What if you’re too tired to go to a conference? (Still go!)

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As an academic, have you ever found yourself not wanting to go to a scientific conference? This year, I wasn’t sure I should submit an abstract for the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS), and the closer the date of the conference was, the less energy and motivation I felt to attend it.

I was in the middle of data collection and analysis for one experiment, developing the stimuli for another one, supervising an undergraduate student on a deadline, dealing with unexpected hardware issues in the lab, and writing funding applications. I have to graduate next year. I’ve been working late evenings and weekends for quite some time now, and there is no end to my to-do list. “I am too tired. I have to have priorities. Maybe I should skip this one conference and just continue working on my papers.” Those were the thoughts going through my mind.

I don’t know why scientists rarely talk about this, but conferences ARE exhausting. I’m always impressed by people attending every single talk, poster session, and social event, and staying alert and happy in the process. Or those who go to two conferences in a row (?!?!). Obviously, conferencing is also a lot of fun but being overwhelmed by your everyday academic struggles, it sometimes feels like you’d rather prioritize other things.

In the end, I decided to go to the CNS this year. I loved the one in 2017 and I knew I wanted to see all that still-unpublished research people have been working on since then. Also, Michael Gazzaniga was the keynote speaker this time (= much excitement).

I thought it was just important to take extra-good care of myself. I would fly in on the first morning of the conference and fly back on the last evening, minimizing the lab time lost. I would skip some of the talks and go outside to get some sun and fresh air. And I would cut on the social events. I’d make time for exercising.

Was attending a conference while being that stressed out at work a good decision? Now that the CNS is over and I’m waiting for my flight back home, I know my answer is a definite “yes.” In fact, the lesson I learned this week is that when lab work is just too much, conferencing can be a good way to get you the energy and motivation for all the to-do items  waiting for you back in the lab. Taking real breaks like spending quality time with friends and family is important, but this will not make you feel less academically isolated (is your work relevant and worth doing or are you the only one who really cares about it?). Going to a conference could help here, and this is how:

    1. Good suggestions. Not every person coming to your poster or talk will give you a useful tip, but the ones you get might save you much time dealing with reviewers in the future. I’m especially thankful to that one researcher who suggested an elegant solution today for something I’ve been wondering about for the past few months.
    2. Encouragement. I surely get pep-talked by my friends and family when I’m struggling with work. Basic science rarely has obvious short-term rewards, and that is something that brings me down time to time. But here they are, the small group of people who care about my project and think it’s cool and useful! All at the same conference. Very comforting.
    3. Empathy? A friendly researcher I met at another conference came to my poster and we spent some time catching up and sharing our struggles with data analysis. I asked him whether it’s just me or is everyone about to pass out the first time they see their data because the results are not in line with their predictions, and also not contrary to their predictions, but they’re just… something else (does that sound familiar to anyone?). He laughed and said everyone studying auditory language processing with EEG has had many of such moments for sure (the things our cerebral cortices do when we’re listening to language! oh dear lord). Again, very comforting.

It’s when you’re most overwhelmed in academia, talking to people outside of your research center/department who are interested in what you’re working on might be a great way to regain perspective. This year’s CNS surely was very uplifting, and I’m quite happy I didn’t sit it out.

  1. P.S., Listening to inspiring talks is, no doubt, just as soul-saving as talking to people about your own research: both the expected treats (Gazzaniga) and the new discoveries (Alona Fyshe!) at the CNS were alone really worth coming to Boston!

    Bio: Anastasia Glushko

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    I’m a PhD student in Neuroscience at McGill. Originally from Russia, I started out as a neuropsychologist and worked with kids with special needs. At McGill, I’m using electroencephalography to better understand how people process language and music.

    Website: www.mcgill.ca/neurocoglab/members/doctoral
    Researchgate:  rgate://anastasia

    Mar 27, 2018