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Staying creative and curious while
balancing demands from lab, and tutoring,
and extracurriculars is hard.
I get questions from subscribers all the time
about how I balance all of these things.
And how I stay inspired and motivated to pursue my goals.
So today, in collaboration with Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany's
#alwayscurious campaign, I'm going to talk about two
of the ways that I try and keep myself feeling inspired,
and curious, and creative.
First, by allowing myself to create
brain space for curiosity and problem solving.
And second, by adding creative content into my life.
Let's talk first, about what I call brain space.
Sometimes when I get caught up on a tough problem
and I'm overwhelmed by tasks, and deadlines,
and looming things--
I find it really easy for myself to fall
into this pattern of just doing an easy or obvious thing over
and over and over and over, without really thinking
about why I'm doing it.
I made a whole video about this a couple years ago,
about trying to balance thinking and doing in my life.
And since then, I've made a conscious effort
to try and cultivate this brain space for curiosity
and creativity.
This often involves physically removing myself
from whatever situation or problem is tripping me up.
Even if it's only for a 10-minute walk,
stepping away from the computer or the pipette
forces me to stop thinking about the problem in the screen
or in the lab because the screen and the lab
aren't there anymore.
And to start to think about it from other angles.
I often find that if I've been struggling
to come up with a new way to tackle a problem in lab,
I'll figure out a new solution on the bike ride home
when I removed myself from the space and I'm thinking clearly.
Rather than when I'm in lab, staring at the same stack
of notes for hours.
Exercise is another way that I try and create space
for my brain to think or not.
Sometimes if I've been really, really stuck on a problem,
I will go to an exercise class that
will force me to not think about anything
other than the exercise that I am doing at that moment.
Forcing my brain to drop the problem
and then be able to come back to it fresh, an hour later.
Other times, I'll go for a hike or a run,
giving my mind time to think without the confines
of a computer screen or a lab notebook.
And allowing myself to experience nature
and be curious about the natural world around me.
Lately, brain space for me has also
meant trying to limit screen time on my phone.
Because when I do have those moments of brain space,
it is so easy to pick up my phone
and just start scrolling through apps.
And allow my phone to fill that space, rather than
my own thoughts.
Instead, I've been trying really hard
not to whip out my phone in those spare odd moments
when I am standing in line or waiting somewhere.
And rather, to just let myself sit and think
and to allow my brain to fill those spaces,
instead of my phone.
When I do that, I'm forced to be more creative and curious.
And lately, that's meant thinking about
not just science, but also about video making and ways that I
can be more creative visually in this space
and try and mix things up.
This one is hard--
it really is-- but I feel so much
better after five minutes of thinking than I do after five
minutes of scrolling.
The other way that I've been trying
to stay inspired and curious is to add creative content
into my life.
It's really easy to fall into periods
where I'm just thinking about my thesis
and sometimes that is necessary.
But it's also really good for me to still add other things
into my life.
I still need to be a human.
My thesis is focused on a really specific topic.
And reading books, or listening to podcasts,
or looking at art that doesn't focus on my very specific topic
is super helpful in getting my brain
to think about problems from new angles
and be creative in problem solving.
Be that problem a task in lab, a section
I need to write for my thesis, or a new way to edit a video.
Maybe the storytelling in a podcast that I'm listening to
encourages me to rewrite the paper
that I'm working on into more of a narrative.
Or perhaps, a piece of art that I'm looking at
inspires me to edit a video in a new way.
All of these things helped me to break up the everyday patterns
that I fall into and keep things fresh.
This combination of creative content and space
in my brain for it to roll around and percolate
helps me to be more inquisitive, and curious,
and inspired in my everyday life.
And also more creative in how I'm solving problems.
And that idea of creativity and problem solving
is, in fact, one of the curious elements
in Merck KGaA's curiosity campaign, which
explores not only how we use curiosity in our daily lives,
but also how we're all envisioning our futures.
And how creativity and technology play into them.
You can, in fact, share your own vision of the future
in the links down below.
So thank you so much to Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany
for sponsoring this video.
This video and the next one that I'm going to make with them
are, in fact, ideas that have been rolling around
in my brain for a while.
And that I've been thinking about a lot as my time in lab
is ending and I'm wrapping up my PhD.
But that I haven't had a reason to really share with the world
yet.
So thank you to them for sponsoring this and giving me
a reason to share this with all of you.
Let me know in the comments down below if you
have any tricks for curious and creative
in your own daily lives.
I think, being more curious and being
more creative are things that I strive towards all the time.
And so if you got tips, let me know.
And maybe, the next time that you
are stuck on a hard problem, you will
think about giving yourself some brain space to let your brain
think about it.
Or adding in some creative content to
think about attacking it from new angles.
And as always, remember to go forth and do science.