It’s that spooky time of year when you start to think, “Can I really get all of this done before the holidays?” Don’t worry, you’ve totally got it! Remember that saying no is a wonderful way to shorten your to-do list, and put your tasks on your calendar right away so that you can see how committed your time is already.
Study Thyself
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.
Shut Up And Dance
I hope that August finds you rested, rejuvenated, and ready to tackle the real new year- September. This month’s musings stem from a recent lunchtime conversation with a lovely colleague. She was talking about how to streamline her life to enhance her effectiveness. (As an aside, I’ve noticed that this topic seems to be top-of-mind for the most productive people I know!) She asked me what action has most improved my productivity in recent memory, and my own answer surprised me – returning to dance classes.
Start-and End-with the Basics
Time away has led me to reflect on some of the basics of work. I recently listened to an episode of the podcast HBR Ideacast called “Basic Competence Can Be a Strategy.” It is based on professor Raffaella Sadun’s study of private companies that demonstrates that the vast majority do not meet minimum standards for competent management. Many of her observations hold true for academia as well, and I love the idea of doubling down on competence…
No #fakenews here!
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.
Do the Write Thing
Hope this message finds you in full spring mode! My dear friend and walking partner Diana talks about the “hundred days of May,” because there is always so much going on! Between holidays/family birthdays, the end of the school year, the push to get work done before the summer, and conference travel, I feel maxed out, and I bet you can all relate.
When Opportunity Keeps On Knocking. . .
Hope this message finds you thriving! I’m looking out the window at the rain and wondering when it will start to feel like spring. This month’s theme is inspired by two recent meetings with mid-career faculty, who are in the position of being asked to do many more things- mentor a junior person, give a talk, teach a class, take on a new project or role- than are humanly possible. Talking with them forced me to crystallize my framework for deciding whether to add something new to my plate. I’ll walk you through questions in the picture, with a recent example from my own career decision-making.
Of Mice and Men
Hope this message finds you well, perhaps emerging from the winter tunnel. This month I want to share some recent thoughts about how to manage the unexpected things that collide with your best-laid plans. Sometimes an unexpected opportunity comes along- it could be a funding opportunity with a short turn-around, an invitation to give a talk, or a special issue in a high-impact journal that fits with your work. At other times, your bandwidth shrinks, because you or someone in your family is sick or needs you, or maybe a collaborator or staffer leaves and you have to figure out how to get the work done. I struggle with this myself, and have made lots of mistakes in trying to reconcile plans with reality. I’ve organized these ideas by timing- what you can do to prevent surprises from breaking your plans, what you can do in the moment, and then how to look ahead when you see that a disruption will be ongoing. I would love to hear more strategies from all of you!
There is an "I" in "team"!
It’s February already! Many of us feel discouraged at this time of year. By now our new year’s resolutions have lost their novelty but not their challenge, and it can be difficult to keep up the momentum. Winter weather doesn’t help either! If you’re having difficulty keeping your resolution, check out this interview with my friend and colleague, Dawna Ballard, PhD, a communication scientist at UT Austin. I appreciated her point that our bodies are not in an energized, new-beginning kind of mode in winter, at the time of the Western new year. She notes that most traditional cultures celebrate the new year either in fall or spring, and that these times may better harness our natural rhythms to support change. So, if you’re having a hard time with you latest goal or habit, don’t feel bad. Admit it, re-examine it, and either adjust or recommit from a place of self-compassion.
New Year, New Ideas!
I am writing this email from the snowy comfort of a ramshackle cabin in the woods near Lake Tahoe, and I hope all of you are likewise recharging at the year’s end. It is an opportune time to reflect on the new ideas and practices I tried last year and deciding what to focus on in the coming year. Below I share my best lightning hacks from 2018- each one is easy to implement and has significantly improved my work life. You can think of them like (purely secular) stocking stuffers from me to you!
Mentors and sponsors and peers, oh my!
We are sprinting towards the finish line of 2018, trying to meet our year-end work expectations in the midst of holiday obligations. I find it helpful to remember two things at this time of you: (1) you can’t do everything, and (2) find the fun! I like asking my colleagues what holiday tradition they most enjoy- it reminds us that this time of year is special, if exhausting!
