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jessa

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Everyday Stories, Lived

Work

  • Work from home, electronic screens, and trouble sleeping

    I wrote the original post here in August 2020. It’s been ten years since I first used f.lux (from Windows to MacOS)—I first installed the app on my new laptop as a fifth-year engineering student in 2015. So, if you see me typing on my yellow-lit screen at this hour, you will understand why. Blue Read more

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  • Poking a wasp nest

    When I was young, I learned that poking a wasp nest stirs the wasps, and the next thing you do is run away as fast as you can because the wasps will hunt you down. The lesson I learned was that wasps are not aggressive until you disturb their peace. And who doesn’t like peace, Read more

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  • Pitfalls of spreading yourself thin

    Wanting to do everything all at once will only make your life a frustrating one. I used to be a fan of multitasking because I thought it was an insignia of productivity, being able to finish multiple unaligned tasks in a day, a week, a month, or at least for a whole project duration. Multiple Read more

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  • Quantity vs. Quality: The Publication Paradox

    The nature of science is growing so complex that PhD founders now need large teams and administrative support to make progress, so they go to big firms instead. Thus, we have the paradox of our Golden Age of science. More research is being published by more scientists than ever, but the result is actually slowing Read more

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  • The state of mental ease

    Ease is defined as “freedom from worries or problems.” And doesn’t that sound good? Who always wants to worry and think about problems, right? But ease is also defined as “the absence of effort,” which doesn’t sound so good at all unless all you want is to just get by in life—here today and gone Read more

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  • Appearances can be misleading

    Wealth can be found even in unassuming places—the dirty and the dank, the commonplace and unremarkable. I also learned that aesthetics don’t always indicate a steady and growing business (although some have reached a point where they can afford the luxury and expense of aesthetics while others have to be aesthetically pleasing as a part Read more

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  • A shift in workspace

    Location matters when you want to pursue productive work. I’ve been doing most of my academic and professional activities away from home, setting my state of mind that going home means rest. And so, working from home with familiar faces from childhood feels like working against the current—I have to exert more effort to focus Read more

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