Experimental Error: OMG, So Many Science Careers

By Adam Ruben

Last month, I spoke on two different career panels to roomfuls of young scientists. Every time a student raised a hand to speak, I noticed they all had the same question about jobs in science: “May I have one, please?”

As general as the panelists tried to keep their advice, the questions had a predictable undercurrent: Those aspiring young scientists didn’t just want to find out what it was like to work in science. They wanted us to say, “Okay. You win. I’ve got 50 open positions, and I’ll offer them to all of you today. Who wants health insurance?”

For example, there was the classic (and, in my experience, largely useless) question about how we each found our current jobs. I could tell that the students really wanted to hear stories about how we noticed a posting on Science Careers or Monster.com, answered an ad, and survived competition with 200 random applicants - because that’s their own best idea for how to land a position. Instead, each of the panel members talked about how we found our own careers through serendipitous meetings, friends-of-friends, and good old blatant nepotism.

And so we lectured to disappointed students - some of whom had actually come equipped with stacks of resumes - telling them how great our lives are, what a typical day at work entails (which was the opportunity for each person to say, “At my company, there is no typical day!”), and how they might find themselves in similar careers, most likely by killing us and taking our jobs.

What did impress me, though, was the breadth of careers available to scientists. Even though none of the panelists showed up looking to find new employees, apparently our science training prepares us for a number of semi-related careers beyond the usual few. For example:

Academic scientist

If you like grant writing, writing grants, and obtaining grants via writing, you may enjoy life as an academic scientist. You’ll also experience the thrill of teaching overly broad, university-mandated survey courses (“Introduction to Biology, Chemistry, and Physics Without Algebra”), flexible work hours (You work 22 hours a day, but you pick the 22 hours!), and doing the Tenure Tango (“You put your left foot in, you take your left foot out, you put your left foot in the grave.”).

Читать далее >>

Toss Productivity Out

Post written by Leo Babauta.

For at least a couple of years, Zen Habits was one of the top productivity blogs, dispensing productivity crack for a nominal fee (your reading time).

I’d like to think I helped people move closer to their dreams, but today I have different advice:

Toss productivity advice out the window.

Most of it is well-meaning, but the advice is wrong for a simple reason: it’s meant to squeeze the most productivity out of every day, instead of making your days better.

Imagine instead of cranking out a lot of widgets, you made space for what’s important. Imagine that you worked slower instead of faster, and enjoyed your work. Imagine a world where people matter more than profits.

If any of that appeals to you, let’s look at some traditional productivity advice, and see why we should just toss them out.

1. Get Organized. Sounds good, but getting organized is just rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. It does nothing to stop the ship from sinking. Instead, simplify. If you have a desk with 5 things in it, you don’t need to organize. If you have a closet with only a handful of clothes, it doesn’t need a closet organizer. If your day has only one or two appointments, there’s no need for a detailed schedule organizer. Simplifying means making important choices about what’s important, rather than ignoring that question and just trying to cram everything into your day (and space) in a logical way.

2. Keep an Idea List. The idea is that whenever you have an idea, you should write it down. Then you’ll never lose an idea, and you’ll always have a list of ideas that you can come back to. Sounds great, right? Except in practice, the idea list is never filled with your best ideas. That’s because when you have a really great idea, you get so excited about it you jump up and want to work on it immediately. Your best ideas are ones that you can’t put off until tomorrow. That’s how you know it’s a great idea. The ideas that go on the Idea List are not your best.

3. Set a Lot of Goals. Only five years ago, I had a long list of goals for each year, and I was pretty decent at getting them done (better than 50% at least). Then I experimented with three goals a year, and I was even more focused. Then I did One Goal, and that was amazing, because it really helped me focus everything I did. Now I do No Goals, and it’s best of all. I let go of future-focused thinking, and focus on what inspires and excites me now. I get even more accomplished, but let go of all the time I used to spend on goal administration (it’s more than you might think) and all my mental energy is freed to do what I want to do right now. You might not want to do No Goals, but try One Goal or three goals.

