Busy, busy

Daily To-Do List
Only 3/4 might actually get done

Just as I used to think I was busy pre-kids, I used to think I was busy when I was a grad student.  However, as a grad student, I had plenty of time to check my pinterest boards (melissawhayes, if you’re interested!), catch up on my shows (usually The Walking Dead and a couple others), heck, even sit down for an hour to eat lunch with friends.

Now my lunches are more like drive-by casualties.  Walking from one lab to the next, I grab as many bites as I can before the 15 steps between doors is up.  This is how I’ve been starting my day, every day, for the last two weeks (the actual items change daily, this is a rather short list):

I’ve arrived in my new lab in a time of transition.  We will be moving into new lab space in a few weeks, all previous lab members are graduating and moving on in the next few months, and beginning with me, there will be a brand new group of people populating this lab.  Since I am the first part of that wave, quite a bit of the routine lab responsibilities are being placed on me.  So, in addition to the experimental work load, there are the other, more lab managerial duties to manage: ordering, inventory, maintenance, etc.

While some days have been overwhelming, I’m not at all complaining about the amount of things that need to get done.  Lots of things to do keep me from getting lazy and sloppy.  The more time I have to myself, the less motivated I am.  And, since post doctoral training is basically just preparing me for the next step of running my own lab, these are great lessons to learn as far as managing time, prioritizing tasks, and meeting goals.

With that, I’m off to start crossing things off my to-do list!