Both of the February-due grants went out.
To loosen up myself, I took some time off during this past weekend. When working on a research project for a while, the brain starts getting somewhat obsessive. A part of the brain keeps working on the project all the time, and it goes on.
It is not necessarily a bad thing. It just is how an art works. But I do find it healthier for my brain to keep a distance from the project once the project reaches a milestone. It is easy to get short-sighted.
Of course I find the project important. I am convinced that it is. It is almost personal. Otherwise, it would be hard to keep working on it for hours, days, and weeks.
Still, having some time off should have a positive effect. After some cooling down, I'll get back to the project with some fresher ideas and fairer eyes for evaluation.
Your anticipation may contradict what nature indicates with scientific objectivity. We need to be aware of it and accept it. This awareness and acceptance is a critical trait that separates scientists (who need to amend their hypotheses when necessary) and religious people (who stick to their dogmas to the end).
Science as a work has many different aspects.
In an academic setting, following four activities are particularly important.
(1) Grant writing (=fund raising) is of course very important. Or, perhaps most critical.
(2) Another important aspect is original research and its dissemination, which is done by research activities in the lab and office, by writing manuscript and/or review, and by publication.
(3) Collegiate and teaching activities are another important aspect.
I am supposed to give an 1-hour lecture for Physiology department lecture series in March, and got to start preparing for it now. I want to pay a visit to my collaborator and discuss the work in near future, too.
(4) Administrative activities. To some extent I want to delegate this to dedicated administrators. But when I work with a team of people, keeping an eye on this aspect is necessary.
Usually, they simply say "Research, Teaching, and Administration". My categorization divides Research into "fundraising" and "research in a more traditional sense".
Depending on your position, expected role, career stage, and season in relation to grant deadlines or to teaching activities, the efforts mix would be different. It certainly helps to know the work and shift effort emphasis from time to time.
