Workshop: The Dark Side of Science – Procrastination, Perfectionism, Doubt and Dead Ends

As scientists, we know all about the recent advances in our field of study and we conduct and contribute excellent research every single day. As we transition from a master student to a PhD student and later to a postdoc, we face a steady increase in responsibility, workload and external or personal expectations. From outside our aims and to-dos are clear. We know what to do. We are well aware of the time available for all scheduled tasks, but we still find ourselves now-and-then doing anything rather than what we planned or should do (procrastination). Or, we keep re-writing and re-phrasing our latest draft, an Email to our supervisor or improve a vector graphic without actually finishing it (perfectionism). At the end of these days we reflect on everything that we should have done but did not accomplish and feel disappointed. If these days occur more often we begin to feel stuck and lost (doubts & dead ends) which leads further to a decline in productivity. Indeed, one could call procrastination, perfectionism, doubt and dead ends “the dark side of science”.

This interactive workshop provides insights into the phenomena of procrastination, perfectionism, doubts and dead ends. In the first part, participants learn how to identify them in their own thinking and work-life. In the second part, a variety of short, mid and long-term strategies and tools are presented that help dealing with the dark side of science. Participants would be able to try these strategies on prime and individual examples and finally create a plan of action for the next time they are confronted with procrastination, perfectionism, doubts or dead ends. The knowledge gained during the workshop is also applicable in the future.              

Date and Time

June 6, 2019 - June 7, 2019

Location

Location: Seminar room Alexander Fleming, Leibniz HKI