I was recently asked to give a talk about mentorship, which I plan to call “Beyond mentorship and sponsorship: a personal board of directors.” The concept of a personal board of directors is not new (read more here), but it is useful. It resonated with me because it encompasses two key points about mentoring: you need multiple mentors, and you need them throughout your career. Here are some thoughts to get started.
Giving Work Thanks
Hope this message finds you all doing well! I can’t believe it’s November already. With the coming Thanksgiving holiday, it seems appropriate to talk about gratitude at work. Though it seems like an optional, warm-and-fuzzy topic, in reality it’s vital to express our gratitude to colleagues. Gratitude strengthens relationships and imparts resilience, and we could all use more of that at work, right?
There was a New York Times article about the science of gratitude earlier this year that concluded that people appreciate expressions of gratitude (specifically emailed thank-you notes) more than the sender thought they would. This sparked my curiosity and I delved a bit more into the literature. Experimental evidence suggests that the most effective thank-you messages are specific, either because they are tied to an action or event, or because they mention a specific trait that you appreciate. A reflexive “great job” is easily shrugged off whereas, “thank you for preparing such a strong draft that I barely had to edit it,” sparks warm feelings. Interestingly, people who express gratitude also experience a mood boost.
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.
Gooooooaals!
September snuck up on me. The new (school) year is upon us, and it’s a perfect time to reflect on our progress and set some goals. If you’ve ever dipped into self-improvement books or articles, the topic of goals is confusing and overwhelming. Should you make “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” or SMART goals? Or perhaps goals should be discarded in favor of “Implementation Intentions”?
For these purposes, let’s consider a goal to be, as Merriam-Webster would have it, “the end towards which effort is directed.” For example, writing daily is not a goal, it’s a (good) habit. Successfully disseminating your study findings is a goal, and writing every day is the habit/ action that fosters reaching that goal. With that in mind, let’s set some goals:
Timing is Really Everything
Hope you are all having a wonderful summer! Today I want to share some thoughts on time and energy. Many of you have heard me talk about the work of my friend and colleague Dawna Ballard, PhD, a communications scientist at UT Austin. Even if I have told you about her mind-blowing re-conceptualization of time, please keep reading! I have some concrete strategies for acting more in concert with our natural rhythms below.
280 Characters of Summer Homework
I am sending this a bit late because – it’s summer! I’ve enjoyed seeing some of you and meeting others for the first time at our summer Research in Implementation Science for Equity (RISE) program. I was part of a panel discussing social media and academia, and I thought it would be an opportune time to pontificate on this topic. There are many social media beginner’s guides available online (here’s one), and I am confident that all of you can figure out the mechanics. Instead, I hope to share the rationale for using social media, some of my best practices, and pitfalls to avoid. I’ll end by giving you summer homework! (for the new people, aren’t you glad you asked to get these emails?!)
Hang On, Little Tomato!
It’s the start of summer! Vacations and sunshine can mean a lovely slower pace, and it can also be harder to get work done. Continuing the basic productivity theme from last month, let’s talk about when you sit down at the computer to work- and realize 20 minutes later that you haven’t even started. Whether it’s Pinterest or online shopping or Twitter or email, it’s easy to lose time online. I’m going to give you a very simple strategy to avoid procrastination- the Pomodoro Technique.
Thou Shalt Make a List
Take the Elevator!
Hope this message finds you well! I am enjoying spring’s creative energy and writing lots of grants.
This month I want to talk about your elevator pitch. This is a 1-3 minute statement about what you work on. Potential audiences for an elevator pitch include future collaborators, employers, mentees, and funders.
Do you feel resistance at the idea of an elevator pitch? I gave a talk about elevator pitches in my friend’s class last year and here are some common concerns and my responses:
Brand Yourself
Hope this message finds you thriving! This month’s message is inspired by a meeting with a wonderful colleague who was invited for one of our department’s visiting professorships. (I hope I’ve already suggested to all of you that you should always try to get onto the schedule for visiting professors.) He asked me, “What is your brand?” According to my colleague, a brand should capture who you are professionally, not just what you are doing now. This seemed particularly daunting for me since I have varied research and professional interests. However, advice is only good if you act on it, so I started looking into it.