My work is not me (original) (raw)

2014, BITE: Recipes for Remarkable Research

InTRoDUcTIon Editorial Introduction 2 Sample Menus 7 Why recipes? 8 It usually takes three of us, a few beers and a lot of imagination 14 woRkIng solo REc Ip Es Prepare your mind 28 Hack your head 31 Let your mind wander 32 Defocus your thinking 34 Instant willpower 37 Think with your hands 39 Constraint as a seed for creativity 42 Automatic writing 45 Get into the flow 48 Keep loving your thesis (even when it hates you) 50 My work is not me 52 How to love several projects at once 54 It's OK to have a stationery fetish 57 Just describe 59 Relieving attention fatigue 62 What to listen to while you work 66 Roll the dice 69 Working in a shared environment 71 Digital scholarship-start here 73 AcAD E m I c pAp E Rs Creating sensory-sensitive spaces 76 woRkIng EnvIRonmEnTs REc Ip Es Smart working with smartphones 186 Tidy your desktop 188 High-end technology lab 190 Lowbrow powwow 192 Intimacy 194 Don't panic! 197 Meat(ing) place 199 Get into the zone 201 Make do & mend space 203 Work that space 205 Rebel space 207 Bus as research environment 210 A mobile thinking shrine 212 Off-grid creativity 214 A recipe for mediocrity 216 Thinking den 218 Bookable nomad space 220 Attractor spaces 222 Beam me up (or down) 225 Workshop space 228 Meetings in the great outdoors 231 cAs E sTU D IEs Harmony with nature 234 I can't bear this space 238 Jump Associates 246 AcAD E m I c pAp E Rs Connecting design in virtual and physical spaces ReseaRch is haRd We are researchers. We know that research is hard. And captivating, infuriating, rewarding, and addictive. It can be daunting, too, for new researchers. Much of 'how' to go about the act of research is unspoken. Methods may be explicit, but they don't deal with the detail of what to actually do when things go wrong or with our own reactions to the processespecially the emotional ones. We work on our own, we work in groups, and we work within the context of our institutions. At the same time we navigate the unspoken, the implicit. We buy into group norms, even when we don't know what the group norms are. We rely on the informal support of colleagues, peers, fellow students and mentors. We work in an academic environment where the impact of personal reactions and emotion is largely unacknowledged. Research takes place in appalling cupboards, airless offices, beautiful purpose-built labs, the canteen, the bus and the bath. Like the implied conditions under which we learn how to research, our physical research spaces are taken for granted-often grumbled about but rarely confronted. Researchers and research can thrive in the most unlikely and impoverished working environments but this ultimately has a personal cost. There are practical steps you, as a researcher, can take to make a difference to your own working environment and that of others. The first step is becoming aware that things aren't ideal, and indeed can be hindering your thinking. The next step lies in realising that you can do something about it. Creativity researchers, architects, psychologists and others have been studying this issue for some time. Each of us as a researcher is an expert in our own research environment and how it does, or does not, support our creative and analytical thinking. This book captures some of that wisdom and presents it to you in a digestible formatthe recipe. The final step is taking action and these recipes suggest ways of doing this.