WIDE ANGLE
Mental blocks in a research journey and ways around them!
A typical research journey is executed in multiple steps beginning with identifying a research problem, followed by making experimental plans to address the problem, executing the plan, troubleshooting, acquiring, analysing, and representing the data, writing up your research story, and then publishing it. These milestones are essential for the progress of any research project. However, occasionally, these milestones might appear like giant roadblocks in the path of your research. While some hurdles arise due to unavoidable external factors, many of the “blocks” that researchers face during their journey are mental blocks, with the most obvious response to them being procrastination. In research, procrastination can have severe far-reaching effects, leading to a frustrating prolonged period working on the same project. The best part about realizing that you suffer from such a mental block is the immediate comprehension that it is essentially self-imposed and therefore addressable. So, do not fret if you find that you have a block. Just go through this quick list I have drawn up as pointers to avoid getting into such blocks and see what works for you.
Disclaimer- these points might be more relevant for PhDs or students doing Master’s by research. While others might not directly benefit from it, some of them might prove useful to academicians as well as other group of people if you read with an open mind.
1) Executing the big plan: When you start out, you normally have a fair idea of what you are going to work on, the bigger question to be addressed, and the experiments to be done to address the problem. However, sometimes these big plans do not immediately get converted into actions, consequently leading to a mental block. You sit behind your computer reiterating your experimental plans, finding something new, making minor changes to plans; but cannot pull yourself together to actually go begin the experiments. This block can likely arise due to a fear of finding out that your hypothesis might be false, or fear of taking that first step to get out of your comfort zone, or a fear of the plan failing. You may even have an inexplicable fear that is related to doubts on the credibility of your plan or worse you start doubting your capabilities of executing them. Let me say it upfront. There is no way of addressing a “what if” situation unless you actually act on it. If you have a fear of failing, just go ahead and do it. Have a fear of the hypothesis going wrong? Just go ahead and test it! By procrastinating you are only postponing coming face to face with the outcomes of your plan, which is when you will have real decisions to make. Let’s face it: eventually you will have to execute your plans and all you would have achieved by delaying the process is the loss of precious time and a deteriorating confidence, which is equally precious. So just go ahead and do it.
2) Repeat experiments/verifications: It is always exciting when you find that your hypothesis may be right. However, if you avoid doing repeat experiments because you fear that you may not find the same result, or you find it is too boring after the initial excitement – then yes, you have hit a block! There is a simple solution to get over this. Club your repeat experiments with a new challenging experiment. That way, you wouldn’t get bored, and you would stay motivated to pursue your hypothesis with new challenging experiments.
3) Writing: Sitting down and writing your paper or thesis might be far less lucrative than running experiments that might validate (or negate!) your hypothesis or throw some new insights to the problem you are addressing. However, most students feel a mental block when it comes to writing. You procrastinate compiling those results that have accumulated in your lab notebook because they are just too many, or negative, or do not exactly fit with your current model or any other reason you can come up with. But do not shy away from writing and sooner you get over this block the better it is for you. One thing you can try is writing a brief aim, methods, results/observation, discussion and future direction sections for each experiment you perform in your lab notebook or on your computer at regular intervals. This would help you to put your thoughts together and at the same time design future experiments. Needless to say, when you actually sit down to write your thesis/manuscript, you already would have a draft of sorts!
4) Compiling data in a representable format: Whether you have positive or negative experimental results, there is always a rush to do the next experiment. In case of positive results, you are impatient to check the next obvious thing and in case of a negative result, you want to know more to be able to explain it. Consequently, you end up with a pile of unorganized data lying in your CDs, drives, and notebooks, which eventually come back to haunt you when you start writing your paper or thesis. It is true that just from the observations during the experiment you may “get a feel” for what the data shows, based on which you can plan further experiments. However, I would like to stress that it is very important to quantitate your data and put numbers on those observations. Remember, you will have to do it sooner or later; might as well do it sooner than later and be sure of what your data indicate. Moreover, this will give you enough time to decide the best way to present your data. One advice I can give to get into the habit of regularly analysing and compiling data: try going to your PI with ready slides and as representable a dataset as possible when you want to give her updates. It will force you to organize and think about the data!
5) Learning new techniques/software: Have you gotten too comfortable doing the same thing over and over again? While doing similar set of experiments is commonplace in research, sometimes you might get too complacent with the techniques you know and therefore might not want to learn new techniques or methods. Be aware of such a block, as this is a particularly dangerous one. It can limit your skill enhancement and learning abilities, which might prove harmful in the long term. Advice: start with small steps and be okay with failures. Be open to learning and taking help and suggestions from those who know the technique well. While undertaking new experiments, include experiments or techniques that you are familiar with in the same time frame. That way you will not feel completely let down if your first attempts with the new technique fail and you can stay motivated and positive enough to try new things.
6) Networking: Networking is becoming important by the day. There are many obvious advantages to networking including getting feedback and perspectives on your science from people of diverse backgrounds, becoming aware of other people’s science, possible collaborations, sharing of reagents, and so on. However, walking up to somebody to initiate a conversation might not come naturally to you. Just before approaching somebody are you also fogged by thoughts like, what if my science is not that great? What if I get criticized? What if my doubt is foolish?, and many more (every one of us have our own list!). These are clear signs of a networking block and there is only one simple solution to it, “make conscious efforts to overcome it.” Shut your inner doubting voice down for a moment and initiate the conversation. Start small: join people from your nearby labs for small tea-time science chit chat. Widen your circle and approach people in conferences with the same strategy. Just keep calm and do it frequently and repeatedly.
Well! This was my list of blocks that I faced or observed around me during my research experience. Feel free to share yours and importantly how you dealt with them. Meanwhile, I hope this list will be helpful in some way!