToMeeting, which I sit in on. It seems most online meetings I have attended use different platforms to the point where I have now downloaded 4 new softwares for video conferencing. They all work relatively well.
14:00 – After the 90-minute seminar, my concentration is waning. I chat on the phone with a friend in a different time zone. A definite plus of working from home is the ability to take calls with friends and family in different parts of the world with a lot more ease of scheduling.
14:30 – I take a shower and get dressed for the day. Better late than never.
15:30 – I find that I have a lull in my concentration in the afternoon, so I have basically stopped attempting to do work during this time as I know I will get nothing done. Instead I run some errands: go to the store, do my laundry, and finish some housework.
17:00 – Most evenings I get a second wind where I can complete the bulk of my lengthy but more mundane tasks. Tonight, I spend two hours going through literature that I have flagged to read for the study I am planning, and another two hours making some edits to a document that a colleague has recently proofread. I complete these while sitting in on a virtual “party” that my flatmate is throwing for her parent’s wedding anniversary over Zoom (yes, another video conferencing software). It is inspiring to see all of the alternative ways that we are able to connect during these weird times. I can definitely cheers to that!
21:00 – I finish the day by going through my to-do list, marking off what has been complete, the tasks I hope to accomplish tomorrow, and adding any new assignments to the load. There is definitely plenty to be done even when working from home, the trouble seems to be actually doing it. But by giving myself space and forgiveness for having different expectations while in lockdown, I seem to have found a way to work that works for me.
CBMR Voices 