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Britt Berning

Neuroscientist

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Wrapping gifts for my niece and nephews. I love these books by Andrea Beaty! I want my little darlings to know that anyone can be a part of STEM and STEM-related fields.
I will never cease to wonder at the beauty of the central nervous system 😍 The complex architecture of the brain and spinal cord is stunning under the microscope. Histology and microscopy are what got me hooked on neuroscience in the first place and will always form the foundation of my research. These are the carefully mapped atlases that I use to orient myself and find the specific groups of motor neurons at risk in motor neuron disease.
Continuous partial attention. This term was coined by Linda Stone, who worked as a consultant for both Apple and Microsoft, to describe the phenomenon whereby we skim over all the inputs of data we are constantly receiving without paying full attention to any one of them. A little while back it hit me that my ability to focus and engage in deep work had greatly diminished. Juggling too many tasks left me feeling frazzled and disconnected from my work. More recently I've been committed to monotasking, minimizing distractions (email notifications turned off and sometimes whatsapp too!) and batching similar tasks so that I'm not jumping from one thing to another. Another thing I do to maintain focus is to take a real break - carve out space for activities that make it difficult for me to think about work or my To Do list (easier said than done). Yesterday was spent hiking between the beaches with just my partner and my camera. A chance to switch off and be absorbed by the beauty around me. I can feel my mental focus strengthening already.
Holiday time! I finished Lean In yesterday and have just started Thrive. These books have really got me thinking about how to strike some semblance of balance between career and life outside of science, particularly as a woman. Scientists are increasingly expected to be Jack of All Trades, juggling so many things beyond their research publications. It's just not possible to do it all. I'm making a list of my non-negotiables, and a list of things I'm willing to spend less time on (or forfeit altogether) in order to maintain a healthy and productive lifestyle.
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