writing panic and coffee beans

I have been somewhat disorganised recently. I think subconsciously I knew it and it prompted a desperate re-evaluation. I woke a few mornings ago with one of the worst panics I’ve experienced in my life. My heart was pounding and adrenaline coursed through my entire being sparking immediate reaction. This panic was triggered by a sudden realisation that I have not progressed as much and as efficiently through my writing as I had originally planned. While the hard-deadline I gave myself is not that far away, having so many chapters dropped within these 2-3 months period did not provide enough signposts that can help mark my gradual lead up towards the finishing line.  While the end goal post was clearly marked, there was simply not enough checking mechanisms along the way to ensure that I know and feel that I am progressing satisfactorily and in the right trajectory.

I threw myself into my writing and managed to get some done and after the adrenaline subsided somewhat (the next day), I discussed the matter with my supervisors. I  told them that I needed a more concrete ‘itinerary’. As a result, I will be producing a more detailed timeline with dates assigned to each chapter, to mark my own progress more tangibly. So instead of working towards completing the entire thesis, I can focus on a few weeks at a time and just concentrate on a particular chapter. A lesson learnt albeit a bit late I am afraid. However, I guess this may not suit everyone but it is certainly one possible tip to keep in mind.

On the other hand, on one of my breaks, I managed to stumble upon an unassuming gem of a cafe in Melbourne called Baba Budan. Peering in from the outside, I could only see an interesting false ceiling created by an eclectic collection of chairs hanging above the space. Only when I got inside and sat down for a coffee that I realised that it is also a coffee connoisseurs’ haven.  They have a good variety of coffee beans and on that day, they were serving Colombian arabica. In this tiny space with one large communal table only, they also had space dedicated to cupping. This is not the stuff practiced by Chinese medicine practitioners but rather coffee tasting. I overheard that it is something done everyday Saturday where people not only got to taste different coffees but learned about coffee as well. What a wonderful concept.

people waiting for cupping session @ Baba Budan

I did think that the cafe name was somewhat esoteric and it was not until Google came to my resuce, that I found out that apparently Baba Budan was a 17th century Sufi accredited to be the one who smuggled 7 coffee beans out of Ethiopia and introduced it to India and in a way helped spread this addictive bean to the rest of the world. Cheers Baba Budan and thank you for my 3/4 full cup of latte.

a tip for phd students

As I journey towards the end of my candidature and getting lost in my thesis writing, I realised that so much about the PhD process is only discovered at this last phase. Perhaps realisations need time to percolate through and sink in and while these epiphanies are helpful, I do wish that I was able to discover them a lot earlier in my candidature. In one of my chats with the Dean of Science, she told me that it was most likely that we were not ready to learn a lot of it anytime sooner. I proffered that maybe we do learn it but somehow they don’t really make any sense until now – much like water boiling. Energy and effort goes into boiling water but for a long time, one sees nothing, no signs that things are moving along (unless one sticks a finger in of course) but certainly not by simply watching. And suddenly the water boils.

Nevertheless I hope to Ishare one tip which I think would help for any PhD students especially to prepare them when it is time to write, whether for journals, conference or the big thesis write-up.

It is easy to search, download, and print relevant journal articles during your search for insights, ideas and understanding of your research topic but reading them and comprehending them and even writing about them is not enough. You need to somehow mark them, tag the relevant paragraphs, sentences so that they can be easily retrieved when you write. Or esle you end up trying to re-read the articles trying to search for that needle in the haystack.

For electronic articles, highlighting using adobe acrobat professional may help but copying and pasting the relevant sections onto a word document that serves to collate information from various sources that are may be more efficient in the long run.  The same goes for books but if you own those books, thin strips of post-it notes with keywords stuck on different pages are helpful for quick and easy retrievals.