4. Track Everything. If you want to change it, you have to measure it, right? If you want fast results, you need to track it. Except that’s complete crap. Why do you need such fast results in the first place? And who says you need to track something to change it? I’ve found more meaningful, lasting results when I don’t track, but focus on enjoyment of the activity. For example, if I focus on enjoying running, that makes me want to run more often, and that’s a habit that lasts much longer. If I focus on tracking the running (mileage, speed, VO2 max, intervals, etc), that takes the enjoyment away from the activity (running) and focuses on the results. If you are so focused on the results, the activity becomes only a means to an end. That makes the activity less enjoyable, and therefore less sustainable over the long run. I’ve become fitter than ever by not tracking, but instead enjoying being active. I’ve grown my site more now that I don’t track stats, but instead enjoy the writing. Over the long run, not tracking is better.

5. Be Productive When You’re Waiting. Lots of people do this — you bring a laptop or mobile device or some papers to do some work while you’re waiting at a doctor’s office or at DMV or on the train or in traffic. There’s nothing wrong with this, really, except in the philosophy behind it: that every second should be filled with work, or it’s wasted. I object to this. Sitting in a waiting room, doing nothing but sitting in silence or watching other people, is a beautiful way to spend your time. Reading a novel on a train, or taking a nap, is also wonderful. Waiting in line at DMV or the post office and eavesdropping on other human beings, or making conversation with someone, or just soaking in the sounds of humanity, is arguably more important than doing more work or reading work-related documents. Life isn’t only about work, and productivity isn’t everything. Try some unproductivity instead.

6. Keep Detailed, Context To-Do Lists. In the early days of Zen Habits, back in 2007, I did exactly this — I kept a series of contextual to-do lists for home, work, phone calls, errands, someday, and so on. This became too much work for me, and so instead of organizing, I simplified. I now focus on one or two things to do each day, and if when I get them done, my day is golden. Everything else I do that day is gravy. And the to-do lists gather dust, which turns out to be a very productive thing for them to do.

7. Work Hard in Bursts, with Frequent Breaks. Work hard for 10 minutes and take a break for 5! Or maybe 12 and 3? Maybe 30 minutes of hard work and 10 minutes of break? The exact numbers really depend on your flavor of productivity, but at their heart they miss the point: you shouldn’t be forcing yourself to work hard on something you dread doing, and then take a break to reward or relieve yourself from that dreaded work. You should work on stuff you love, so that you can’t wait to do it, and taking a break is just a matter of enjoying something else (maybe a nice walk, a nice book, a nice conversation with a friend). Life where you work hard in bursts, with some breaks, is dreadful. Life where you’re always doing something you love is art.

Source

Читать далее >>

100 Blogs that Will Save You Time & Make You More Productive

Today’s busy lifestyles require that everyone put in extra hours when it comes to careers, family, and even free time. Learn how to better manage your time to get more done in less time. The following blogs will help you find ways to become more productive whether it’s at home or work–and no matter what profession you have. Entrepreneurs, professors, students, creatives, technology buffs, and even those just looking for inspiration for productive lives will all find blogs with plenty of information and suggestions to get things done more efficiently.

Productivity for Life

Many of the blogs listed in this section are super popular–and for good reason. The advice found in these blogs includes suggestions for finding time, managing money, creating more time for family, and even finding your happiness.

