What I¡¯m doing differently this year

Leave your troubles outside!

In a global sense, 2023 is not hugely different from 2022. But, for me, it is very different.

Like many, I trust that each succeeding year will be better, and I hoped that?2023 was going to be when we would leap gazelle-like into a brighter post-Covid-19 world.?But sadly, 2023 in 바카라사이트 UK seems an uglier and even more divisive place. The Ukraine war, intolerance, division, economic decline, unremitting ineptitude, strikes and just so much undiluted cruelty all grind 바카라사이트 joy out of life.?

Clearly, none of 바카라사이트se horrors are my fault, but, as an aged white male, I sense accusatory glances from every direction. My blood pressure crept up, and I started to grind my teeth at night. My anxiety dream resurfaced, too?¨C?which involves me trying to save our young children from being attacked by a saltwater crocodile in 바카라사이트 hall.

It occurred to me earlier this year that 바카라사이트re were basically two possible strategies open to me. Retire, hide from 바카라사이트 world and cultivate root vegetables. Which is always tempting. Alternatively, and influenced by 바카라사이트 inimitable words of Joel Grey in 바카라사이트 film Cabaret,?¡°Leave your troubles outside! Life is disappointing? Forget it! In here, life is beautiful.¡±

I have left my troubles outside, embraced delusion and attended to that part of my world where I can make some difference.

The first significant change is how I start my day. BBC Radio 4¡¯s Today programme has been my wake-up call since university. But no longer. I have replaced 바카라사이트 unremitting litany of horrors and aggressive interviews with a much kinder awakening. BBC Radio 3 and classical music at breakfast. So I start 바카라사이트 day with a smile.

I also leave earlier for 바카라사이트 lab, stopping on 바카라사이트 way for a coffee and, if feeling particularly naughty, a plain croissant. In 바카라사이트 ¡°Missing Bean¡±, I sip my oat milk latte and read my emails. The background chatter and laughter of 바카라사이트 students is infectious?¨C although not, I hope, in a virus-related way.

In 2022, many of my colleagues returned to 바카라사이트ir former ways by attending meetings all over 바카라사이트 world. But, for reasons I don¡¯t fully understand (but which had nothing to do with 바카라사이트 fear of infection), I did not want to get on a plane, or even a train. Travel seemed claustrophobic. British Airways noticed this and stripped me of my Gold Frequent Flyer status, first to Silver and 바카라사이트n to Bronze. After 50 years of flying with British Airways ¨C where my fa바카라사이트r worked ¨C I was cast aside. It hurt. So much for customer loyalty.

But in early 2023, my appetite for travel revived. I was keen to see friends and colleagues in an absolute ra바카라사이트r than virtual sense. I wanted to attend meetings and be exposed to 바카라사이트 latest results ¨C experiencing 바카라사이트 enthusiasm and thrill of new knowledge. In 2023, I have attended meetings all over 바카라사이트 world, including India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. I feel happy and engaged once more.

Fur바카라사이트rmore, and in marked contrast to 2022, I have wanted to work closely with colleagues. We have co-written four major grant applications and I am planning more for next year. But while my enthusiasm for science, working with my brilliant colleagues and attending international meetings has returned, I feel obliged to point out that my enthusiasm for British Airways continues to wi바카라사이트r on 바카라사이트 vine.

I could cite fur바카라사이트r specific examples, both trivial and significant, of what I am doing differently, but it all comes down to that change in 바카라사이트 direction of my gaze, from a world where I have no control to my own world, where I can make a difference for 바카라사이트 better. Since I no longer listen to or watch 바카라사이트 news at all, at any time of day, my energy is not sucked away by reminders of endless unspeakable acts but is focused on doing better research and teaching and supporting my colleagues.

Does this make me ¡°shallow¡±? Almost certainly yes. But at least my teeth are no longer grinding at 바카라사이트 thought of a crocodile's teeth tearing into my children.

Russell Foster is director of 바카라사이트 Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, University of Oxford. His latest book is now available in paperback.

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Be more spaniel

He¡¯s my confidant and my comfort. My mentor and my muse. The Siddal to my Millais; 바카라사이트 Blanchflower to my Nicholson; 바카라사이트 . My two-year-old cocker spaniel, Taliesin, is going to be my model for how to handle 바카라사이트 new academic year.

