Do not underestimate the urge to procrastinate (by still doing productive things, like learning Mandarin) while pursuing a PhD.
I am not sure if this will be the author's experience too, but pursuing a PhD will often leave you exhausted without any hope of ever finding "the final missing ingredient" to solve the problem you are currently tackling. So turning to entirely unrelated problems, however productive they may seem to outsides, suddenly becomes an attractive alternative in order to procrastinate.
>I find that when someone's taking time to do something right in the present, they're a perfectionist with no ability to prioritize, whereas when someone took time to do something right in the past, they're a master artisan of great foresight.
It is so underrated, that I have been led to put off doing more structured procrastination until I have more time. If more people had told me how great it could be, I would be doing it now!
Probably using a QMK firmware-based keyboard where you can access different layers and shortcuts.
I'm using one right now (though mine runs off ZMK which is similar but wireless) which is a split with just 42 keys. The rest--numbers, symbols, function keys, etc. are all under layers. The layout is dynamic because holding down different keys makes the layout 'change' as you do so. Holding down the left spacebar and pressing 'Z' sends 'F1' to the computer while holding down another key on the right half turns my WER/SDF/XCV keys into a Numpad, etc.
Yes, both keys send the same key code to the computer, however, pabloescobyte said they’re using ZMK, so the left/right space bar distinction is happening on the level of the keyboard controller.
I am currently learning to color grade, am an active bedroom musician, enjoy cooking and learning about food science, and am training for my first half marathon alongside my PhD. The side project thing is definitely real.
I’m not sure it’s procrastination. Years ago, when struggling with maths , I learned juggling ( 5 balls, tricks etc ) and ended up spending quite a bit of time on it every single day.
In practice, it made me feel very good, more relaxed, because I was able to learn something new and make progress rapidly - self confidence was back. The maths soon got unstuck and life became good.
I am not sure if this will be the author's experience too, but pursuing a PhD will often leave you exhausted without any hope of ever finding "the final missing ingredient" to solve the problem you are currently tackling. So turning to entirely unrelated problems, however productive they may seem to outsides, suddenly becomes an attractive alternative in order to procrastinate.