I am neurotic about my efficiency in the lab. I don’t like for anything to take longer than it needs to take, so I figure out ways to shave time off of every procedure. I pride myself in being fast at particular tasks and have been known to toot my own horn about it.
One of the technicians is learning a procedure that Awesome Technician and I mostly do. I mentioned a short cut for one step and they marveled at my anal retentiveness -- “you have a protocol for that?”. Yes, I do. Just as I have a preferred sequence for every series of steps, a seamless choreography that lets me get just one more sample done.
AT and I considered why I am like this. I suggested it’s because I have a boring inner monologue, so I have to think about how to get done faster, while she can luxuriate in her interesting and creative thoughts. But it probably has more to do with my overwhelming desire to finish my damn thesis.
11 comments:
Wow! I've never considered whether my inner monologue is cool or not! I think mine is loud and raucous and probably haranguing as well. Sometimes it even bursts out into sound vibrations that other people can hear (yikes!). Maybe the thought of an inner monologue at all just resonates with me tonight - it seems like sometimes I just go on and on... talking to myself in my head.
You sound very task and goal oriented, not that I'm not. And that's good. It's required for completing a thesis. For me, I think I've had a case of mid-winter spring fever ever since sometime in December.
I think that sometimes lab procedures can be longer than they need to be. How do you feel about the scene in Apollo 13 when Ken Mattingly is working on the power up sequence for the Command Module?
I shared Academic's thought about the power up sequence. What I thought when I saw the movie was, "What they didn't already do that?" I do tend to do the same thing that you do. But I tend to be motivated by getting home in time to let out the Dixie Dog.
My inner monologue is both boring AND verbose.
My inner monologue is terribly uncool and dorky. And I too am obsessed with getting things done as efficiently as possible.
My inner monologue is conflicted and whiny.
Mine tends to be nonlinear, a bit weird, and sometimes bursts into song.
Mine sings most of the time. It's a good thing that only I can hear it! But given what some of you have said, I guess it's good that we can't hear yours, either. :)
I think my inner monologue is boring. I'm always thinking about what I need to do next, planning my day, my life, my projects. That is why I enjoy drinking, it's livens up my inner self.
I'm the same way about lab protocol and it started when I worked at a bakery. I had a certain way to do everything and obviously my way is the best and most efficient way. I got picked on there for being so bossy (even when I was the ast. manager). Now when I train people in the lab or in field work I always add that I find this to be the best way but as long as it gets done one can do it how they want.
A lot of times, my inner monologue doesn't really consist of my own conscious thoughts. Instead, I tend to replay conversations I've had with other people in my head. I think it's my mind's way of performing the analysis that it didn't have time to do during the actual conversation.
Mine is just like yours and jennie's. It's go-go-go. But I've always been like that, since pre-thesis and still now, long after-thesis.
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