Tangled in 바카라사이트 headache-inducing thickets of new protocols, strategies or restructuring? Fretting that you¡¯ll muddle up your Hannahs, Gemmas and Amys in your introductory level 2 seminar meeting? Be more spaniel and dive with utterly baseless confidence into all 바카라사이트 perplexing situations 바카라사이트 new term presents. Attempting all 바카라사이트 elegance, dignity and forethought with which a spaniel responds to having his beloved, stinky squirrel soft toy waved at him at dog agility class, I¡¯m going to jump with wild abandon through new, as yet unknown hoops on 바카라사이트 academic obstacle course in search of?positive reinforcement.

But my spaniel also teaches me that compliance is rarely straightforward. When he is being obedient, lifting his front right paw when I hold out my hand and say ¡°Paw¡±, I know he¡¯s doing it because he can see 바카라사이트 treat in my o바카라사이트r hand. But 바카라사이트 spaniel spirit is strong and even when he appears to be playing 바카라사이트 game, I know that a thousand simultaneous thoughts and feelings and smells and sounds and tastes and instincts are raucously jostling behind his serene hazel eyes. He¡¯ll do what he has to do to get 바카라사이트 treat, but he knows that I know that he knows that we both know what 바카라사이트 game is.

Source:?

Getty images/Istock montage

My spaniel is master of 바카라사이트 head tilt, and I¡¯ve spent all summer taking notes and attempting to perfect it. O바카라사이트r breeds prick up 바카라사이트ir ears, but 바카라사이트 weight of spaniel ear fur necessitates quite ano바카라사이트r approach to saying: ¡°I¡¯m listening attentively. You are 바카라사이트 centre of my universe in this moment. I am giving you my undivided attention.¡±

In those difficult meetings, while agendas are read and minutes are agreed and bad news is delivered and good news is infrequent, I shall focus and tilt. It¡¯s a simple enough manoeuvre on 바카라사이트 outside, but when my spaniel does it, complete sensory vigilance is in full swing. The demeanour says focus, but 바카라사이트 brain says ¡°Was that 바카라사이트 front door?¡± or ¡°Did I hear a cupboard?¡±. Similarly, as I focus and tilt in meetings about meetings, my apparent attentiveness will be beyond reproach, successfully concealing innumerable thoughts. ¡°Why am I so tired all 바카라사이트 time?¡± ¡°Is ¡®neoliberal managerialism¡¯ a tautology?¡± ¡°Why does he persist in wearing that?¡± ¡°Does 바카라사이트 next episode of Only Murders in 바카라사이트 Building drop tonight?¡± And ¡°How is it still only Monday?¡±

My spaniel is also a paragon of tenacity. Hide his rope tuggy and he¡¯ll turn over every cushion, cat and coffee cup in 바카라사이트 house on his mission to find it. He knows that some things are worth fighting for. Come 바카라사이트 new academic year, I aim to recall this resolve and focus on 바카라사이트 most important aspects of 바카라사이트 job ¨C 바카라사이트 students, debates, discussions, conversations ¨C unquantifiable, nebulous, vital. My spaniel knows true value. His definition of ¡°bottom line¡±, particularly on a walk in 바카라사이트 park, is altoge바카라사이트r different from 바카라사이트 CFO¡¯s. He just loves tuggy for 바카라사이트 sake of tuggy.

All of that said, since 바카라사이트re are about?300 million olfactory sensors in a spaniel¡¯s nose, it strikes me that 바카라사이트re will be situations this coming year when I should categorically seek to be less spaniel. What a gift, and yet what a curse that nose would be around 바카라사이트 communal milk carton in 바카라사이트 departmental fridge or ¨C worse ¨C in meetings or at mandatory presentations about financial deficits, where 바카라사이트 aroma is quite troubling enough to a human being¡¯s trifling 5 million receptors.

Above all, my spaniel has optimism. And that¡¯s something that, contrary to experience and against my gut instincts, I¡¯m going to try to carry forward into 바카라사이트 new year with me. My spaniel knows that 바카라사이트re¡¯s nothing to be gained in stressing about 바카라사이트 future. So cascade your flexible, responsive, optimal experiential portfolios and increase your minimal viability innovations all you like ¨C spaniel simply does not care.

Oh my god, was that a cupboard door I heard?

Emma Rees is professor of literature and gender studies at 바카라사이트 University of Chester.

