Productivity
Urmimala Sarkar
The Long View

Dear friends,

Does it feel like spring yet? I’m writing this on yet another cold and rainy day, cheering myself up with a cup of tea and wildflower daydreams. I hope April brings sunshine to all of us!

The Long View
Productivity
Urmimala Sarkar
Sound the Retreat

Understanding that we as humans have seasonal rhythms, and taking these into account, has made me both happier and more productive. The pace of work slows down in summer to accommodate vacations, social gatherings, and weather that lures us away from our desks. Instead of setting goals that don’t match this reality, I suggest a work retreat.

Resilience, Productivity
Urmimala Sarkar
Taking Off Our Masks

How are you? It’s been a long, hard pandemic slog, but June- Pride month- is great time to find our optimism. As a Gen Xer, I’ve seen a revolution in my lifetime in how we think about our LGBTQIA friends, neighbors, and colleagues, and it gives me hope that we can make progress towards racial and gender justice. I’m starting to feel like I can see my way through the fog of the past 15 months, and it’s a good time to take stock.

Productivity
Urmimala Sarkar
Switching Costs

This month’s topic was inspired by a mentee question about managing simultaneous deadlines. What do you do when you have multiple papers and a grant to push out the door? How do you efficiently work on more than one writing project? The more senior you become, the more critical it is to master this way of working. I don’t have a perfect solution, but I can share a few strategies.

Resilience
Urmimala Sarkar
Out of the Office

March was a tough month, wasn’t it? This month I want to talk about time away from work. Whether it’s for parental leave or sudden family needs of a less joyful nature, time away can cause stress for the person who taking time off, their colleagues, staff, and mentors. My underlying assumptions: (1) People experience life events in very different ways; (2) It is not a job requirement to have exemplary coping skills/ resilience in the face of life challenges, let alone personal tragedy.

Resilience

Hi 2021

Here we are, at the beginning of 2021. This new year has brought such a mix of emotions. I am stepping into 2021 with great optimism, punctuated with frequent feelings of anxiety, grief, and frustration.

I don’t endorse any “New Year, New You” type of sentiment, but I do think the new year is a time for self-reflection. Even if you don’t want to make resolutions, it’s hard not to think about time passing and your future hopes. Instead of advice, here are some self-reflection questions/exercises for you to ponder. Please consider writing down your answers instead of thinking them. You will be surprised what makes its way from your brain to the page!

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Time in the Time of Coronavirus

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I hope all of you are safe, healthy, and as well as you can possibly be at this challenging time. My father reflected to me recently that he always conceptualized his move to the US from India as similar to his own grandfather’s move from their hometown to the city of Lahore- one day’s journey. Now COVID has stretched the distances between us, and as I hit “send” I hope for the day I can see you in person!

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Reinvention Time

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Dear friends,

It’s July and we are still trudging down a long dark tunnel. It’s a good time to revel in small victories and appreciate positive moments amidst all the sadness and uncertainty. Reach out for the support you need!

Recently several friends have had what I’ve been calling “COVID epiphanies” in which they decide on a major life change.

Control the Narrative

Thank you for still being there. We have been climbing uphill for months now, and I am so humbled to see all that you have accomplished despite all of the heartache and adverse circumstances. I know many of you are working remotely, and even if you are going in to the office, interactions with colleagues are much more limited. Without those hallway conversations, people don’t know day-to-day what is happening with you. Most people doing research, whether faculty or trainees, have needed to change their projects and their plans over the last 3 months, for a combination of personal and logistical reasons. No-one is following the plans they laid out in February!

Emotionally Fatigued

Dear friends, Today I got an email from a mentee titled “emotionally fatigued.” They shared that it was hard to engage on a zoom meeting amidst the unspeakable deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd and the appalling video of Amy Cooper threatening Christian Cooper with police violence. It is so hard to know what to write in the face of this inhumanity. I know many of you felt, as I did, sick to your stomach, reading and hearing about these racist attacks. I also know many people reading this have this grief compounded and amplified by a daily fear about your family’s and your own safety living your life in your own country. It is unbearable.

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Jump Start Your Brain!

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We spoke on Thursday about productivity. To reiterate, I don't expect anyone to be at full steam right now. I can't pretend that I don't feel worry or pressure about our inability to do lab work. I think we all feel that, and it is normal to struggle with expectations when the world has been turned upside down. But going on as if things aren't any different than they were a month ago is not a solution to the problem at hand. We have to take our current situation and see what is possible for each of us. I hope in the weeks to come that we can continue to challenge ourselves to think differently about our work so that we are prepared to hit the ground running. I hope each of us will have the opportunity to better understand ourselves and be more resilient in the face of pressure.

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Do You Feel Fine

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I am writing to all of you before my next planned update because these are such challenging times, and I feel the need to connect. How are you? Are you working from home? Pulling extra clinical time in preparation for a patient surge? Both? I am sending my best to you and your loved ones, especially the vulnerable people in your circle. At this moment I don’t feel like I have advice or answers; I hope my thoughts help you feel seen/ validated.

Fairest of Them All

It’s November- how are you?! I’m footsore from trudging all over the neighborhood and sluggish after the candy consumption! I had a number of work setbacks in October, as did some of my mentees. This is normal, especially if you are trying new things and stretching your capabilities. After spending some time consoling myself by (1) ignoring email in favor of reading novels, and (2) eating all the chocolate, I decided it was time to try a new tool for learning from unwanted results: self-reflection.

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Study Thyself

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Here we are, gearing up for another fast-paced fall! Lately I have had a number of conversations about how to manage transitions. For the parents on this list, our kids are entering a new grade and perhaps a new school this year, and many of us have new roles ramping up at work as well. Here at ZSFG, we’ve had a massively disruptive innovation - implementation of a new electronic health record, EPIC. At this time of year, change is in the air, and it can test our resilience.

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No #fakenews here!

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I feel like I barely made it through the endless conferences, summits, meetings, and convenings of May with my sanity intact (debatable perhaps). The silver lining was finding a lot of inspiration for these emails. So, let’s talk about a frequent companion at professional gatherings- imposter syndrome.

Merriam Webster defines imposter syndrome as “a false and sometimes crippling belief that one's successes are the product of luck or fraud rather than skill.” As I am sure you know, it’s common among high achievers. Women and under-represented minority groups are also more likely than white men to experience imposter syndrome. The extent of imposter syndrome can range from intermittent discomfort to outright paralysis. There is a lot of advice out there about how to overcome imposter syndrome. I want to talk specifically about how I see it play out at conferences.

Surviving the News

I’m late in writing to you again this month, but you have been on my mind. I had planned on writing this email about how to build a great team, and I have changed my mind. We’ll save that for November.  All of you who I see on a regular basis have been shaken by the news cycle, and I have had enough conversations about how to balance our obligations as engaged citizens with our professional and personal imperatives that it’s time to talk about it. Usually I try to advise you from my own experience. In this case, I don’t have any answers. I have been looking around and seeing what strategies seem to be keeping my friends, colleagues, and peers afloat. I’d welcome your thoughts and I will send around any additional insights you share with me.