Recently, several "post-90s scholars" have passed away one after another: Hu Yuefeng (34), an assistant researcher at the Institute of History of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Zhang Jiajia (33), an associate professor at the School of Earth Sciences at China University of Petroleum (Beijing), and Liao Zihao (31), an assistant professor at the School of Marxism at Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen...... If you count the "post-80s" scholars who died young, it is even more.
Author丨Zheng Lulin (Associate Professor, Shih Chien University, Taiwan, Former Associate Researcher, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica)
The picture comes from Mr. theaffairs.com Zheng's column
Here is the original text:
Recently, the work pressure is high, there are so many foreign affairs that I can't find much time to take care of my research, plus it rains almost every day outside, and there is less exercise, and the whole person is not in good spirits. So, let's talk about research that seems to be non-academic at first glance.
This is actually a cliché, but what I want to say is that in order to study life, we must pay more attention to the sound of the body, develop the habit of exercise, and maintain good health.
I'm really "well deserved" to say this, because my body has had a whole collapse for a few years, and almost all the problems you can talk about have been committed, and the whole person once had almost no resistance, and the days of sickness were more than normal days, and then all the way spiraling and getting worse, from the high productivity of an average of 2.5 articles a year before being promoted to associate researcher, all of a sudden fell to zero for several consecutive years, and it was not until last year that it gradually returned to normal, and this year I hope to return to the previous level.
I'd like to share a few tips on health.
01
Mental work is also labor
First of all, researchers often make the mistake of idealism, always intuition that we are not blue-collar workers, and we do "spiritual work" (even if we are not "spiritual aristocrats"), but in fact, we are also laborers, and we will also have occupational diseases.
I read at the screen for a long time and ended up blinding, which is an occupational injury in the standard industry.
My body has been alerting me, but I'm still paralyzed, because I can't imagine how bad it will be, and I always feel that perseverance is important, and I don't know that my body has its limits.
02
Sitting, no healthier
Again, I would like to remind you that higher education is not as intuitive as you think, because you are healthier because you have a healthy concept or are healthier because you have less physical effort. In fact, apart from the lack of education and primary education, which is the group with the worst health, the junior college is the healthiest, and the health of the group from college to doctorate is deteriorating (this is the finding of my colleague Zhang Xiangyun, I believe it is after controlling for variables).
I don't know why, but I can be sure that the working hours and work density of researchers are much higher than expected, and it can even be said that research is a constant work without rest, at least for me, a person who loves research, even if you get off work, your head does not follow the work, even if you are on vacation, your thoughts are not on vacation.
I remember hearing people say that ball games such as tennis are suitable for researchers, because you can't think about learning when you receive the serve, and you are forced to let go.
We may work in a bright, unregulated environment, good air, and "not sitting" all day, but that's really a myth.
In the case of eyes, which I have experienced first-hand pain, God did not create our eyes, the windows of our souls, to make us look at a screen. I remember one thing, the eyes are designed to stand in the position of the sun (light source) to see things together, the light is dim and can't shine on things (the sun goes down), our eyes will rest, and decades are not enough time to evolve Our eyes that have not changed much from the Stone Age to the present have become "computer eyes".
But the computer screen is to shoot the light directly against the eyes, and how bad you say it is, no matter how bad you say, it is impossible to use the eyes correctly. I used to want to say environmental protection, try not to print out, just look at the pdf file on the screen, and stay up late every day, get until one or two o'clock in the middle of the night, open my eyes at 6 o'clock in the morning, recover a little and get up to see again, and finally it will be scrapped.
The moment God helped me close the window of my soul that night, I still feel very painful to think about it, and I regret not treating my body well.
Again, I also had a herniated disc problem, but it has not been completely resolved.
It's really painful to be serious, it's not standing, it's not sitting, it's hurting, the whole person is about to hang, it's hard to even hold your body, you really wish you were a light piece of paper.
I once went through three months of rehabilitation, and then I quickly accidentally strained again, and then another three months. I've tried a lot of methods, and I've kept repeating them back and forth, making me nervous and afraid to move.
Now, after a few years of trying and fumbling, there are a lot fewer problems.
I know that the fundamental solution depends on the strengthening of the waist circumference muscles, and I also know how harmful the health killer of the body is to "sitting". Judging from the amount of time I sit every day as a researcher, I am basically engaged in chronic suicide beyond the limit.
You can look up the data on how "sitting" is harmful to your health, for example, I have this book "Golden 20 Minutes of Exercise" (a very good book), please go directly to the conclusion and you will know what to get up and walk every 30 minutes, 40 minutes, absolutely listen to it as a lifesaver.
Take the two things of low back pain and eye disease, and give you a painful negative teaching lesson from my own example, hoping to make you aware of the need to be careful to avoid the trap of occupational diseases.
Many people know that doing research requires a high degree of self-discipline, being able to tolerate loneliness, and so on. However, there is a physical material bottom layer in the spiritual upper layer of learning, but it is often ignored by us, which requires us to use a high degree of self-discipline, develop fixed and good living habits, sleep, eat, and exercise one by one to hit the normal track that can be long-lasting.
My conscience suggests that you lay a healthy foundation for your body while you are still young, and then you will have a good academic life when you sprint to your own.
03
Rest is at the heart of productivity
Finally, I want to dispel the myth that "busy but not time" is the thing.
I've learned a lesson now and understand the principles of good health, but after all, I've broken my body once, so I can say that it's not as good as before. I used to get it until 12 or 1 o'clock at night, and at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning, I opened my eyes and continued to work hard after a little energy. Now, I get up at 6 o'clock every morning, often go out and run 3-4 kilometers to come back to take a shower, call my family to get up, prepare to take my son Kaya out before 8 o'clock, and the two of us take a bus to the kindergarten, and then I take a bus to the Academia Sinica. The car was sold early after the eye problem, so it took about 3 hours a day to take the bus from Taipei's Old West District to Shanbian Nangang in the East District.
Unless I have a special situation, I strictly require myself to have dinner with my family, and basically don't do much after dinner, because my eyes can't stand staying up late, if I can't sleep before 10 o'clock, it is difficult to get up early the next morning, so now almost at night is to accompany the children and wives, to help share the housework, this is the value of life that I know to cherish after a serious illness, and it is the real quality time (quality time).
How much time do I have left, after deducting lunch time, and there are many judging, oral exams, and so on? As for the weekends, I almost help with the children, and most of the time is spent sharing with my family.
Compared to the previous commute by car, staying up late, working overtime on weekends, and having no children, I only have about 1/3 of my working hours. Frankly, considering the condition of my eyes right now, I couldn't read for too long and needed a lot of rest. Hearing this, you'll be like, Jerry's done, isn't it?
Well, the last incredible thing I want to tell you in this article is that I have found that after many adjustments and adaptations, the current life has not reduced the productivity of research!
In fact, my mental condition is better than before I was sick, and now I am going to the hospital less frequently, and I have not returned to the hospital for more than two years to do disc correction and rehabilitation, this half a year, I should be able to send four journal papers according to the schedule (some have been published, some are reviewing the middle of the response), and then at the same time I am preparing a book writing plan for the second half of the year.
Even people like me, who are "long overdue", can still be as productive as they used to be if they can find a work/life balance. Efficiency, focus, and increased productivity are the fundamentals of research, and that requires a healthy body to back it up!
If you hadn't gone through this physical exertion, you would have known from the beginning that you had "finally understood" the unforgettable truth that you have "finally understood" today, what kind of rich and beautiful life would it be? But you, think about it, my many "ifs" are not your future that is still healthy and your research life is still waiting to unfold! If you know how to take care of your body.