Having a lot of conversations with trainees and jr faculty re: research during COVID. My take:

-Yes, there is a real rat race to do a quick analysis
-No, you don& #39;t have to participate in that.

1/

Work on what you find interesting. Remember, foundational work on key topics (e.g., health services, disparities, impacts of public programs) are important during pandemic times and regular times. Policymakers are still reaching for that stuff to make decisions.

2/

Another thing. You don& #39;t have to feel like you need to say anything on social media on all of this. I logged back into twitter after 1 month and...OMG. Lots of takes. Some are good, some are less useful. Either way, sitting some of it out is just fine.

3/

Mostly, just take care of yourselves, friends, family. Give yourself a break. And when you find time to work (for me, during unpredictable toddler naps) work on stuff that brings you meaning. COVID or not, the world needs still good, careful, creative research.

Fin.