I am someone who thrives on structure but I am increasingly realizing the importance of flexibility and having an “open mindset” to ensure that available opportunities are optimized. This is a small example, but I had the unexpected opportunity to speak to a key stakeholder about my research this week. It was the end of a very long day. I had spent half the day in our Toronto office, and then drove to an offsite location to set up for an early morning workshop scheduled for the next day. Suffice it to say, it was quite late and I was very eager to drive to the hotel to relax. As I was preparing to depart I unexpectedly saw this stakeholder. After discussing a number of business issues I was able to deliver a short “elevator pitch” about my research. This “pitch” resulted in some dialogue which should set us up well for a formal meeting that was already scheduled for late October. This was a short occurence, but importnat for me to note. A year ago I would not have seized the opportunity to communicate this short “pitch” or been prepared to deliver it so comfortably. It definitely felt like a “win” to me.
Along similar lines, I am developing the habit if starting to work on multiple initiatives simultaneously. In the past I tended to be very sequential in my approach to tasks with a high need to bring closure to projects before commencing new pieces. I have been at the library for 2hours now and have completed three tasks -refined a presentation for a stakeholder meeting, updated my project document and drafted a research grant submission- and I am now writing this post. This is unusual for me because in the past I would not have been able to accomplish as much in such a short timeframe and would have adopted a more routine approach. Instead I sort of “flowed” from one task to the next because it felt like the right thing to do. Also, I don’t think that I have ever written my blog post this early in my library stint… To be fair though, I think that this flow is enabled by a good deal of structure. Because I am fully aware of the many milestones and tasks that need to be completed, I have a solid framework in which to “flow”.
I am off to a lunch break now and then plan to dig into some papers. I am looking forward to the week ahead. For the first time in ages I have no business travel –woohoo!! I am also looking forward to being at home with my partner and getting a bit more research work done during the week.