Angel: Less focused and less productive

(Fourth in a series of blog posts written in response to this New Yorker article In Praise of Distraction)

Break times are okay and I agree with the idea to have a couple during the day, but you should to be careful if you spend all your day watching videos on YouTube, checking new fancy offers, status updating on Facebook or clicking follow icons on Twitter. The thing is not really rather you do this or do not, the issue is more related on which kind of distractions increase or decrease your performance. An article published by the New Yorker reports that free on-line access to viral social networks or e-websites is helpful to enhance concentration and productivity inside companies.

"..if we spend lots of energy controlling our impulses in one area, it becomes harder to control our impulses in others.."

I feel that extrapolate the concept of coffee break to Internet break sounds really awesome, but in the 1920s, time of the quantum and atomic physics' effervescent, there weren't any superfast broadband  or fancy smartphones, distractions were so far different. For example,  physicists lodged in the Bohr's Institute, three-story stucco residence with a roof of red tile, used to work hard and discuss new experiments or mathematical topics until late. Nevertheless, pin-pong or discussions over the charm of Danish girls during the meal or reviews on the latest film of Billy the Kid, were breaks of relax and talk about non-scientific matters. Even although, some of these topics weren't excluded to be analyzed using the scientific method,  for example the experimental testing, with toy pistols in hand, on the explanation of why the villain draw his gun after the hero does.

"Poor Casimir," said Rosenfeld. "He had to wait until the lovers had safely got over their troubles and married and all, before he could resume his calculations. He did not lose a second either: every time the lamps lit up, they invariably disclosed our friend bent over odd bits of paper and feverishly filling them with intricate formulae. The way he made the best of a desperate situation was truly admirable."

Excerpt from the novel: Men Who Made a New Physics: Physicists and the Quantum Theory.

Making reference about science, scientist performance is related with the creativity in creation and resolution of questions, so the necessity of non-scientific activities or distractions is something important. For example, taking time to read something not totally related with our own work or taking time to have a short walk can help to clarify, organize and bring about  ideas to tackle a problem. Perhaps, this is the main reason why Albert Einstein loved to have long outdoors walks. In my case, reading about fiction and poetry or watch some pictures are helpful activities to encourage my creativity and make me feel enthusiastic about the things that human being can achieve.

Niels Bohr Institute in 2005 (wapedia.mobi)

Niels Borh Institute in1920 (Emilio Segrè Visual Archives)

At the end, I think it's important to have some breaks but the way manage time plays an important role in what can be a waste of time or something that can increase your performance during your day. Finally, If you're interested in know more about human aspects of the scientist involved in the develop of the quantum theory take a look on the book by Barbara Lovett Cline: Men Who Made a New Physics: Physicists and the Quantum Theory.

Julio: Distraction and Research

(Third in a series of blog posts written in response to this New Yorker article In Praise of Distraction)

Watching YouTube videos or use Facebook, Twitter or visit shopping sites is definitely a good way to relax and spend some time without thinking about mathematics. But to solve difficult math problems and learn difficult math while watching a funny video on YouTube can be a difficult challenge and I do not think is the proper way to do research, at least not for me.

The best thing that works for me is that when I try to learn math or to solve a problem I try to stay totally focused on this task. And when I'm not thinking in mathematics (which is hard to do) I try to use the time to just relax and leisure and this of course can include visiting the internet. So I try to follow the following rule: when I'm working and researching I just try to do this and keep me focused and when I´m not doing research I use my time to relax and fun and I just try to do this and not think about work. This way I think is the best way to take my time, at least works for me like that!

Posted by Julio

Papi: If you don’t have time, turn off the Internet.

(Second in a series of blog posts written in response to this New Yorker article In Praise of Distraction)

I used to spend lots of time on line. It started when I first moved here; being away from home, it was the only way to communicate with family and friends, either through Facebook or Skype. Then I used my FB contacts as participants for my psychology experiments. And then I had to return the favour to those who participated in my experiments; mainly through gifting in FB online games. After that I was all day long online.

When I realized how much time I was spending on FB talking about life and not actually living it I was shocked. Currently I play only one game online and only when I can’t sleep at night (not very often). I prefer spending time with real people outside my little student room. Reading this out loud, sounds like an addict’s speech. Oh, well I am Papi and I am an Internet addict…


Posted by Papi.

Milly: PhD PhindingDistraction (worst title so far)

(First in a series of blog posts written in response to this New Yorker article In Praise of Distraction)

I spend most of my time at work in the biology department running experiments, writing or just thinking. Due to the never ending list of things I have to do, but would rather not, I’m easily distracted. The internet is probably my worst enemy.

Today I found myself and a friend searching for socks in various different animal shapes. Our favourite were a pair of shark socks that look like they’re eating your legs...once again I am distracted.

Since the development of the internet, a PhD student like me no longer needs to spend hours in the library searching through books of abstracts and reading whole journals to get to the necessary information. With one click of a button I can search the entire web and I am rewarded within 0.7 seconds (so I’m told by Google).

But does this make us more efficient? Do I miss interesting journals and relevant papers because I’m not spending these hours in the library? The lure of the internet is often too much and I find myself bombarded with useless information.

I don’t think I could go back now I’ve used things like Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar and Mendeley (a bit like facebook for scientists) for so long. It seems we have entered a new era of researching….

Posted by Milly.