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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nHere\u2019s a short description of each of the goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1) Write two federal grants as PI this year<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I love writing grant narratives. Planning a research project and imagining all the possibilities that could be is fun. I like telling the story of my research and showing the trajectory of the story. I love showing the difference in people\u2019s lives that research makes. (I\u2019m not a huge fan of all the additional paperwork, red tape, etc. of grant writing \u2013 just the narrative bit.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the two grants, I\u2019m thinking about my T1DHero project<\/span><\/span> <\/a>and a telehealth project regarding cancer support in rural Michigan. The MyT1DHero has encouraging data and I would like to tweak the intervention and add a social support component. The cancer support is with a new and fabulous collaborator. I am looking forward to this project and learning about the challenges of receiving cancer support via telehealth in a rural setting. There are a lot of interesting and fun research questions that can be unpacked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Be on email less \u2013 be more intentional about email<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Confession: I\u2019m addicted to email. I mindlessly pick up my phone and I don\u2019t even think about my thumb opening it up. My email window is ALWAYS open. I knew I had a problem when listening to a Cathy Mazak podcast<\/span><\/span> <\/a>on time management and she said to schedule your email for 1-2 hours a day and I had a visceral negative reaction. To me, email made me feel like I was doing *something* \u2013 that I was working. Sure, I am, but it is the \u201ceasy\u201d work not the deep work I love doing. But sometimes that deep work is hard and takes time. Cathy also said that \u201cEmail doesn\u2019t get you tenure.\u201d I\u2019ll take that a step ahead and assume that it doesn\u2019t get you full either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have set up a routine that I\u2019ll try to keep. I\u2019ll check it in the morning as part of my \u201cpersonal time\u201d \u2013 just to clear away junk, make sure there is nothing new that needs to be addressed and read the New York Times \u201cThe Morning<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u201d newsletter. I have email time scheduled in my calendar, and thanks to Kate Lockwood-Harris from the University of Minnesota for the tip, I have downloaded (and am really loving) the plug-in <\/span>“Inbox When Ready<\/span><\/a>.”<\/span><\/span> <\/span>I have also taken notifications off my phone for email. It has been game changing. I haven\u2019t gone through the withdrawal I was worried about. I tell my students that I have these times, so they need to be patient. And I give my grad students my number so they can text me. Overall, I feel like this is an i<\/span>mportant boundary on my time \u2013 my most valuable commodity right now. I\u2019m hoping that this will allow me the time to really focus on the projects that I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n