Just out of curiosity

Since I decided not to become a dinosaur (outdated and extinct) in a matter of years, I have put myself into learning some AI tools and realized quickly that it is going to be hard to keep up-to-date with the fast pace. I am going to keep posting here information on AI tools that I find useful to share them with everyone (as well as to keep a personal archive of them).  Probably you know about ChatGPT, please discover NotebookLM by Google , it is just incredible to synthesize information from files, audio files, videos,... and it even makes a podcast!

Just yesterday a colleague of mine pointed out to me some recent advancements of Artificial Intelligence.  It sure feels like science fiction. Everything is progressing so fast that I feel overwhelmed. Maybe I should just ask ChatGPT what to do about that. 1. MATHS: Google DeepMind publishes (25 July 2024): AI achieves silver-medal standard solving International Mathematical Olympiad problems 2. ROBOTICS: Walking, jumping robots. This is what Boston Dynamics can achieve (the video is already two years old) 3. ROBOTICS AND AI: OpenAI Speech-to-Speech reasoning (now you can also talk with your robot). 4. CREATING VIDEO FROM TEXT: Just write a one-line-prompt and Sora - by OpenAI - generates a video about it (it is in development right now). It is hard for me to imagine the future. With so many technological capabilities, will we be able to produce more joyful human beings? In what will humans employ their time? Will our conception of 'being human' and our sense of worth as ...

24th of May, 5 o'clock, the doors open and the general public invades the central building of the University of Vienna ready for the "Long Night of Research", where researchers prepare activities to showcase their work. The event was a great success and we were there with an exhibition on 'Biomathematics'. It was fulfilling to see how many people were curious about mathematics, our research, and willing to take part in our activities. We had people of all ages. We had very keen parents who wanted to play our simulations with their kids; kids excited with our card game (one came even twice); an elderly lady who did not have enough with our videos and demanded that we show her the equations (and they were there to see); school students with doubts about which university degree to go for; young people inquiring about how large our team is, how long does a project take, how do we work with biologists;... It was tiring and after 5 hours I could barely talk, but the peo...

With so much talk about mind and body - and somewhat stressing that there is a separation between the two - I like very much to remember that being a mathematician is very much like being a professional athlete: Both need to consistently train and practice (yes, do not try to train for the Olympics or prepare for an exam just one week before). In both cases, you cannot take shortcuts. You have to build good foundations and go from there. Both are constantly pushing the boundaries of what they are capable of doing, which requires feeling comfortable with being challenged and out of their comfort zone. And because of pushing these boundaries, we may feel "pain" (physical and mental). Improving requires transforming the muscles for one and transforming the brain for the other (new neural pathways have to be built)... I guess that is why sometimes there is pain. It needs a very specific and well-defined training program (how to exercise/ how to study). Both require high focus, in...

In the Spanish educational system (at least when I studied) we spent years studying English..., without learning it. We work hard..., work very hard even, but we do not work well. When I moved to France, I learned French and now in Austria, I am learning German. I tell you, I do not feel I have a special gift for languages, but now I am a much faster learner than before, and not only that: I do not work even a tenth so hard as I did. I understood that I had to enjoy learning German if I really wanted to master the language. It is not that I am good at it: I just know how to learn; what works and what does not work. And it is the same for any other discipline: there are methods in which one learns and there are other methods that, despite putting in a lot of time and hard work, the effectiveness is very low: it is not that you cannot learn, it is that you do not know how to learn. Of course, I am not saying that learning does not require effort. What I am saying is that it requires the ...

I get it when fiction-writer Dean Wesley Smith says that we have a 'creative voice' and a 'critical voice'. Smith always writes with his creative voice, never with the critical one, not even when rewriting the text, simply because he never rewrites. He says the best work is done with the creative voice (and actually, it is the way to enjoy the process the most). It is easy to distinguish between the two voices: the critical voice is always finding problems, and difficulties, it is negative, complaining, judging; the creative voice says 'let's play!' . I think this is the best description I have ever encountered about creative voice: 'let's play!'. No judgment, no evaluation, no worries about reaching the objective. That is why the creative voice is so important: because it does not create barriers, it allows anything to happen ; it does not stop action by analysing it, evaluating it, judging its value, measuring its importance.  The creative voic...

It was 2004 when I started mathematics at University.  In 2004 studies were not divided between Bachelor and Master. It was just one degree and it lasted 5 years. It is my understanding that that was pretty much the case in every European country, and things changed with the "Bologna plan". So, back in the day, in Spain, to become a mathematician, one had to study for 5 years, from which 3 years and a half were filled with compulsory subjects. Now, of course, things are very different in the study plans.  But some things do not change: the transition from high school to university was tough. Very tough. And we had to pass all the subjects of the first year (a total of 8) to be allowed to go into the second year (and you had to pay for every course that you registered to, and you could not de-register - you were given a fail -, and every time you had to repeat that subject, it became more expensive). Exams were written, at the end of each semester, and they had a fixed date. S...

I am enjoying doing the little exercises for my exercise class. It is very nice to have concrete, well-defined, definite problems. It is also nice when there is more than one way of proving the same thing (though it is always tougher when it comes to correcting the exercises).  Honestly, maths may be tough, but they are so nice. A bit like what happens with sports. I can get so absorbed trying to solve a problem, or trying to find a shorter, clearer proof. I can spend hours. I used to spend hours as a student and then hours as a PhD student on just one question. It is hard to describe, I get so immersed in it, that I forget about myself. At points, I get frustrated if I feel I am taking "too much time" to solve it, but yeah, I like the process. In maths the answer is not just the answer: it is the answer and how you get to it.

The impostor syndrome is widespread. I know it is especially the case in academia. Many people suffer from it. They learn to live with it. I think it is not so easy to fight, it is a bit like that feeling of not "being good enough": it is a mental pattern that is very hard to get rid of. Actually, resisting it makes it stronger. In any case, I found myself doing more and more the things that I like, the way I like them, and this includes things that I am not asked to do (like writing a blog, or doing coaching sessions for the first year students, or trying to improve how we deal with diversity at the Faculty).  Yes, I am not "supposed" to be doing all these things. Nobody has asked for them. But I want to do them, I care for them, so I have the drive. This means that I am being myself: doing what I want, the way I want it. I do not feel like an impostor. I only feel like an impostor when I am trying to force myself to fit some pre-established mold or fixed idea. I ...

Let's apply what we learned about logic to some particular scenarios: Definition: we say that a sequence \((x_n)_{n\in \mathbb{N}}\), \(x_n\in \mathbb{R}\) converges to \(x\in \mathbb{R}\) when for all \(\varepsilon>0\) there exists a \(N\in \mathbb{N}\) such that for all \(n\geq N\) it holds that \(|x_n-x|<\varepsilon\) Definition: we say that a function \(f: \mathbb{R}\to \mathbb{R}\) is continuous at \(x\in \mathbb{R}\) when for all \(\varepsilon>0\) there exists a \(\delta>0\) such that if \(0<|y-x|<\delta \), then \(|f(y)-f(x)|<\varepsilon\).  Quiz: Write the negation of these definitions, i.e., what does it mean that a sequence \((x_n)_{n\in \mathbb{N}}\) DOES NOT converge to \(x\in \mathbb{R}\), and what does it mean that a function \(f: \mathbb{R}\to \mathbb{R}\) is NOT continuous at \(x\in \mathbb{R}\).  Cognitive bias We have many cognitive biases, which include biases on how we think about things. For example, there is a well-kno...

I will try to make this short. Here are some common mistakes made during presentations (here I am assuming a slide presentation). The title page says nothing: the title is full of jargon that is not explained. The second slide is a table of content: before putting a table of content one should motivate the talk, i.e., why should we listen to the talk. The table of content does not provide new information (either it has a standard structure or again it is full of jargon). The truth is that a table of content is not needed for short talks. Skip it if possible. The slides contain too much information or too much text, and you do not give time to read the slides. Not defining well the mathematical notation or the concepts. Not giving motivation for the problem or topic that you are presenting. Not explaining why you are explaining what you are explaining (i.e., where are taking us?).  Not drawing conclusions or giving a clear message at the end (what is the take-home message?). Wanting...

