Time Management

Time Management

Do you have trouble meeting a research deadline? Read Shapiro’s wise words about time management:

The trick is to plan the work based on the due date and not the deadline. The deadline is the actual, has-to-bedone-or-the-sky-will-fall cutoff point. To set the due date, I back off the deadline by at least:

• two business days for a deliverable that involves no one else,

• five business days if someone else has to review or edit it (I tell them that they have three business days to get back to me),

• ten or more business days if more than one person has to review or edit it—the larger the group, the more time I allot.

This method builds in room for true setbacks and real emergencies. My team adheres to the old saying, “Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

MEET THE AUTHOR

Hometowns: I was born in Boston, but have lived in San Jose for most of my life, which is great until the Niners play the Patriots—then I am in trouble!

A Research Interest Outside your Field: I presented an article to the International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences on the Law of Arms in the United States, an analysis of whether U.S. citizens could successfully register coats of arms. It contained the first full definition of “arms” and is considered the seminal article on that topic.

Tip for Research: Write an outline that lays out manageable, bite-sized bits that can be researched—a journey of a thousand academic articles begins with a single monograph!

Other Interests: I am most active right now in my fraternal order, the Order of the Eastern Star, which is related to the Freemasons. I have my private pilot’s license, participate in medieval re-creation, do cross-stitch and needlepoint, attend SiliCon every year, and, as it happens, I do paint miniatures for role-playing games—you should see my Hobbit in Full Armor.

Work/Life Balance: What helps me most is that, because I am religious, I keep a Sabbath day of rest each week. That means no work for pay and turning off the electronics on Saturday. Having one day a week that is quiet and slow and easy and unplugged makes everything else I do possible and positive.