“Dear Buggy” is an advice column featured in the ESC Bulletin, written by Dr. Chris MacQuarrie. “Buggy” will also be offering his great tips, tricks and hints every other month here at the ESC blog. In the meantime, enjoy this teaser from the June 2012 edition of the Bulletin!
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Dear Buggy,
I’ve got too many things on the go and I can’t seem to keep on track. My field season starts next week, but I haven’t even started planning for it yet. I’ve missed two due dates in the last month, plus I think I may have stood up my boyfriend last night. I would call him to apologize, but I forgot to pay my phone bill last month and they cut me off. Help me! How do I manage my time?
Signed,
‘Short on Time in Terrace’
Thanks for the ‘timely’ question. Hopefully you will have managed to contact your boyfriend before this is published! Teaching yourself how to manage your time is an important skill to develop while you’re young. Speaking from experience, I can assure you that things only get worse as you progress through your career. Your time is precious.
Our tasks, and the time it takes to do them, can be organized on different temporal scales. Since entomologists are already pretty good at thinking about the world at different scales, it should be a logical step for you to think about your time in this way. For example, you have to finish your thesis in the next 5 years; you have to prepare and pass your qualification exams next year, your field season starts in a month, your project proposal is due next week, you are teaching tomorrow, and you have a dental appointment in an hour. Obviously, how you manage these different commitments varies depending on their immediacy. To be efficient, you must manage your time over all temporal scales. That way, things won’t sneak up on you.
Click here to read the rest of this great column in the Bulletin!
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Chris MacQuarrie is a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service in Sault Ste. Marie where he studies the management of native and invasive insects. Currently, he’s beginning to realize that all time management tactics go out the window when you have a toddler in the house. “Dear Buggy” is always looking for suggestions or guest contributors. Have an idea or a question? Send it to: cjkmacquarrie@gmail.com or post it in the Facebook student group.
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