A little Friday afternoon procrastination

I know the majority of people are currently revising like mad for Jan exams but once you start a PhD you can leave that world behind. I’m not saying we don’t work hard, as I’ve said before it’s much more like having a job then being a student, and I’m definitely not trying to rub it in for those who are revising. I feel bad for you guys so I’ve selected a few links (some more productive than others) for a little bit of procrastination – although I’d prefer if you thought of it as a necessary work break. So grab your drink of choice (tea/coffee/diet coke all accepted) and have a look at these:

Do we need to be using social media to further our PhD’s/future PhD’s? THE reports that social media skills are now a requirement of scientists, however there are fears associated with putting your research out there (that are not linked to criticism of your work). Have a read of both and see what you think… The THE link definitely came from the Graduate School facebook page, the Guardian link may have also been posted by them although that was a while ago!

Another one from the Graduate School facebook page: Post PhD Diaries covers life after your PhD by two students who have finished their research and are at varying stages of the thesis submission and viva voce process. An interesting insight into my (and possibly your) future 3/4 years down the line?

Now onto the less productive things …

36 perfectly timed animal shots for your enjoyment, the title says it all.

Last weekend I turned 25!

A little Prosecco to enjoy on my 25th birthday 🙂 We got aboslutely soaked on the way into Leicester but once we dried out we had a great evening

To celebrate I thought I would share this with you. Number 9 also applies to the walk to work – you start using a backpack even though a year ago you would rather shoot yourself. Number 16 is definitely true so enjoy hangover freedom while it lasts. Finally number 25 is the best, although the fact that I’m officially closer to 30 than 20 is not to be discussed!

And to round it all up this post, on the New Scientist website, all about procrastination definitely made me feel a little better. We all do it and this first week back after Christmas I have definitely been doing plenty of the productive procrastination. As my self-inflicted punishment I won’t be leaving the lab until at least 6 tonight while I wait for my PCR to finish. The writer of this blog has her own wordpress page, I’ve only just found it and she hasn’t posted anything since June 2013 BUT what she has written made me laugh and was really insightful, so maybe scroll down and read some of the old stuff.