Time Management and Family Lifeor

Work Life Satisfaction

Anne CondonU. British Columbia

Guiding principle: know yourself

• what’s really important for you to do over the next few years?

• what’s important to those you care about?• what do you love to do?

Using time effectively

• creating and maintaining a strong research program takes lots of focus

• much of your research time may be devoted to your students

• there will be many distracting chores!

Using time effectively: build a great team

• everyone is different! be prepared to adapt• set clear expectations and provide feedback

(preparing for meetings, managing deadlines, etc.)• prepare to ensure meetings are productive• respond promptly to others’ needs (letters of

reference, award nominations, writing feedback ..)• foster peer support• celebrate successes

• when things go wrong: act promptly; seek advice, support from mentors

Using time effectively: manage the chores

• in service tasks, focus on ways that YOU can make a difference

• a strategy for learning to say "no”: say "let me think about it”; then assess and consult

• beware of wanting to please, CV padding• when you do say "yes", be clear up front about

the scope of the job and the level of commitment you can bring

Using time effectively: my favorite strategies

• set aside concentrated periods for the important stuff• to use short time chunks effectively: when leaving a

task, make a note about what exactly you’ll do when picking it back up

• downtime is good

it’s possible - and very rewarding - to have a great family life and a great career

Family time

Family time

Family time

• find a caregiver you really trust, especially during the early years

• learn the benefits of parallel processing (oversee kid homework crises while cooking)

• foster kids' independence in daily tasks• share responsibility around the house • figure out which things can "give" - no need for

perfection!

On balance

• some things we spend time on are very fullfulling, others are draining – there has to be at least as much of the former as the latter

• we can do everything we want in life, but not all at the same time

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein