I think one of the reasons that I became a sociologist is because the social world fascinates me. There are so many things of interest to me that I would like to study and that need to be studied that it is hard to say "no" when you see opportunities. I wonder though how well we do things when we over commit ourselves.
Some of my graduate students have such great ideas of things they want to study; it is hard to remind them to keep their feet grounded until they finish their dissertations when it is hard for me to not branch out as I think of and see new things I'd like to investigate.
I mentioned in an earlier post that it is harder and harder to find time to think and write the longer I'm in academia. I think part of this is because we become more and more involved in 'new' projects. A friend of mine once remarked that he felt almost like a small business owner, as he tried to manage all his projects and the associated tasks and other people involved. I understand what he means.
So, I'll keep pursuing my interests but also try to be mindful that I have limited time and resources with which to pursue new projects (as best I can anyway!). If you have suggestions for how to manage time and projects, please feel free to post a comment.
Here's to pursuing our interests, managing our time, and doing it all in some semblance of order . . .
15 years ago
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