Dr. Bridget’s Postdoctoral Diary
We had much amusement in the office today over a brilliant ‘Bridget Jones’ pastiche by Kat Arney. I was supposed to be job-hunting on Nextwave, and looking for tips to make myself utterly irresistible to potential employers. Instead, I spent the next 20 minutes laughing my head off, and then forced my Postgrads to stop work too while I impressed on them how hilarious it was.
This passage in particular struck a chord:
Search the Internet for exciting conferences in exotic locations. Very enthusiastic about the prospect of a meeting in Honolulu when I remember that I have (a) no travel money left and (b) no results. My boss points out that I went to a very interesting conference last year in Dorset. Argue back that the windswept vistas of the South Coast are no match for the sun-kissed beaches of Hawaii. She retorts that I should be interested only in the quality of the science and anyway, the funding body thinks that £46 for a return train fare is more than enough to spend on me.
And this…
Number of tasks on to-do list as of Monday morning: 36 Number of tasks on to-do list as of Friday evening: 27 Distance by which frontiers of science have been pushed back this week: 0.73 mm
It might only be funny if you’re a scientist, but there’s probably something that most people can identify with.
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I project manage software projects, and can relate to that article. This line especially seems relevant "Pretty sure I must have made progress somewhere, but sometimes you need a micrometer to measure it.". I make to do lists as well, and every time one gets finished another leaps into the breach to keep me from finishing.----- dave m: I hate it when that happens! Whenever I tick something off my to do list, I almost flinch because I know that I'll immediately get a phone call or a email giving me something else to do.
by bsag @ 09/01/2004 8:01 pm • Permalink •
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I use my "to do" list more as a "have done" list. If I get a task done that was not on the list ... I whack it on ... and immediately strike it off ... keeps the satisfaction levels high!
by Julie @ 10/01/2004 6:01 am • Permalink •
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