The most guaranteed way to screw up an experiment is to rush it… Well, that or a hangover, but the latter is beyond the scope of these guidelines.
If you know your window is too small for the procedure you have in mind, then either enlarge the window or do something else. There are always other things that need doing. The procedure will wait until you have time to do it.
Get Wet Lab Tips
- When experiments have to be done quickly because you are using living things or reacting chemicals which will begin to behave aberrantly if left too long, then you still shouldn’t rush. You are much more likely to have a negative effect on the experiment if you rush. Just move as quickly as you can without focusing on speed.
- If you are doing cell culture or playing with small animals, rushing can be particularly detrimental. Your speed could hurt or damage them.
Read Personal Perspective
By the start of the third year of my PhD, the thought of weekend work always filled me with a cold dread. This wasn’t because I preferred to sit at home watching Red Dwarf and eating cheese puffs – though this remains unquestionably true – it was because whenever I worked at weekends I rushed it.
As consistent as my aversion to yellow snow, this resulted in me making obvious and highly avoidable mistakes, which meant I might as well have stayed at home (except for the health benefits of not eating the cheese puffs).
Not labelling things to save time was a key error. Most times I got away with it, but when I didn’t the feeling that I’d basically flushed my weekend down the toilet was not something I’d recommend.
Have you made similar mistakes? Share your experiences or feelings about this guideline in the comments below, or just give it a thumbs up.