If you want to learn maths, you need to learn how to write maths and how to explain maths. The reason is simple: the process of communicating is a process of assimilation. If you cannot explain something clearly, then something is not clear in your thinking, so practice explaining things to other fellow students and let others explain things to you (and reflect on how they communicate). So far, so good. But there is an aspect that is often ignored: writing maths. And this is crucial. I did not learn to write maths properly until very late (and, actually, to write them really properly, until my post-doc). The reason? Two-fold: I did not give it so much importance (I was thinking that the important thing is to have the right answer), and nobody taught me (nor I knew how to go around learning it). Writing and thinking are inseparable. Fix that in your mind. Writing is the most powerful tool that you have to empower your thinking. Mathematical thinking is an iterative process of refining i...

After today's coaching session, I decided that I will do various blog entries on these topics: - It is normal that it is tough to study mathematics (and especially struggling to do proofs). What is different now from mathematics in high-school. - Writing mathematics, doing proofs, the way of communicating maths, and how important it is to write properly to refine your thinking. The entry is now here . - Make sure you understand the exercises (point 1 of Polya's problem-solving). Does it sound like ridiculous advice? Well, it tends to be a common mistake. - How was it for me when I started mathematics at University (and the main reason why I am doing this coaching). There is quite a lot to say about all these points.

It was just two Sundays ago that I wrote a blog  entry about me working on a Sunday because I had a lot to do. And yes, I like my work, so I am happy working beyond normal hours. However, I always try to keep the weekends work-free because I need to recharge my batteries. It is important for everything to function properly. Guess what? Today, Sunday, I worked a full day again.  I know many researchers that work basically all the time. Others do not do it. But I always tell people that being a researcher is like running your own company (at times): if you want things to roll, you cannot just say I will work 8 to 5, Monday to Friday. There are times when one needs to walk that extra mile.  I know, it is not very family-friendly. But let's be honest, society is not very family-friendly right now. It is hard for women to keep up with their careers in general. Women going to work has created a vacuum in childcare that kindergarten and schools do not fill. In my case, it also ...

It was only when I was a teenager that people started to have cell phones, and when I say cell phones, I do not mean "smart" phones. These were big heavy phones that could only be used for calling and texting. It was only when I was going to university that we got internet at home. There was no point in having it before. And it was also at university when I got my first email account, a Gmail account (and I was so eager at the time to get an email..., that time is long gone). Also, until my teenage years, things were very expensive. Any possession was extremely valued, even a watch (I mean, a normal one, not a "smart" one, those did not exist), because everything was so expensive. Traveling was expensive too. Having music was expensive. Normally I would listen to the radio, and I was lucky one to have a radio set that could record what was being broadcasted on a cassette tape. Then I could listen to that song that I liked again. Sometimes I would record just in case...

This has been a tough week. Actually, it has been the third tough week in a row, and I have held up pretty well, just until now... That's it! Negativity is winning the battle, and I know it.  Prescription: keep distance from people (to avoid chewing someone's head off), take some rest, and sleep a lot. My source of stress is typically that I want to do too many things, too many projects. But that is also what gives me the drive, it is just that I can lose the balance.  Anyway, I am just saying this because when negativity is winning the battle I know that I need to retreat. Keep fighting just pulls me deeper into the mud. Doing something from a state of negativity or anger just makes things worse. I know that I will even probably do things that I regret or that will give me a headache later. It is like going for a run in the middle of a terrible flu: you are just digging your grave. So, grudgingly, grumpily, I retire and give myself time to restore, and stay away from my beaut...

when you are stressed, obsessed, everything seems insurmountable, and you have tried everything (meditating, running, journaling), and it is not enough... ... there is just one thing left to do: dance! (and if you can, also, sing, and if you can, do it with others, the more you are, the more intense the effect) You don't believe me? Just follow the guy: Ah! The power of music!

The renovation at home has thrown away most of my habits, which makes everyday life a bit more difficult. But one of the losses I have suffered the most is journaling. In the morning, one of the first things I would do is sit down and write. Typically I would write about the day before, going through it. This process helps me to assimilate emotions that had gone under the rack or how decisions were taken or if priorities were met or, even, if there are some patterns in my actions or hidden intentions in my choices. This process helps me to understand myself better and also to improve in all aspects of life. It is a way of keeping the mind and the emotions clean. It is also a way of learning from the experiences rather than just being swept by them. I did do journaling during the last 2 weeks and, combined with the fact that teaching has started, my level of stress has increased. Funny thing, when things get a bit overwhelming, I stress, and then, I lose clarity of mind. Clarity of mind...

