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Amongst all these up-beat posts, here is one about working hard.
When I meet somebody, the first question is 'what do you do?' and depending on how playful I am feeling, the second question is 'is there any life lesson you would like to impart to me?'
Okay, just in case you start to think I've gone off the deep end, I don't ask the second question right off the bat too often. However, if the person is older, or smart, or seems wise, and seems friendly, that question may come up.
Most people don't have the answer at the tip of the tongue. But I think that most people have a life lesson they are working through at the moment. Something that occupies their minds on a daily basis. Something that could really help a stranger out.
So this week, the issue on my mind is 'splitting work up into manageable chunks.'
All you time-managers out there, this post may not be for you (feel free to keep reading, though).
See, for as long as I can remember, I have been a procrastinator. I could always start an assignment at 10pm the night before it was due, and have a finished project for the next day. That habit has done me well for my life until just a year or so ago.
A year ago is when I started my post-doc training. I read textbooks and journal articles and make presentations in addition to performing the 8 am - 5 pm. That is when I realized, I just plain ran out of time. There was no way for me to get though (and remember) 40 pages of dense textbook if I started at 10pm. There was no way I would get though the book chapter, journal articles, and presentation if I left all of them until Sunday.
Of course, I got faster at completing my required tasks.
However, the next thing I learned, was to split up my tasks. Start the book chapter on Saturday and read a little at a time during the week, read the journal articles (while at the beach), work on the project long before it was due. So I'm not a saint. I don't necessarily even do all those things now, as I type. But this weekend, it's been brewing in my mind.
I am writing my very own journal article. It was due to my mentor last Wednesday. On Monday, I got sick and got the deadline postponed.
1) If I was so clever about budgeting my time, maybe I could have gotten the draft in by the first deadline.
2) If I don't turn in a perfect draft by this Wednesday, I will get chewed out.
So, that's apparently my incentive. And all weekend long, I have been doing a couple hours here, a few hours there--and don't you know it, it's coming along. I'm not quite there yet, but just after the next few sentences, I'm heading into work again. Hopefully all these pieces I am working on will fall into place.
So, if anybody asks you for some life advice, give it some thought--you might just have something that could help somebody else. I want to know. I try not to learn lessons on my own.