It's the middle of spring break for all of the undergraduate students, and hardcore crunch time for all those graduate students hoping to complete a thesis before they turn 30!  In all honesty, the emotions of a graduate student are much like a roller coaster - on top of the world for discovering something new one day, and down in the dumps for realizing you've bitten off more than you can chew the next. 

I am currently experiencing a low point, wondering if I can ever wade through the heaps of data that I have collected.  I wish I could stop generating more data, but I don't have much of a say in that department.  In an effort to pick myself up, I will share with you my coping tactics:

• break a huge task into smaller, more achievable ones - i.e. wake up (check), shower (check), get to school somehow (check), turn on all instruments and computers needed for the day (check), make sure advisor sees you in the lab (check), analyze something today!
  
• change venues - if the mood in the lab or the office gets you down, relocate to someplace that makes you happy and productive
  
• read something related to your field in hopes of finding inspiration
  
• challenge yourself to write one or two paragraphs of the thesis several times a week.
  
• enlist a lab parter to help with technical problems in exchange for dinner, drinks, or future help with their work
  
• take a break to get some exercise or to enjoy a hobby
  
• finally, be nice to yourself - don't beat yourself up if you don't accomplish as much as you needed to today...But don't be a wuss either.