I finally decided to read the short story that I started during my trip back from Konstanz.  It sucks. I was surprised. Not that I expected a masterpiece, but definitely something much better. However, I heard that professional writers with long careers always feel that what they wrote is not good. So it seems to be a widespread phenomenon, independently of the quality of the story. On the other hand, I also heard of this 1/3 "depression" when writing a novel, i.e., after having written around 1/3 of a novel, authors think that the novel sucks and want to throw it away. The only advice to overcome this seems to be: just accept it, and power through it. I wonder if this is what is happening here: I want to throw away the story, but I am going to try instead to finish it by putting it into shape (I will try to rewrite as little as possible). But it is hard to put myself to work on it because it feels like it is going to be a lot of work and I may not end up satisfied. But I gue...

These reflections came from a discussion about how long should be the blocks of time dedicated to solving problems. First, I said: - Allocate time to activities rather than to specific goals . For example, decide "today from 5-7 p.m. I will work on the problem set" rather than "today from 5-7 p.m I will solve 3 problems". The first goal is under your control, the second is not. If you do not fulfill a goal, you will feel bad about yourself. But then again, how long is a reasonable block of time?  That is a question without a right answer, in my opinion. But this question came from a student that is working and studying at the same time, so he does not have long blocks of time.  This reminded me of an old belief of mine: Belief : I need a long block of time to be able to work on my math homework. Do you believe that? Do you have 15 minutes. Can you do some homework with that time? What about 10 minutes? What about 5 minutes? I thought for a long time that I needed a...

I find it very hard to rest.  For me resting is not equivalent to sitting on the sofa watching Netflix, or browsing aimlessly on the internet, or some other form of modern "chill-out". For me resting is some form of regaining energy so I am able to continue whatever activity I want to do. Sometimes resting means going for a run, because my body has been inactive on a chair for a long time; other times it means stretching, because my body has been under a lot of tension; closing my eyes for a minute because they are in pain after so much screen-watching,... Resting for me is "bending to the other side" to find an equilibrium for all my activities. What I find hard about resting is understanding towards which other side I need to bend to. Actually, the body and the mind are very misleading. For example, you may feel tired and think "I should rest", meaning, "I should sit on the sofa and do nothing", but actually, what you may need to counteract tha...

On Wednesday I went to a talk by Georg Kaser (University of Innsbruck, Austria) on climate change. It is a public lecture and easy to understand. I found it very interesting. In particular, it is interesting to see why increasing more than 1 degree as we have done right now is so dramatic, and reaching 2 degrees can be catastrophic.

Finally, I managed to do more videos! Full of mistakes that I tried to correct somehow. It will get better with time, but I like this new set-up of writing directly on paper, rather than on the tablet. This is a series of 3 short videos explaining three basic tools from Ordinary Differential Equations that are extensively used in modelling:  - conservative Newtonian dynamics;  - gradient dynamics (overdamped dynamics);  - friction dynamics (damped dynamics). Here are all the videos:

Yesterday I stayed past my bedtime to finish the short fiction story I was writing. Finally, it is finished! At least the first version. I will try to edit as little as possible, but I will try to correct the bits that felt "less believable". Funny stuff, my brain located the story in a time when there were no cell phones and no internet. I was born during that time, and somehow my brain likes that set up for stories. The internet and the cell phones feel still a bit surreal to me when they appear in stories, also because they become outdated very soon. For example, I can make a story where MySpace appears, but now MySpace does not exist anymore (I think) and people would not know what is it when they read the story. But it is just so easy to mix things from the pre-internet/pre-phone era with the post-one.  The story is darker than I thought. I had the story clear in my mind to begin with, but it evolved quite a lot during the process of writing it.

I had a very enjoyable first class of kinetic theory today. Of course, I have always found the subject of kinetic theory fascinating, but it is easy in everyday life to forget about it. I was lucky enough to discover this topic by chance when I was doing my first year of PhD. I felt relaxed in class, probably because I was not thinking in terms of what "I should" or "I should not" do. I was just telling them things that I found important and interesting. Now that I think about it, I was telling them a story: the story of kinetic theory.

