Picking up skills. Is that what you do all your life? Now I am picking up researcher skills. How to read, analyse and use the material to do my paper. How to interview people. How to manage my research. Yeah, well I had some of the skills before and could use them again, because I had interviewed people before (or so I think) and I have managed before (or so I think again) but not when I was researching, so it is different now. A lot of the time you have to relearn and redo, because you take it for granted before. It was by the side, or almost a hobby. And most of all, it was not done to inform on my PhD which I need to convince my examiners, so that is the difference! It is a lonely journey, and it makes you peel yourself layer by layer to the bare bones. So much introspection going on about yourself that you reckon you are researching about yourself and not the research topic! If you do not do that, you may come across some problems based on denial. So be courageous.