If I could go back to my grad student self and tell her one thing, it would be: have a system to organize your files, data, and project notes. You're thinking a lot about how to generate data, and what those data mean in the broader body of literature, but this is as important.

Do this with your very first projects. Do not wait. Things will only get harder as you go along, until you're basically doing data forensics on a figure you made seven years ago, combing through disorganized files in folders named things like "Desktop Files to Clean Up."

I focused a lot on learning the literature, lab protocols, etc. But I never developed good habits for organizing my files, and it causes me no end of trouble. I am tenured and nearly forty and I am basically like the Junk Lady from The Labyrinth when it comes to this stuff.

On the plus side, though, I just found a letter I wrote to myself ten years ago when I was sick with anxiety because I was worried I'd have to retract my first paper because a prominent person in my field didn't believe my data (it all turned out fine).

It was so nice to realize I have totally unrelated things to be anxious about now (ha!), and that everything turned out okay despite the uncertainty. It was like a big hug from future me that took a decade to arrive, but when I wrote the letter I knew it was coming, so it worked?

Anyway, despite the occasional joys of folder archaeology, please, don't be like me. Develop discipline and purpose when it comes to your data, your code, and your files. Future you will thank you for making good choices.

Fixing this hot mess is going to be one of my summer projects. If you've got any links to posts, classes, or other resources to help folks not be like me, please, share them!