1. Stepcase Lifehack. The posts here not only include ways to become more productive, but also offer suggestions to help streamline and enhance your money, technology, work, and more.
2. Zen Habits. The inspirational posts here cover many ways to make your life more simple and at the same time, enriched. From family time to work to money, you can find great tips here.
3. SimpleProductivityBlog. Find tips on productivity, simplicity, ways to incorporate technology, and more at this blog.
4. Productivity in Context. The posts here offer suggestions for boosting your productivity and also provides tools for increasing your organization.
5. Scott H Young. Written by a student at university, this popular blog offers tons of information to help balance energy, productivity, and life.
6. Get Everything Done. Mark Forster writes about time management and personal organization on his blog.
7. Productivity501. Increase your personal productivity with the advice available here with focus on time management, money, organization, and technology.
8. The Slacker Method. The tips on this blog are all referred to as "Slacker Method for…" but they are truly just productive ways to manage your day-to-day tasks with tips on everything from getting ready for work in the morning to measuring without a ruler.
9. Productive Flourishing. This blog is for those who are too busy to try out new productivity systems and need suggestions that affect them immediately. Check out the recent Beyond Productivity series to see what many productivity gurus have been discussing.
10. Dumb Little Man. Productivity, saving money, and staying sane are the focus of the posts at this popular blog.
11. Marc and Angel Hack Life. Get tips for personal productivity with this blog.
12. parent hacks. No one needs to find more time in the day than busy parents, and this blog helps with great tips. Check out the mean maraca tip for dealing with road rage–even non-parents could use this one.
13. The Cranking Widgets Blog. Personal productivity is the focus of this popular blog with recent posts including disconnecting from the computer, too much work killing productivity, and being a career renegade.
14. Nick Pagan. With topics such as procrastination, GTD, and cleaning the mind of clutter, this advice at this blog can boost your productivity.
15. Productivity 101. Lifehacking, GTD, and personal productivity are at the heart of the posts at this blog.
16. An Extra Hour Every Day. This blog offers great suggestions for saving time and boosting productivity for work, travel, and home.
17. Tools for Thought. Find ways to change your thinking, behavior, and habits to make positive changes to increase productivity with the tips and information here.
18. Matthew Cornell. This productivity consultant offers advice for personal and work productivity on his blog.
19. Ian’s Messy Desk. Get suggestions ranging from risk-taking to mind-mapping to ways to keep a journal with this blog that offers ideas to boost productivity.

Productivity Specifically for Work

While many productivity blogs focus on both personal productivity and productivity at work, these blogs specialize in the work variety.

20. Productivity Cafe. Learn tips to increase your productivity at work with the advice at this blog.
21. Organize IT. This blog features organization, personal development, and more to help boost productivity at work to make more time for life.
22. Business Hacks. From writing great resumes to effective note-taking, this blog offers great advice to creating a more productive work life.
23. GTD Times. Authorized by David Allen, the founder of Getting Things Done, this blog focuses on GTD in a business environment and also provides a heavy dose of technology and GTD.
24. The Queen of KAOS. For those who work at home, this blog offers tips for time management, productivity, working with kids in the house, goal-setting, and more.

Productivity for Creatives

If you are a creative type, these blogs are for you and offer plenty of suggestions for ways to work and live more productively.

25. 43 Folders. This blog is devoted to helping spark creativity while increasing productivity at work.
26. LifeClever. This blog for designers focuses on creativity and productivity in both life and work.
27. LifeDev. Devoted to empowering creative types, topics include taking care of your body to boost your brain power and ways to boost creativity.
28. Presentation Zen. If your professional life requires you make presentations, then you must read this blog. From technology to creativity, the tips here are invaluable.
29. A List Apart. Web designers can find plenty of advice about creating effective websites with this blog.
30. eirikso.com. Eirik Solheim approaches photography and marketing with a less-is-more approach that he shares with the posts in his blog.
31. Escape from Cubical Nation. For those creatives trying to break out on their own, this blog offers constructive advice and suggestions to help make the switch to a productive and liberating work experience.
32. David Seah. The explorative and insightful posts on this blog offer new ways for creatives to think about goals, productivity, and more.

Productivity with Technology

Technology provides so many ways to help people make the most of their time. These blogs provide great advice for ways to incorporate technology into your life to save time and work more efficiently.

33. Lifehacker. With an emphasis on the high tech, this blog offers tons of suggestions for making work and life more productive.
34. Gizmodo. While some technology works opposite of productivity, most of the fun gadgets and apps found here will help you live and work more productively–or at least more technically connected.
35. Hack the Day. This blog promotes personal productivity, ideas for easier computer usage, and software to make life easier.
36. My Stuff for Getting Things Done. This blog provides tips for getting things done with a special focus on lifehacks and technology.
37. Smart Productivity. Written by a software engineer, this blog on productivity and GTD has a definite technological edge to it.
38. Technotheory. This blog strives to bring technology to it’s readers in hopes of improving productivity and happiness.
39. Did I Get Things Done. This GTD blog offers plenty of tech solutions to aid in your goal of getting it all done.
40. Wild Apricot Blog. Productivity for organizations through technology is the theme of this blog.
41. A simple matter of…. With a unique combination of productivity tips and programming tips, those who work in technology can gain plenty of helpful information.
42. Signal vs. Noise. A blog of 37 Signals, the posts here cover a wide range including technology, design, simplicity, and the surrounding culture.

