Managing your time and career: A personal point of view Eckart Meiburg Department of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering University of California, Santa Barbara

Time management Plan ahead Set goals - milestones Prioritize Structure your time Be focused Be organized

Time management (cont’d) Plan ahead - break larger projects into smaller tasks - take deadlines into consideration - what do you want to accomplish by the end of the day? - … the week? - … the month? - at the end of the day, week etc., review whether or not you accomplished your plan Helps you to remain focused during the day Allows you to monitor your overall progress Teaches you to be realistic when estimating time needed for certain tasks

Time management (cont’d) Set goals - milestones - by when do you want to have passed your screening exam? - … passed your qualifying exam? - … defended your Ph.D. thesis? Keeps the ‘big picture’ in focus Allows you to make longer term plans Helps you develop a time frame for your career plans

Time management (cont’d) Prioritize - Decide which things are important - Spend time and effort on these tings - Minimize the time you spend on things that you have decided are not important Allows you to concentrate your time resources on those things that truly matter to you, and to avoid wasting time on things that aren’t really all that important to you

Time management (cont’d) Structure your time: reserve certain times for different purposes ahead of time - Work - Family, ‘chores’ - Play Allows you to focus on that activity, enjoy it, be productive, not feel guilty

Time management (cont’d) Be focused: - once you have decided on what you want to work for the next few hours or days, stay focused – don’t get side tracked - try to focus on one task at a time Helps you reach optimal productivity Focus on one issue helps you analyze difficult problems in greater depth, maintain clarity of thought

Time management (cont’d) Be organized: - keep and update ‘to do lists’ - keep detailed notes, so that you can retrace your steps later - keep notes, papers, computer files… well organized, so that you minimize wasting time when looking for things Be systematic: - if you know that you will need certain advanced tools (LaTeX, Tecplot…) eventually, learn them right away, so that you don’t have to duplicate efforts

Career planning Assessing your current situation Setting goals and targets Identifying your strengths Exploring opportunities Reviewing and planning Developing yourself

Career planning (cont’d) Assessing your current situation - which aspects of your work do you enjoy the most? teaching (classroom, laboratory, field work…) research (theory, computational, laboratory, field work…) team work or individual work … - which work environment do you like best? university, government research lab (NASA), company… - geographical preferences - family considerations (spouse’s job) - do you like to travel? - how important is money to you? - …

Career planning (cont’d) Setting goals and targets - where do you want to be 5 years from now? 10 years from now? faculty member at top research university? leading a group in a government research lab? R&D position in a company? - aim high, but be realistic

Career planning (cont’d) Identifying your strengths - strong analytical skills - very good in the lab - excellent computer skills - communication skills (writing, oral presentations) - able to work alone, adaptable, articulate, confident, creative, decisive, flexible, patient, ‘people person,’ motivated, reliable…. Helps you realize areas in which you want to improve your abilities

Career planning (cont’d) Exploring opportunities - try to find out more about possible career paths - talk to other students, postdocs, faculty, visitors in order to find out what career paths they plan to choose, or have chosen in the past - talk to recruiters from companies, government labs to find out about career opportunities, investigate job opportunities listed on web sites - imagine yourself 10 years from now: which things do you expect will be important to you at that time?

Career planning (cont’d) Reviewing and planning - periodically review your progress towards your career goals what would you like to happen next? what has happened since your last review? are you progressing towards your career goals? do you want to adjust your career goals? do you need to adjust your strategy for reaching your goals?

Career planning (cont’d) Developing yourself - try to find out which skills would help you accomplish your goals - work on improving any weaknesses you think you may have (math skills, experimental techniques, written communication…) by taking classes, short courses, internship, self study… - identify a coach or mentor at work with whom you can discuss your career goals - establish groups with peers, so that you can develop your skills together with others

… and don’t forget to have a good time!!!