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I'm a research administrator, and while the "big picture" of what the networks I manage are doing is really inspiring (finding and preventing the roots of mental illness, communicating developmental and neurobiological science to policy makers, proving to Romanian lawmakers that foster care is better than orphanages) the day-to-day details of things are less than fulfilling. However, I find it hard to imagine giving up this job because of the following:
1. I get to work from home
2. My day looks like this:
- roll out of bed when I feel like it
- check email
- deal with impending crises
- browse the web for an hour or so
- take a nap
- take a shower and change out of my PJs
- check email
- check a few things off my list
- do a little paperwork
- balance the books
- choose menus for upcoming meetings
- send out emails telling people for the 3rd time where/when the meeting is (Ph.Ds can be dense)
- browse the web some more
- walk the dog
- watch a little tv while I send emails
- knock off when I feel like it
Meeting days are much more hectic - I am "on" starting at 8:00 AM and have to pay attention to the meeting since I'm writing the meeting summary reports, but I also have to manage all the logistics all day (catering, A/V, travel, etc.), and manage dinner as well, so I don't get done with my day till 9:30-10:00 at night. I do this for 2-3 days in a row. But thankfully I only do 6-8 meetings a year these days - used to be we'd have 15-20 meetings/year, and that got to be unbearable.
I'd like to do something else with my life but frankly, I'm lazy and this job suits me. And I'm paid extremely well for what I do. It's hard to contemplate giving that up, but some day I'm either going to have to move on to something that really satisfies me, or find some way to get excited about the grunt work.
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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."
- Anatole France
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