(453a) Focus on What Matters – Advice on How to Spend More Time Doing the Things You Enjoy and Manage Your Academic Life

This talk shares my experiences, perspectives, mistakes and lessons learned in my journey through the academic ranks at The University of Washington. Modern faculty members are asked to wear many hats, and juggle an enormous number of responsibilities. At the same time, institutions often fail to provide clear guidance for new faculty on how they will be evaluated. Further complicating the situation is the reality that a faculty member’s individual goals and priorities do not always have perfect alignment with those of their department and college. Through the lens of my own academic career, I will use this talk to provide a framework for holistic planning and evaluation of your progress in the professorate on timescales of 1, 3 and 5 years. The target audience is early career faculty, although trainees and recently promoted faculty may find some useful insights.