My other workspace

If you happen to stop by my lab on a typical day, you probably will not find me working at the bench or sitting in front of my desk. 

Now, it's easy to see how this can give the wrong impression to some people (Is he off to get coffee again??).

But in reality, I'm holed up in a small non-descript room with the single most expensive piece of equipment that I've ever worked with. This is our imaging platform. 

I've seen go through a number of upgrades (motorized XY stage, LED illumination system, upgrade to the Z stepper unit and the actual stand itself) and have had some harrowing close calls (managing to drop something INSIDE the stand itself).

I'm quite lucky to have such a capable imaging platform in-house as I was really able to spend time and get very comfortable with microscopy through the years, both for gathering data and acquiring publication quality images. 

Fighting noise with noise - dealing with a loud lab environment

Labs are noisy places and I'm not just talking about the sounds of researchers working and talking (sometimes a lot of talking). Even an empty lab generates a lot of noise and it comes from all the incubators, fridges, freezers, and other doodads that are constantly humming in the background.

This becomes very apparent when you happen to be in the lab when the power goes out. All of a sudden, it becomes eeriely quiet--so quiet that people unconsciously start whispering to each other like they would in a church or an art museum. I work in an open lab floor layout and I can hear people talking and paper rustlings down to both ends of the hall.

Unfortunately, I can't rely on power outages to give some peace and quiet in the lab when I'm trying to write or prepare a talk.

Enter the white noise generator.

I've heard about white noise generators and how a lot of people swear by its ability to generate a cocoon of focus-promoting sound bubble. I gave it a try and, I must say, I am one of those people who actually find that it works. In fact, it works, amazingly well.

I downloaded this app called White Noise Lite on to my phone. I also use one of those noise-isolating earbuds. There's a bunch of different sounds like beach, clock, crickets, fan, etc. I personally find the airplane sound to be the most effective.

With this setup, I've been able to work anywhere: at my desk, in the break room, in the cafeteria. More importantly, my focus stays on for much longer than I normally would. Give it a try and let me know if you have other tips and tricks to staying focused while in the lab.