Taking the Brain Train – work trips by rail

As part of the project Development of the #DeepTrainWork concept in 2021, Professors Isak Svensson and Desirée Nilsson from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, and Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs, a former colleague at the same department, produced the book Brain train: a guide to green and creative work trips.

The authors wanted to share their experiences with other researchers of ‘deep work’ (being able to concentrate deeply on a difficult task for prolonged periods of time without getting distracted), which can be facilitated on train trips, particularly long ones. But their concrete tips could inspire anyone who needs time to work in a more concentrated way while reducing their climate impact.

Air travel is still one of Uppsala University’s main sources of carbon dioxide emissions.

But didn’t our business travel habits change for the better during the pandemic? At least when it comes to their environmental impact?

“At our department, we definitely travelled more before the pandemic,” says Isak Svensson. “During the pandemic, people did travel less, but then business travel went up a bit again. Nevertheless, we can say that travel has been reduced by half per employee at our department.”

How did you come up with this Brain Train idea? And where did the idea of writing a book about it come from?

“For a long time, we had been trying to create space for more deep work at the department,” says Desirée Nilsson. “We started with specific writing sessions. After a while, we began trying to combine deep work and writing sessions with train trips to conferences.”

“Then people started wondering what we were doing and what we meant when we talked about taking the Brain Train,” says Isak Svensson. “We decided to write a book – not based on research but on our own experiences – to share with others.”

The project #DeepTrainWork concept development in 2021 was funded by Uppsala University’s Climate Pot. And the book Brain train: a guide to green and creative work trips became a very concrete part of that project.

It can be difficult to find time for writing and research. This book contains many concrete tips and advice about how to accomplish deep work.

Among these are Shut-up-and-write sessions. What does that actually mean?

“It’s all about scheduling concentrated sessions and using the group – and group pressure – to stay focused,” says Isak Svensson. “That allows you to work intensively and maintain your concentration.”

More motivation when working in a group

Rest breaks and other breaks are important elements in this.

“When you work alone, sometimes you work until you drop, and then you have a hard time getting back into that concentrated mode of working again,” says Desirée Nilsson. “But when you work in a group, you’re more motivated. It’s also fun and social.”

Long train trips present excellent opportunities for writing sessions and deep work.

“It ends up being a writing retreat on wheels,” says Isak Svensson. “It’s a way of upgrading the value of the time spent on travelling by train. A trip to Berlin takes ten or twelve hours, and I can use those hours as a work retreat.”

But are there any disadvantages to working on a train?

“Delays are a challenge of course,” says Desirée Nilsson, “but you just have to adapt.”

“The ergonomics can be a challenge too,” says Isak Svensson, “so we introduced yoga sessions. By taking active breaks, you can avoid getting back pain.”

So the advantages of working on trains seem to well outweigh the disadvantages. What is the best thing about working on a train?

“The opportunity to work in a focused way while you’re travelling,” says Desirée Nilsson. “You do two worthwhile things at the same time, and using your time in this way feels meaningful. For example, I’ve progressed in both my research and in writing articles. And you create a good group feeling. The groups you travel with might be different though, and have different values. Sometimes you travel and work in the context of a project, sometimes with your regular colleagues.”

The book can be purchased from a book store in either Swedish or English. A German translation is also in the pipeline.

“But the Swiss colleagues who are translating the book want to make some adjustments, like removing paragraphs about train delays,” says Isak Svensson. “Because in Switzerland, the trains virtually always run on time!”

Ulrika Hurtig