From PhD to Panelist — Part 2
After the emotionally charged introduction by Dr. Munjanja (Part 1), I was excited to see what else the Women in Chemistry Retreat would have in store for me. The keynote breezed by, but the Q&A panel I’d take part in was still an hour away, sandwiched in between the guest speaker and some breakout sessions.
I guess attending a breakout session would be a good way to kill time and prepare for the panel discussion? *shrug*
Participants chose from one of two topics: Sustainable Living or Settings Goals & Planning for Success in Grad School. I chose the former (for obvious reasons), and project managers need as many lessons in time management as we can get!
Lesson 2: Deep work is the sh*t.
I was blown away by Sustainable Living and its applicability to my day-to-day, despite being aimed at graduate students. Dr. Daniel Wong, Director of Mentoring and Bridge Programs for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, really did change the way that I think about sustainability, productivity, and time management. And I cannot believe that it took me this long to hear the words “deep work.”
Deep work is a “cognitively demanding activity done in a state of flow” where flow is “a state of being fully immersed in an activity, accompanied by a feeling of energized focus, enjoyment, and complete absorption.” Deep work motivates us because it fulfills our three innate needs: it creates new value (relatedness), improves skill (competence), and is hard to replicate (autonomy).
Were you ever just “in the zone,” — no idea where the time went, couldn’t be bothered to find out, and felt amazing despite working your fingers to the bone? That’s deep work. The great thing about deep work is it can be any type of activity — personal or otherwise — is different to every person, and can change over time.
What’s an an even better thing about deep work? People are only capable of giving a maximum of 3 to 4 hrs per day (sustainably), so if you can do deep work at work, you’ll be fulfilled and still have 50% of your time for all of those time-sinks! (You know, those things that usually rob us of our satisfaction — meetings, email, slack, etc.)
So what constitutes deep work for this detailed-oriented, logic-driven project manager? That’s easy: creating order from chaos and helping others do the same. So even though the week before this retreat saw some of the longest hours since my February hire, they were some of the most fulfilling. The trick will be to keep that going, building in and protecting “think time.”
Lesson 3: Process over passion leads to sustainable fulfillment.
Wong went on to explain the difference between the passion vs process mindset and how finding your passion won’t actually lead to deep work (nor necessarily to fulfillment).
That’s good news for all of us annoyed with Hollywood’s omnipresent follow-your-dream mantra. (Here’s a great video from Dirty Jobs’ Mike Rowe on that very subject: Don’t Follow Your Passion, but I digress…)
The Passion vs Process mindset:
1. Focuses on what you enjoy vs what you value
2. Focuses on the way things should be vs the way things are
3. Is unrelenting and unforgiving vs flexible, open, and sustainable
4. Requires knowing your passion a priori vs finding satisfaction in deep work
By applying the process mindset, we can find fulfillment even by doing things that we don’t like. What?!? Seriously, what??? Yup, the process mindset focuses on “competence, autonomy, and relatedness, as means of finding (career) satisfaction.” In other words the process mindset can help us “create new value [and] improve [our] skills.” Even by doing things we don’t enjoy, they can still help us improve, which increases our fulfillment.
And the lesson? Deep Work + Process Mindset = Awesome. Now to figure out how to make it happen on the reg. (If you are interested, Wong suggested marking off your calendar, starting with just 15 minutes, then building up over time. Don’t expect to be an instant master.) Wish me luck! *wink*