Today was the first coaching session (with 3 interested people out of around 25). One student shared that during the theoretical class, he was copying everything written on the blackboard and had no time to follow what the teacher was saying. I did this too. Many people do this too. But unless you have no other resource (like no lecture notes or no books), this is a very ineffective way of making the most of the theoretical class. You will learn little, understand not much, and be unmotivated. And then you need to spend a lot of time at home assimilating your transcribed notes. If you have lecture notes the best is to prepare the theoretical class by: (1) Revising the content of previous classes; (2) Reading in the lecture notes what is coming in the next class. Try to understand as much as possible, and make note of your questions or any unclear points. Then in class do not copy the blackboard. Copy only when new material, information, or examples are given that are not on the lecture...

Yesterday I traveled all day long by train from Konstanz to Vienna. Today I finished preparing the exercise class, the seminar class, and some of my master class. I also wrote more than 1,000 words of a short story. I know. It is Sunday. But it is ok. However, the only reason my day went like this is because my husband is not with me, otherwise, he would have taken priority. My work was my priority number one for a long time, because it was my identity. But I got a healthier relationship with my job now. If my husband had been here, my time would have been for him (ok, except for the bits of the courses that I needed to prepare, but even that I would have organized myself to have done it earlier).

Something that I like about working on short spurs (or better said, keep changing tasks rather than devoting a big chunk of time to just one task) is that my brain keeps working "on the background" and keeps giving me ideas from time to time, and I just need to make a note on them.  For example, I started to prepare the exercise class for the first-year students and the difficulty of these classes is on how to explain the exercises, or rather, how to guide the students on how to think about these exercises without telling them the solution. My brain gave me very good ideas. It finally also gave me another idea for another story. I thought that maybe I was not keen on working on more than one story at a time. But today I had a full new story while I was showering. The pity is that my brain goes faster than I can write, and dictation just does not work for me. Blame my Spanish accent. I have discovered that I can work in very small spurs on tasks that I thought it was just not ...

The conference in Konstanz is over. It has been an intense week and I am running out of energy. But I have kept up with the good job, making the most of every second - which was necessary, since the teaching semester is starting and I had a lot of queries from students. I am still going with the attitude of "making the most of every minute" that I learned from the book 'Someday is today' by Matthew Dicks. It seems that I have learned to use the cracks of time to advance work, and indeed I manage to get much more work done. I am also going with the attitude of "doing what I want" (and, yes, sometimes I trick myself to want to do something in particular that is a bit pressing).  I was thinking today that being able to do what you want at every moment (or convince yourself that that is what you want to do) is what means to be successful. And now, what do I want to do? Ah, yes! Fall asleep...

This text in Dean Wesley Smith's blog on writer's fears inspired me: So if you are having fear issues, move the fear over to not writing and not finishing. I can tell you this for a fact: The idea of not writing and not finishing what I write scares the hell out of me. Get help with your fears, move the fear to a fear of not writing. And move the fear to a fear of not finishing. Because not writing and not finishing are true failures. I hate to tell you this folks: Every time you claim you want to write and then don’t write or don’t finish, everyone around you knows you are failing. That should scare you more than anything   https://deanwesleysmith.com/heinleins-rules-chapter-four/ I like this technique of moving the center of the fear to something else. It is applicable to many contexts when studying mathematics: Fear to present math exercises in front of your peers? Move the fear to actually dropping because it feels unpleasant. You know that if you drop this means that you ...

Socrates said "Know yourself". To me, this does not mean to make a judgment of yourself or form an opinion about yourself, it does not mean to make any type of statement about yourself. It is about knowing yourself "moment to moment". Right now, at this moment, know yourself: know your thoughts, know your emotions, know your reactions, know the physical sensations, know your conditioning, know everything that is going on in  you. And all that changes from moment to moment. So know yourself moment to moment, because whatever applied later, does not apply now, thinking that it does is judgment and judgment is limiting: you try to fit your life into your mental view of it; you do not allow for new things to happen, for change to take place. Judgement is negative, negative in the sense that it "negates" the possibility. The possibility of something different to your pre-conceived idea. I connect this also to the other famous sentence of Socrates "I only k...

