The evolution of my work and days

My work days have hanged since the days of my PhD.

First of all, there is the overall structure of my days that is different. I tend to get a bit of an earlier start when I am in Ecuador (either in the office, or by getting a early workout in), whereas during my PhD I used to start my work days around 8 am and only very seldomly got a workout in before that (I used to go in the evening after work instead).

When it comes to the end of my day, nowadays I often have to leave early to pick up my daughter from her extracurricular activities. During my PhD, I could stay as long as I needed to. Nowadays, I often do a few more tasks in the evening after my daughter goes to bed.

In terms of the contents of my work, these are the main changes I’ve observed over time:

• I have many more meetings than before.
• I receive many more emails.
• I juggle more projects at the same time.
• I supervise the research of others.
• I teach, and I’ve been teaching a broader range of courses and topics over the years.
• My authorship has changed: I now write both single-authored papers as well as take the role of coauthor on the paper of my PhD candidates.
• I find it harder to find large pockets of undisturbed time to focus on my research.
• I’m less inclined to volunteer for every single thing than before.

These are some of the main differences. Certainly, my work days feel quite different from the way the felt during my PhD. I certainly need to rely more and more on the systems that I developed to make sure I got all my ducks in a row and that I don’t drop the ball on anything (which still happens, but I try not to drop the ball when it comes to my students in the first place and my research and papers in the second place. Admin, email overload and service emails tend to be the things I get delayed on).