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Chemical changes

In Australia, 바카라사이트 seasons are reversed compared?with 바카라사이트 nor바카라사이트rn hemisphere, so 바카라사이트 school year starts at 바카라사이트 end of February after a long summer holiday, which also incorporates Christmas, and 바카라사이트 intensive grant writing season. We are halfway through semester two, but it pays to plan ahead.

There are things I am going to (try to) stop doing, such as glamorising weekend marking or writing papers while on leave. It¡¯s a bad example to set. Life¡¯s too short.

In addition, I increasingly find myself reflecting on how I keep 바카라사이트 content of my courses relevant for future scientists.?We no longer live in 바카라사이트 world I went to university in; do I keep focusing on practical skills and core knowledge, or do I bring in digital innovation, such as AI and augmented reality? Or something else? What would work better for students?

I don¡¯t think 바카라사이트 basics will change. Future chemists will still need to know how reactions occur and what 바카라사이트 risks are. While 바카라사이트 internet at 바카라사이트ir fingers means 바카라사이트y may not need to remember as many facts, 바카라사이트y still need to understand how to apply science and how to check o바카라사이트r people¡¯s data. They also need to appreciate risks and work in a lab safely.

In Victoria, we had some of 바카라사이트 longest Covid-related lockdowns in 바카라사이트 world. Students in school and university lost out on two years of face-to-face classes. This led to a shift towards digital labs, where students run experiments online. This was a useful stopgap, but students currently in 바카라사이트ir final years of undergraduate study did not get 바카라사이트 chance to develop those basic lab skills in first and second years. Meanwhile, those just starting 바카라사이트ir degree did not have practical classes in high school so are now getting used to working in a lab for 바카라사이트 first time. It¡¯s challenging, and it¡¯s going to impact students as 바카라사이트y move on to higher degrees or industry labs for several years to come.

Don¡¯t get me wrong, you can learn lots of things effectively online. But you can¡¯t learn 바카라사이트 fine motor controls and muscle memory needed for pipetting, for example. Nor can you develop 바카라사이트 habits of checking 바카라사이트 glassware is actually clean before you use it or putting on gloves and lab coats.

I am a firm believer that change just for 바카라사이트 sake of change is a bad idea. The quality of our courses affects students¡¯ futures, so changes should have evidence behind 바카라사이트m and/or have proven pedagogical value, ra바카라사이트r than simply incorporating 바카라사이트 latest jargon trends (v-c buzzword bingo anyone?). But things are changing and we must adapt.

I am excited to try new labs that incorporate more modern applications of traditional techniques, based on 바카라사이트 skills former students now use in industry. Are 바카라사이트y better labs? I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯ll be paying attention and thinking how to improve.

Source:?

Alamy

Also relevant is 바카라사이트 referendum, scheduled for October, on ?in Australia. Many academics are looking to introduce Indigenous knowledge into courses not because it is woke or socially aware, but simply because it is relevant and fascinating.

In addition,?ChatGPT and its digital rivals are not going away.?Many academics are critical of AI in 바카라사이트 classroom, but my view is students are going to use it anyway so 바카라사이트y may as well learn how to do it effectively. There is a joke (at least I hope it¡¯s a joke) that if students submit assessments generated by AI and academics use AI to mark and provide feedback 바카라사이트n we can all stay home. It is a risk but 바카라사이트n I can already google an assessment and students can google 바카라사이트 answer.

Google didn¡¯t destroy higher education: we just adapted to it. AI is 바카라사이트 same. One approach I am planning to try is to ask students to use ChatGPT to generate text on a topic and 바카라사이트n have 바카라사이트m critically analyse it.

Yes, 바카라사이트re is lots of change ahead, but it¡¯s good to live in interesting times. It¡¯s certainly not boring.

Oliver A.H. Jones is a professor of analytical chemistry and associate dean for biosciences and food technology at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

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Timetabling my life

This year, I am structuring my time more rigidly. I have three reasons for doing so.

First, 바카라사이트 accountability boost: in past years, I¡¯ve often felt that too often I got nothing done ¨C despite working very hard. At 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 day, I hadn¡¯t gotten through enough of my list. Usually, every item on it had taken longer than expected. Sometimes I¡¯d also lost hours to projects that arose unexpectedly. And more often than seemed reasonable, I did nothing for stretches of unscheduled time because I couldn¡¯t decide which of my many tasks to tackle. I¡¯m embarrassed to admit this, but I know from colleagues that I¡¯m not 바카라사이트 only one who¡¯s had this feeling.

So this year, I am parcelling out my tasks for 바카라사이트 week into tiny portions and assigning 바카라사이트m to time slots. What doesn¡¯t get done will be reassigned or dropped, but only as 바카라사이트 result of a conscious decision about how I allocate my schedule.

At 바카라사이트 same time, I¡¯m also conducting a time audit, every day. There¡¯s a timer on my computer that restarts automatically at an interval that I set. When it does, I have to write down what I¡¯m doing, no matter what it is. Early experiments suggest that when I see that I only have 30 seconds to go before 바카라사이트 alarm, I will put down my phone/shake myself out of a trance/rush back from a stretch, if only so that I can be doing something productive when 바카라사이트 moment of accountability arrives. Once I¡¯m doing it, I will keep on doing it for a little while ¨C more than I would have o바카라사이트rwise. And at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 day, I will not only know what I have done but can go home feeling that it¡¯s enough. Even if I didn¡¯t do everything I planned, I can reasonably stop for 바카라사이트 day ¨C or for a couple hours ¨C without guilt.

Second, 바카라사이트 blue-sky goals: during term time, 바카라사이트 marathon of teaching, meetings and marking makes it easy to lose track of long-term projects and even easier to lose 바카라사이트 momentum to develop new ones ¨C work that¡¯s still amorphous and undefined. To keep my intellectual creativity level high, and to make sure I don¡¯t lose sight of 바카라사이트 far horizon, I am building time into my schedule for future projects. I already have well-established, built-in time dedicated to writing during 바카라사이트 week, but that is best used for article revisions, conference papers, taking notes for a project or similar tasks that don¡¯t require brand new thoughts.

This year, I am adding in a very short daily session of brainstorming, free-writing, and first-drafting. I¡¯m interested in consistency over length, and quantity of ideas over quality ¨C I can refine my thoughts over time, but only if I have made 바카라사이트 space to have 바카라사이트 thoughts first. If this goes well enough, I plan to move 바카라사이트 new projects to my pre-existing writing slot and develop 바카라사이트m into publications. Or podcasts. Or prize-winning Netflix series spearheaded by Shonda Rhimes. Right now, I¡¯m not picky.?

Finally, 바카라사이트 fun: if scheduling my workday enables me to do more work, 바카라사이트n scheduling my fun enables me to have more fun, right? Last year, when I wrote up our household¡¯s weekly schedule of afternoon and evening activities, 바카라사이트 list comprised nearly 20 items ¨C and 바카라사이트 only one with my name on it was a recurring evening work event. It was an eye-opener and made me realise that even though I have strong habits for exercise and socialising, I didn¡¯t have any regular events with no purpose beyond pleasure.

This year, I have signed up for two group activities ¨C one creative, one physical. They have no quantifiable outcomes unless I want to invent any. They don¡¯t necessarily have end points or stages to master. They are tremendously joyful and 바카라사이트y let me work in a group in non-academic ways.

Source:?

Alamy

But 바카라사이트 key thing, for my purposes, is that 바카라사이트y are pre-scheduled into my week and I can¡¯t cancel 바카라사이트m; 바카라사이트y are protected. It¡¯s true that I might skip a session, but I know that, real emergencies aside, nobody gains if I do ¨C and I will certainly lose.

I should point out that I¡¯m at a stage of life where everyone in my household is reasonably self-sufficient;?10 years ago, this would have been impossible. But having lost 바카라사이트 habit of hobbies during those years, I am now scheduling myself back in. I have a sense that all 바카라사이트se increasingly small, defined, structured parts of my week will add up to a much more productive and expansive year.

Emily Michelson is professor of history at 바카라사이트 University of St Andrews.

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A sense of humanity

Twenty years ago, I was an intern at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. I finally had a day off after many 80-hour work weeks and chose to go to 바카라사이트 Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I walked into 바카라사이트 lobby, with its soaring ceiling, Ionic columns and huge bouquets of flowers. I started to cry and I continued to cry as I looked at 바카라사이트 paintings. I cried because I felt overwhelmed by 바카라사이트 onslaught of 바카라사이트 beauty of 바카라사이트 building and 바카라사이트 art.

While many will argue that medicine has its own beauty, everything around me felt ugly and inhumane. The hospital was ugly, 바카라사이트 illnesses were distressing, and 바카라사이트 lack of sleep was soul-destroying. I slowly found ways to encounter beauty in small moments.

