My new Macbook Pro has arrived!

oh finally!!
I can now start working a bit more seriously! At least I have all the hardware needed :)

I am so excited, and stressed at the same time..!
It's good that the mac is here, but it stresses me out..
My next deadline is a month away, and I have done most of the work for it, but that's not my problem.

I have two deadlines in june, I have probably mentioned them in the past, but they are stressing me out because I need to write a 10k article for the one, and another 10k for the other one, describing the company I work for, and most importantly describing what I have done for my personal development! The personal development bit is OK, its a bit long, but I will be fine. I have attended so many courses in the past 3 months, they should be enough for the next two years :p
The cultural study for my company will be a bit tricky as not a lot will be allowed out of the company...

The difficult bit is the article. It is supposed to be a short project, about 150contact hours. It doesn't have to be directly related to my research, but it needs to be a stand alone project, and hopefully produce an academic paper by writing it up. In my head this short project is quite important, because I would like to be able to publish it, and as the perfectionist I am being lately, it needs to be quite good. Therefore not having a project title yet drives me crazy!


I really don't want to end this post on a stressed note..

So I will continue talking about the two training courses I have attended this week and what I have learned!

I have learned how to sit in an 'alexander technique' position so that I don't need to lean anywhere.
I learned how to breathe when I am stressed; to make myself breathe and relax every time I get panicky.
I also learned that good presentations are usually interactive, and that its not really what it's on the board that matters, nor what you say, but its the way you say it, and your body language.
I learned the 6 characteristics of a good news story.
And I found out that my mouth looks very weird when I talk.
I was also told that I do come across as confident and knowledgable when I want to.
That point was made in both of the courses, therefore I will repeat it.
People's impression of you, is the one you give to them. If you want to come across as confident, keep it in mind, be confident, act 'confident', talk 'confident' and they will definitely think that you are confident!

So whether you like it or not,
Now you have the impression that I am stressed, yet confident that I will succeed...

Is it true though?


Regards,

The Physicist

Its been 6 months since I started..!

I have completed 1/8th of my EngD!

It all feels very rewarding to tell you the truth. There were of course the inevitable low points, were I felt that I did not know enough, or that I was not doing enough work, but making a presentation for your 6-month review does make you realize how much you have achieved already.. Especially if your supervisors agree on that point!

So a lot has been going on in the past 2-3 weeks. I was preparing for my 6 month meeting with all 4 of my supervisors, while some restructuring happened in my company. My main industrial supervisor temporarily moved on to a more challenging role, therefore I had to restructure my presentation to update the person who is taking over, overnight. During that meeting we agreed that I did have something for my first attempt to get public, but the deadline for the conference we chose was 2 days after, so it did take a bit of running about and a lot of word documents being exchanged. But that was submitted in the end. Fingers Crossed now.

At the same time I have been preparing some information for a poster presentation I have to attend. My company wants the poster to feel 'theirs' and not be just like any PhD poster so I am working with a company designer this week. I will post my first digital version here later in the week.

I have also been working on an internal project, which is part of my 'integration with the team'. A project that should be taking a day a week of my time, but usually takes more! It is a the training material for our energy champions in store. For things to look out for, and things to check regularly, so it needs to be interesting but not very technical, which is the challenging bit for me. It looks like I am a bit too technical when it comes to the company, I come across as a geek usually, and hopefully as a clever person that they can't understand :p
That's where The Physicist inside me comes out when not needed! Imagine if I did not work amongst engineers how they would feel.. I am terrified of the thought!

Going back to what I have been working on..

As I need to be writing a report on my personal development, I have been hitting the training courses like mad, believing that I need to complete 30 days of training every year.. I need to complete 30 over the 4 years! #WhatAJoy! Since I have booked them, I might as well attend them, right?
So I am doing some core skills training tomorrow, advanced presentation skills (where they will actually film us and judge our presentation skills) on Wednesday, and then I have some Media training coming up on Friday!!

It shall be an interesting week this one!

As I have been enjoying the sun here in the UK, I will leave with one of my weekend pictures.

Enjoy the sun sensibly!
Try not to get too sunburned, especially without applying a suncream as it might hurt :)

The Physicist