Managing Joy

The Analytic Hub Leadership Team held our first retreat this weekend. After checking-in to the hotel, we checked-in with each other. We laughed. We told stories. We ate well. We took naps. We wrote and we got our agenda accomplished. We made it a point to practice what we preach. We believe that It is possible to get the important business done without the stress and pressure dictated by the grind culture, endemic in academia. This is easy enough at a beachfront hotel but what about in real-life. So, this week we are back at work, sharing with you and our CareFull Scholars program what we have learned about the four essential types of management and how we would like to move forward using them. We begin a conversation on the structures of support for a productive academic career and satisfying life with a focus on the Pomodero method of 25 minutes writing and 5 minutes break. Both the the 25 minutes of focus and the 5 minutes of breaking are essential to our prescribed structures of support. The following four are what we will practice together in the weeks to come. Time management- A structure of support that helps you keep track of external obligations and necessary activities that take place during your working day. Task management- A structure of support that provides a list of items that need to be accomplished by a particular due date. (All items are given a due date, even if it is flexible). Idea management- A structure of support that lets you keep track of inspirations, intuitive nudges, whims of fancy, possible ideas that are related to your important tasks or interests but not needed or useful immediately. Me Management- The method used to keep your systems of support in working order so that work is not disruptive to the equilibrium of the other important aspects of your life that bring your joy (ie. health, spirituality, relationships, hobbies etc.) This last one, Me Management is where we begin. We will consider this thought together: “You can work at something for an hour and enjoy it. You can work at something and finish it and enjoy it. You cannot finish working on something in an hour and enjoy it.”