Career Guide 17 March 2021

Coronavirus diaries

In March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered labs, schools and airports worldwide, Nature asked John Tregoning to share his personal experience week-by-week. Here are his 19 diary entries.

Articles

Coronavirus diaries: hello from home

John Tregoning gets to grips with a new world of work.
- John Tregoning
Career Column10 Apr 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: to be a scientist

John Tregoning finds that lockdown challenges his identity as a scientist.
- John Tregoning
Career Column17 Apr 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: school’s out forever

John Tregoning deals with work responsibilities alongside homeschooling and childcare.
- John Tregoning
Career Column28 Apr 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: creature comforts

John Tregoning tries (and sometimes fails) to resist the distractions of breadmaking and birdwatching while working from home.
- John Tregoning
Career Column1 May 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: all the things we do not do

Lockdowns offer a break from failed experiments, laboratory admin duties, airport check-ins and wearing shoes, says John Tregoning.
- John Tregoning
Career Column8 May 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: we’ll meet again

A brief return to the lab reminds John Tregoning of the limitations of remote meetings and how much he misses his research group, sharing data and chats about rubbish television.
- John Tregoning
Career Column15 May 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: finding a place to have new ideas

John Tregoning finds inspiration in conferences, music and running.
- John Tregoning
Career Column22 May 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: rejection under lockdown

John Tregoning overcomes his peer-review blues.
- John Tregoning
Career Column29 May 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: taking leave, but not holiday

A stressful return to work after two days’ absence forces John Tregoning to prioritize his growing to-do list more ruthlessly.
- John Tregoning
Career Column5 Jun 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: back to the lab again

John Tregoning ponders a staged reopening of his lab on campus.
- John Tregoning
Career Column12 Jun 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: a lockdown letter to myself as a PhD student

A closed lab prompts John Tregoning to reflect on his early career, informed by his 12-year-old son’s response to COVID-19.
- John Tregoning
Career Column19 Jun 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: social media in an unsocial age

John Tregoning confronts social-media jealousy in the age of coronavirus.
- John Tregoning
Career Column26 Jun 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: give your brain a break from science busywork, it deserves it

If you can, escape the plate-spinning frenzy of online meetings by going on holiday, ideally for two weeks, says John Tregoning.
- John Tregoning
Career Column4 Sep 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: a new year for science

John Tregoning reckons with a return to the academic year and an emptier house.
- John Tregoning
Career Column23 Oct 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: Reasons to be cheerful, 1, 2, 3

A second lockdown saps scientific creativity, says John Tregoning, but vaccine news and US election result offer hope at the end of a challenging year.
- John Tregoning
Career Column27 Nov 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: an unexpected career experiment

John Tregoning reflects on a year like no other.
- John Tregoning
Career Column29 Dec 2020 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: making plans in a changing world

John Tregoning grapples with a shifting schedule and a new UK lockdown.
- John Tregoning
Career Column15 Jan 2021 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: Laughter is the best medicine

John Tregoning reckons with gallows humour in a serious time.
- John Tregoning
Career Column19 Feb 2021 Nature
Coronavirus diaries: the COVID 19

John Tregoning reflects on writing 19 weekly(ish) columns during a pandemic.
- John Tregoning
Career Column24 Mar 2021 Nature

Coronavirus diaries

Articles

Coronavirus diaries: hello from home

Coronavirus diaries: to be a scientist

Coronavirus diaries: school’s out forever

Coronavirus diaries: creature comforts

Coronavirus diaries: all the things we do not do

Coronavirus diaries: we’ll meet again

Coronavirus diaries: finding a place to have new ideas

Coronavirus diaries: rejection under lockdown

Coronavirus diaries: taking leave, but not holiday

Coronavirus diaries: back to the lab again

Coronavirus diaries: a lockdown letter to myself as a PhD student

Coronavirus diaries: social media in an unsocial age

Coronavirus diaries: give your brain a break from science busywork, it deserves it

Coronavirus diaries: a new year for science

Coronavirus diaries: Reasons to be cheerful, 1, 2, 3

Coronavirus diaries: an unexpected career experiment

Coronavirus diaries: making plans in a changing world

Coronavirus diaries: Laughter is the best medicine

Coronavirus diaries: the COVID 19

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