I see that there are some  recurrent  themes in this blog. I do not even remember some of the things that I have written, so probably I am repeating myself.  It doesn't matter: the middle point is always important and worth repeating many times.  This came about yesterday when I was talking with a colleague about my plans of coaching first-year students. We discussed that it is not an easy thing to do, especially because we need to relate to each other, and for that, students have to communicate what is going on with them. First, we discussed students with low self-confidence. I think this is one of the main themes in coaching, because it is pervasive. But then, we started to discuss the opposite case: students that are over-confident or that are perfectionists. Well, they suffer too, and not only do they suffer: just like people with low self-confidence, they sabotage themselves, it is just that they use different strategies. Students that have an identity of 'being...

I can feel the tiredness accumulating from the last few days, but it has not prevented me from enjoying the first day of the conference in Konstanz. It has been great to meet again so many people, including old collaborators and colleagues.  I find socializing very hard when I am tired (probably because I get grumpy and it is hard for me to focus). I see that some people get energy by socializing with others. In my case, sometimes it is the contrary, even if I enjoy the interaction very much. It used to be much worse when I was shy: it would eat out all my energy. But today it has not taken me any energy. I think I was very conscious that I have very few occasions to see these people and I better make the most of it. It is funny how, despite that  I do not see  some of these colleagues  so frequently , I follow their careers over the years and see how they grow from PhD student to post-doc to post-doc to tenured or they decide to leave academia. It is like seeing sna...

It has been a long day, but it has been a good trip overall. I was travelling by train from Vienna to Konstanz (Germany). The departure time was around 10:30 from Vienna Central Station, and I was supposed to arrive in Konstanz at about 18:50. But of course, there was some delay. I actually missed the first connection in Münich, but I took an alternative route, which actually had a very nice landscape (I think it was Switzerland), and since the temperatures have suddenly dropped, the landscape was full of snow.  It was a nice view to enjoy inside the warmth of the train. I was supposed to change twice, but I ended up changing 5 times. In the last change I had 3 minutes to change platform so my Usain Bolt spirit had to be awakened for that one (and actually also for the previous one, where I also had 4 minutes to change). In any case, I took this as an adventure, so I guess that was the right attitude to do this. In the end, I reached Konstanz at 19:20. If I had to do this often it ...

With the house renovations, my habits have gone out of the window, and with them, all my mental structures. Everything takes longer (I keep forgetting what I need, what I need to do, when I need to do them) and more energy (because I need to take many more decisions as I cannot function in "autopilot mode" anymore). Email is piling up, messages are piling up, deadlines are piling up. I work a lot, but I seem to produce less.  I have not done sports for a week. I have not been eating so healthily for a week. I have not been sleeping well for around 4 days (and I normally do not have issues sleeping). My head is slightly foggy. I am more stressed. My stamina is down. I am not saying this to complain. This is just a period and it will be over soon enough. I am using this period  to remind myself how important is to have a good organization in life.  The good thing about this, though, is the challenge: the challenge of finding a mini-organization in the disruption; of finding...

I started yesterday reading a book by Danielle Steel, "The numbers game", and I am completely hooked. I have already read half of it. It has been a while since I got so hooked on a non-fiction book. The funny thing is that the topic of the novel is not one of my favourites, it could even be argued that it is a stereotyped story - or, that the same story has been told a thousand times already -, sometimes I even can expect what is going to happen (actually, it is written in the first page of the book), and, nevertheless, despite all this, somehow the author keeps me hooked and wondering "and then, what happens?" Literally, she took one of the stories that I would have considered a priori among the most uninteresting ones (for my personal taste) and completely took me in. How does she do it???

This blog post may be long, but it is really worth a read. It illustrates very well how stereotypes reinforce themselves and the "invisible" effects that they have. The title is 'Picture yourself as a stereotypical male' by Michelle G. https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/picture-yourself-as-a-stereotypical-male/

In the middle of the night, I woke up: "I have not written a blog entry!" Well, God knows what time it was, so I was not going to get up and write. In any case, the day had already passed. I do not have a particular time to write. It typically happens at the end of the day, because it is when all the rest has been done. But yesterday it was special, "the rest" was taking forever: construction works were starting at home and I had to get things ready. And it took a while. Everything takes time. But it was not the time, because I could have just written a line or posted a photo and I would have kept the streak of posting every day.  So, no, the problem was not the lack of time, but the little stress that comes with having house renovations. Not that I am particularly nervous, but of course, there is some tension. My house, my refuge, my corner is a total mess. Strangers are coming in and putting down walls. I cannot cook (well, even with a kitchen I cannot cook, so I ...