Entrepreneurship

Many of these blogs teach techniques for entrepreneurs that will help them become better at a specific aspect of the whole business. Some focus on copywriting, others on marketing, and others on communication. Follow this advice and your productivity and time saved will increase by doing things more efficiently and correctly.

43. Dave Cheong. This software engineer is working towards entrepreneurship and offers plenty of tips to help your entrepreneurial endeavors as well.
44. Copyblogger. If online marketing is your gig, then you won’t want to miss the copywriting tips available on this blog.
45. How to Change the World. Guy Kawasaki writes this blog that helps entrepreneurs with topics such as the value of neatness, making the most of collaborative environments, and increasing the value of learning.
46. Brand Autopsy. This marketing guru passes along plenty of advice to help you cut to the chase when it comes to marketing your products.
47. Create Your Communications Experience. Bert Decker shares ways to effectively use communication (both written and spoken) to enhance your leadership and business.
48. Seth’s Blog. Seth Godin offers practical and simple advice to implement effective marketing techniques for your business.
49. Delightful Work. This blog covers ways to free up time, expressing yourself, putting your vision into practice and more as you move from employee to self-employed.
50. Careerjolt. While not specifically for entrepreneurs, this blog does offer plenty of advice that business owners and managers alike can use.
51. Learn This. Leadership, self-education, and successful living are the focus of this blog. Recent topics include humility of leadership, giving direction, and accepting mistakes.
52. Productivity in Context. Stephen shares his knowledge for leadership, GTD, and productivity for those making their way in the business world.

Productivity in Academia

Whether you are a professor or grad student, you will find helpful information in these blogs especially designed to make your academic life more efficient, productive, and easier to live.

53. Academic Productivity. Those in academia, whether instructor or student, will find helpful suggestions on increasing productivity, meeting deadlines, and more.
54. Academhack. From access to inexpensive, yet legal, texts to the debate about wireless in the classroom to free academic email accounts, this blog doesn’t shy away from potentially controversial topics when making suggestions for academic productivity.
55. Academic Commons. With a focus on technology and liberal arts education, this site seeks to connect those in academia with innovative ways to improve education.
56. Academic Lifehacker. This blog provides tips and software to help make scholarship more efficient for both students and professors.
57. Getting Things Done in Academia. Specifically for grad students, this blog offers suggestions for "creativity, scholarship, communication, and time management."
58. High Touch. With an emphasis on technology and social media, this blog offers insight as well as tips for streamlining your processes.
59. Productive Scholar. Backing up files, ways to use commute time efficiently, creating great presentations with LaTeX, and portable apps for students are some of the more recent posts on this blog.
60. Tomorrow’s Professor Blog. MIT and Stanford have created this blog to help facilitate discussion on issues surrounding higher education.
61. academic coach. Specifically geared toward grad students, recent grads seeking faculty positions, and tenure-track faculty, this blog offers news and advice about succeeding in the academic world.
62. Professor Time’s Weblog. From creating a supply box that goes along to class with your laptop to grading strategies, this blog has great suggestions for saving time and being more productive.
63. Proto-Scholar. With tips for productivity to learning to navigate the world of academia, this PhD student shares the journey and lessons learned.

For Students Only

These blogs are specifically for students and offer great suggestions for ways to make the most of your high school or college time and prepare you for a strong future.

64. HackCollege. College students can learn plenty of helpful tips including helpful technology, surviving the first semester of college, and hangover-hacking.
65. Gearfire. Learn how to print your own specialized paper, learn about great time-saving web tools, and even get efficient travel suggestions at this blog devoted to helping students succeed.
66. School is a Game. Providing plenty of tips to help students compete and get ahead, this blog approaches school achievement as a game that you can win.
67. studenthacks.com. Students can find study tips, productivity ideas, and more to help ensure scholastic success.
68. Study Hacks. Get great ideas for ways to boost your productivity when it comes to your school work with ideas such as using free time wisely, learning what to quit, and how to get through difficult courses.
69. Welcome to the Dr. Wizard Group. Dr. Wizard posts advice for college students in this blog.
70. Grad Hacker. Specifically aimed at grad students, but offering great advice for anyone wanting to boost productivity, this blog offers lots of great suggestions.
71. That College Kid. With an eye on technology, this blog features plenty of ways college students can work more efficiently.
72. Surviving College. Ideas at this blog range from setting goals to keeping in touch to decorating with freebies.
73. The Students’ Blog. From finding affordable workspaces to useful student websites to staying productive over the summer, this blog offers plenty of ideas to keep college students on track and working efficiently.
74. University Scholar. Recently undergoing a facelift, this blog will focus on ways to get the most out of your education to prepare for your future.
75. Zen College Life. From keeping healthy to helpful iPhone apps to rewards for reaching goals, this blog is devoted to simplifying college life.
76. The Good Habits Blog. A spin-off of the book by the same name, this blog covers good habits that students can follow to help ensure their success.