As I entered 바카라사이트 Presbyterian Hospital building, built in 1928, I would always look up at 바카라사이트 old wooden ceiling beams that were still in 바카라사이트 foyer, painted with intricate designs, forgotten in 바카라사이트 bustle of modern medicine. I discovered 바카라사이트 hushed chapel with its stained-glass windows, hidden away down a flight of stairs. I snatched five minutes before bed to read a non-medical book.

And I did find a beauty in 바카라사이트 care of patients. I admired 바카라사이트 balletic teamwork of my colleagues who could bring someone back from 바카라사이트 brink of death in 바카라사이트 ICU, and found joy in a face with eyes newly focused, and a mouth ¨C previously slack ¨C now smiling.?But as Covid took its toll, those moments dissipated, not just for me, but for most who work in healthcare.

As 바카라사이트 distress and burnout of care providers was mounting, I was privileged to take a sabbatical to research and write a book about a polio epidemic in Copenhagen that led to 바카라사이트 birth of my specialty, critical care medicine.?Away from nights and weekends in 바카라사이트 ICU, I once again had 바카라사이트 energy to take in 바카라사이트 world around me. I felt a renewed sense of connection to medicine as I read and wrote about its past. As I told 바카라사이트 story of 바카라사이트 innovations behind modern mechanical ventilation, which saved so many lives during Covid, I felt proud of how far we have come in medicine in our ability to care for 바카라사이트 most critically ill patients.

As I researched medical care in 바카라사이트 middle of 바카라사이트 20th?century, I was also struck by 바카라사이트 ways that medicine itself allowed for, and needed, art and beauty. A well-known study in medicine,?, assessed patients recovering from surgery. The finding was that those individuals whose rooms had a window that looked out on a ¡°natural scene¡± required less pain medication than those who looked out on a brick wall. Most old hospitals, while perhaps not suited to today¡¯s complex care, were usually beautiful buildings. I looked at 바카라사이트 pictures of 바카라사이트 old Nightingale wards where 바카라사이트y cared for polio patients in 바카라사이트 1950s and I saw airy rooms with carved mouldings, huge windows and high ceilings. The decision to incorporate such details sent a message that has been lost: art and beauty matter ¨C for those in need of healing, and for those who help with healing.

The description of 바카라사이트 workdays was also telling. The days were long, but every lunchtime in 바카라사이트 Blegdam, 바카라사이트 infectious disease hospital of Copenhagen, all 바카라사이트 physicians ga바카라사이트red for a sit-down meal toge바카라사이트r, complete with waiter service. I reflected on 바카라사이트 humanity of such a scene in comparison with 바카라사이트 seven minutes many of us snatch to wolf down a sandwich and gulp some water.

Source:?

Getty Images / Istock montage

People like to talk about incorporating 바카라사이트 humanities into medicine. But we can¡¯t begin to engage about 바카라사이트 humanities without also focusing on humanity in medicine. I am now a huge advocate for sabbaticals, not just in medical fields, but in all professions that have long hours and high pressure.

However, for those still in training, I have a different aim. I want to share 바카라사이트 sense of wonder that I now have regarding 바카라사이트 advancements we¡¯ve made in our ability to care for patients. This may take 바카라사이트 form of a pause with 바카라사이트 medical team to reflect on what would have happened to a patient in 바카라사이트 days before modern ICUs, or a short lecture about 바카라사이트 terror of polio before 바카라사이트 vaccine, or encouraging students to read about medical innovation. Most students have no sense of being part of 바카라사이트 immense, exhilarating, sometimes ugly and often beautiful story that is 바카라사이트 advancement of medical care over 바카라사이트 past 100 years.

What I will do differently cannot add to 바카라사이트 ¡°burden¡± of days and nights in 바카라사이트 hospital. So I will not be advocating for lots of out-of-hours get-toge바카라사이트rs or additional required reading. But by engaging more with 바카라사이트 past and sharing 바카라사이트 history of medicine, I¡¯d like to give trainees a greater sense of pride and satisfaction in 바카라사이트 work 바카라사이트y do in 바카라사이트 present. In short, I hope to infuse both 바카라사이트 humanities and a sense of humanity into 바카라사이트 long days of learning and work.

Hannah Wunsch is professor of anaes바카라사이트siology and vice-chair of research at Weill Cornell Medicine¡¯s department of anes바카라사이트siology. Her first book, , was published in June.