I was reading a book by a professional fiction writer. She insists on the need to always keep improving, never stagnating, avoiding the attitude of "I have arrived at my destination, it is time to rest". It is like pursuing perfection without pursuing it. Because perfection is just a ghost: it only exists in our minds. So in our lives we keep moving, we keep improving our craft (yes, I consider research a craft), we never arrive, there is no real destination, just the journey. The only thing that matters is to keep moving.

Whatever career one chooses to study at university, there is always a common challenge: managing oneself. And this is especially true if you leave home to study. There may be a lot of new responsibilities that you did not have before: 1. Housekeeping: doing the groceries, cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, paying the rent and the bills,... 2. Own schedule: when to wake up, when to go to bed, when to eat, when to study (and where and with whom), to decide if to attend class or not, which activities to pursue and when to pursue them,... 3. Own psychology: self-doubt, motivation, knowing or not knowing what you want to do,... These are just a few points. They may look stupid, they may look obvious, but we all have to reflect on them at some point or another to make our lives simple and effective. For example, there are classical tricks, like: - Do not go grocery shopping when you are hungry; go grocery shopping with a pre-made list and buy only the items on the list; make sure that you...

It is quite common to find an initial barrier every time that we want to start an activity: when we wake up in the morning and we feel lazy to prepare ourselves for running, when we arrive at the office and we have to start working, when we sit to reply to emails and we see a long list awaiting us, when it is cold and we have to change into our pajamas,... I do not know the psychology of it, but I have observed that this initial barrier is quite common. The issue is that we may think "I want to do X, but maybe not now, now I do not feel like starting " - substitute X for whatever you want: running, baking, reading a book, writing a book, going for a walk, calling that friend,.... It is not that you do not want to do it, it is just that there is an initial resistance. Use a little willpower to overcome it, or even better, just ignore the inner voice that moans "Oh, now!? Really!? Why not better another time?" Know that this moaning is just trying to prevent you from ...

I know a senior researcher that divides people into two categories: people that finish things and people that don't. He only hires people that finish things. This is such an essential quality for a researcher. Projects are long, they can take years, sometimes we lose sight of them, we encounter difficulties, and then..., they stay unfinished, sometimes even with a draft version of the paper.  As a group leader, I can make people finish things by setting up deadlines, but this works up to a point. The best is to find inner mechanisms for this to work. On this, I do not have much advice because finishing what I start comes naturally to me. Actually, I get nervous when things begin to last way longer than they should. It takes too much headspace. But I can tell you this: if you tend to start things and not finish them, find the psychological reasons behind this first. For example, a classical reason for not finishing things is perfectionism. I always say "there are two types of t...

Continuing on the previous post, I want to clarify that there are moments during the day when we require more willpower: namely, the moments when we have lower levels of energy. For me, typically this happens at the end of the day, which I guess is the same for everyone, otherwise, it does not make much sense to go to sleep if your energy levels are high. Anyway, the point is, when the energy level is low, everything seems tougher. Obvious, right? But we do forget that when scheduling activities, and, more importantly, we forget that low levels of energy foster negativity. So that is why at the end of the day, things may start to look black and it is impossible to enjoy what we are doing. And, as I said in the previous post, enjoyment is the key to not needing willpower. But when negativity comes in, thoughts come in, like 'nothing works', 'everything is wrong', 'what the hell am I doing with my life', 'everything needs to change', etcetera, etcetera. Ju...

When we want to achieve something difficult, or something that we find hard, we are told to use our willpower. My experience is that this only works if you know that you only need to exert your willpower for a given period of time, even if that period of time may be long. After that, willpower wears out. Willpower is finite, you just have a given amount to use. So if I have to use willpower every day to wake up at six in the morning and go out for a run, you can imagine that I may do it for a while, but that it will be very hard to keep doing it for life.  It is said that if you sustain an activity for a given amount of time, then it becomes a habit.  I think there is a little trick here. It is true that starting something new may require a lot of willpower due to the initial resistance. But the key here is that the resistance must subside at some point so that you do not need willpower, then the activity can become a habit. However, for some, resistance subsides, for others, ...