Organization

Staying organized at home and at the office is a huge boost to productivity and time-management. Take the suggestions from these blogs to get rid of clutter, both physically and mentally, and keep your life organized.

77. Unclutterer. Learn how to unclutter your space and keep it that way with topics covering issues such as downsizing your house, keeping photos organized, and real-life clutter make-overs.
78. Apartment Therapy. Living in a small space doesn’t mean you have to live under a bunch of clutter. This blog offers stylish and useful ways to transform your small space.
79. Remodelista. With a focus on simple, uncluttered living space, this blog offers suggestions as well as places to purchase items to keep your living space streamlined and functional.
80. Everlasting Designs. This blog has the bonus of not only showing readers ways to simplify and declutter their surroundings, but their habits and attitudes as well.
81. Virtually Organized. Find out how to get rid of clutter, stop procrastinating, better manage your time, and more at this blog.
82. Get Organized Wizard. Learn how to organize all the different parts of your life with the suggestions from this professional organizer.
83. The Organized Life. Get tips of the week archived at this blog, which is an extension of Emily Wilska’s website and business.
84. Jeri’s Organizing & Decluttering News. From unwanted gifts to coat stands to organizing the bath tub, you’ll find plenty of ways to organize your living space with this blog.
85. DiscoverOrganization.com. This blog offers simple suggestions for getting your mind in the right frame to sharpen your organizational skills. The posts prompt you to think about color, ways to organize your books, and suggestions for cleaning out your closets.
86. Creative Organizing Blog. Get tips for creative ways to organize your space, suggestions for books to help organize your life, and more.
87. It’s Not About Your Stuff. Understand the psychology behind why you clutter with the information and suggestions from this blog. While the posts here have slowed, the archives are timely and worth reading.
88. The Clutter Diet Blog. Get tons of organizing tips from Lorie Marrero. Recent tips include how to manage "high calorie" clutter, planning ahead, and goal-setting.

Productivity through Inspiration

These blogs provide inspiration for your mind and soul so you can approach the daily tasks of your life in a centered state of mind. Find out how much more productively you work when your mind is at peace by reading these blogs.

89. The Happiness Project. Finding your happiness will improve how you work and live. This blog reports Gretchen Rubin’s experiments to find the best ways of attaining happiness through practical living.
90. My Bad Habits. Learn how to change from bad habits to good habits and stick with that change by reading the helpful advice at this blog.
91. Pick the Brain. Personal productivity, motivation, and self-education are the focus of this blog.
92. AlexShalman.com. The tips at this blog focus on self-improvement with topics that include ways to create your own success and reaching goals.
93. Lyved. Focus on the positive with the articles found on this blog that offer suggestions for personal improvement in life and work.
94. Illuminated Mind. Find your energy and inspiration from the posts at this blog that focus on following dreams, letting go of the unnecessary, and more.
95. On Simplicity. Learn ways to simplify your life, both physically and mentally, and make the most of your time.
96. Awake @ the Wheel. With topics such as the lie of needing a life purpose, choosing between money and living, and the power of less, this blog will help you find inspiration to make the best choices for your life.
97. communicatrix. Living by the idea that people learn best through biography, this blogger shares her life lessons in hopes of educating and inspiring her readers.
98. Share Yoga Blog. Find meditation, inspiration, yoga, and more at this blog.
99. LessoninLife.com. This blog covers such a wide range that you can find tips for students, ways to build an emergency fund, relationship advice, and life lessons.
100. Think Simple Now. Read about ways to simplify your life and achieve happiness with the tips at this blog.

Source

Читать далее >>