I got some exciting press for a current project, but I’m a little too embarrassed to enjoy it because it’s on a project I’m barely halfway through. That’s part of a larger pattern I’ve found in myself in which I talk more about stuff that isn’t done or isn’t even started, and I don’t have as much out as I’d like.
I feel like I’m getting ahead of myself, but maybe I’m wrong and you should be even more like me than me. If that’s what you really want, here is my backwards guide to doing science:
- Get good press coverage, then
- publish your research,
- figure out what your message is going to be,
- interpret your data,
- analyze your data,
- collect your data, and finally
- plan out your study.
That last step is very important. You should always carefully plan out your studies. And if you think this whole thing is totally backwards, well that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
