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Category Archives: Organization of a scientist
Do you have time for recess?
Usually I read a novel, or listen to a book on tape or music on a flight. I listened to a bit of German for fun today, flying again to Washington D. C.. The flight is a bit long so … Continue reading
What are your goals for fall?
Sometimes I think I could easily fritter all my time away if I don’t have a clear list of goals. If I don’t remember what I want to figure out, I might just do all the little tasks others throw … Continue reading
Posted in Managing an academic career, Organization of a scientist, Your lab group
Tagged goals, planning, reflection
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Let need, not ego, matter for allocating research space
Remember your first bench? Was it a place to dump field gear? Was it 6 feet of black magic with shelves above for carefully labeled and dated orange-capped bottles? Did you line up your vortexer with your pipetteman rack? Did … Continue reading
Posted in Department politics, Life in a biology department, Organization of a scientist
Tagged benches, laboratory, politics, sharing, space, status
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No deadline more than a week away really works
In our trimesterly meetings with grad students and postdocs we have been discussing the importance of personal deadlines along with larger goals. One person said she liked deadlines, and would appreciate it if we set them together and then reminded … Continue reading
Why I didn’t answer your email
Do you know that personality characterization called OCEAN, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism? It is supposedly much more supported by research than the simple extraversion-introversion espoused by that Quiet book, and is not as random as the Myers Briggs … Continue reading
Posted in Managing an academic career, Organization of a scientist, Social interactions
Tagged Agreeableness, Big Five personality traits, communication, Conscientiousness, email, Extraversion and introversion, Myers Briggs, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Neuroticism, Personality test, professors, tasks
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Why are deadlines so important?
I know I would have finished the paper I’m currently writing if I had a firmer deadline. I know I’ll finish the next one on time that does have a deadline. I’m not a procrastinator, so why do I need … Continue reading
Posted in Daily routines, Managing an academic career, Organization of a scientist
Tagged completion, deadline, efficiency, perfectionism, task
2 Comments
Attributes that make getting tenure easy: curiosity, effectiveness, and conscientiousness.
Curiosity may be the most important characteristic of a successful academic. It is something that motivates us a lot in our earliest days, but sadly, many get over it. Nurture your curiosity for a successful academic career in both … Continue reading
Great irresponsibility, or great organization?
Sometimes it is easier to just do whatever tasks stream at you through the incessant flow of email than to work on the conceptually difficult, important, long term research papers. At other times you want to scream and throw things … Continue reading
Sociobiology 