"If I’m doing computer work, I definitely have multiple tabs open. And I’m definitely checking a couple websites for no reason while I’m working.

But in the lab, that’s not really the case. I don’t work with a computer in front of me. I have a sheet of paper and a pen, and I have the scale and the pipettes, and I have all the ingredients. It’s very tactile. For that amount of time, I’m not distracted.

That analog practice seems like it would be very grounding.

Yeah, because you could write the formulas on the computer as you go, and that way, you don’t have to switch it over later. But I didn’t learn to do it that way. I learned to do it on a sheet of paper, and for me it’s comforting to do it that way."