Random walk

Last years, I have been overworking very much. Life of the post doc researcher is so passionating, but also so pressurizing (due to the lack of permanent positions) that it can bring you to work on evenings after office time, at home in the week-end and days off, reduce your social life, and be toxic for your social relationships, and your family life.

Recently, I got really close to the burn out. I destroyed my health and my body came to hard suffering, and I'm only 32 years old! 

Here is a small note to advise how to not fall into the bad issues.

Kill the toxic habits

• Do not bring work at home, especially on the weekends. I know it's out of reach in the present state of research, but at least don't do that more than twice a month.
• Make at least a 36 hours break at the end of the week. Do not take your Friday evening to work harder. If you need silence and focusing, ask your employer to stay some days at home during the week.
• Prepare the conditions for you to be focused more rapidly. For example: listen regularly to quiet music like classical music (Chopin is perfect for this). Prepare some warm beverage. Tidy the house/room a bit. Avoid surfing on time-consuming website like Facebook. Shutdown the chat systems.
• Learn to catch and stop the "fatal loops" consisting in rotating between for example checking emails, checking news, checking Facebook, checking Gmail, and restarting.
• Check and answer your emails only 2 times a day. If letting the email client open during the whole working time, you could spend the whole day doing nothing productive.
• Never stop doing sport. Every day should be used to make sport. For this, I bought a bicycle (going to work by bicycle would be perfect!), a traction bar (each morning, it wakes you up, and gives a lot of motivation) and setup the app. "30 days fitness challenge" on your mobile to train the rest of the body. If possible at work also.
• Start working when you feel inspired, not before. Make regular short breaks, each hour. Step back from your computer. Make few steps. And come back.

Set your home office

To avoid having a destroyed body after long hours of working, you have to organize.

• Buy a great office chair! It must be perfect for your back, otherwise you will suffer hard. Chairs for gamers are actually made for this purpose. Brands like "Racing Pro" are perfect for this purpose.
• It is also possible to use a device for the feet when touching the floor. It avoids to extend your back when being sat down.
• Adjust the level of the table, especially when arriving into a new office.

When to work?

We are usually overworking inefficiently. Of course, the legal time limit of work is far from being sufficient. But it must be the right amount to stay efficient and to release your creativity. So we have to adapt to use this time adequatly.

Here is a great secret feature of the creative worker's life. Inspiration mainly comes after having rest. Basically, you should work when you are feeling inspired. Otherwise, make sport or other activity, or meet friends (limiting the alcohol by the way). 

To be completed.