Deadlines, peer reviews, manuscripts, and conference presentations are piling up all at once. As Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture begins to thunder inside my head, I try to turn panic into determination.
Yesterday, I received a reminder that my peer review was due on July 6.
I was surprised to realize that an entire week had already passed since I accepted it.
I had assumed that the paper would be manageable because it dealt with my own specialist field. However, the research described in it was, naturally enough, at the cutting edge of the field.
For an “old-fashioned pathologist” like me, it turned out to be a rather demanding assignment.
Without this review, I might somehow have managed all my other commitments. But it is too late for such thoughts now.
Even if my newly acquired knowledge is only superficial, I must study the subject and complete the review somehow.
I am now paying the price for accepting one task after another without thinking carefully enough about the future.
I have three manuscripts to finish.
One of them involves reorganizing six previously written articles into a single feature article. It does not have to be written entirely from scratch, but the workload still feels equivalent to producing two full manuscripts.
There are also two conference presentations to prepare.
I began working on one of them relatively early. With the other, however, I made the same mistake as I did with the peer review.
“I’ll manage somehow,” I thought.
But academic knowledge advances day by day, and things are rarely as simple as they first appear.
I have conference presentations coming up in two weeks, at the beginning of September, and again at the beginning of October.
Research meetings and committee meetings are scattered chaotically between them.
I am at the point where I would gladly borrow even a cat’s paw, as the Japanese expression goes.
Of course, my colleagues are helping me. Even so, when work is delegated to someone else, it rarely proceeds exactly as I had imagined.
Then Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture began playing inside my head.
Its furious finale went round and round, making me feel as though I might lose my mind.
For a moment, I wanted to run away from everything.
But running away is not really an option.
Perhaps I should think of this as a grand stage prepared for me to fight one final, spectacular campaign during the few remaining years of my active career.
That is what I have decided to believe.
And so, I am writing down my resolve here first.
What worries me most is the possibility that there are still other tasks I have completely forgotten.
Whenever I return to reality, I remember that my routine diagnostic work and administrative responsibilities are also piled high.
The realization brings me close to despair.
Nevertheless, I have no intention of hiding or running away.
I might as well stand my ground and face everything head-on.
With Tchaikovsky thundering in my head, I will step onto the stage and accept the challenge.
・・・
peer review
The process in which specialists evaluate a research paper before publication.
査読。専門家が学術論文の内容を評価すること。
at the cutting edge
Using or involving the most advanced knowledge, ideas, or technology.
最先端で。最も進んだ知識や技術を扱って。
old-fashioned
Belonging to an earlier style or way of thinking.
古いタイプの、昔ながらの。
a demanding assignment
A task that requires considerable effort, skill, or concentration.
負担が大きく、努力や能力を必要とする仕事。
pay the price for
To suffer the consequences of an earlier decision or action.
以前の判断や行動のツケを払う。
from scratch
From the very beginning, without using anything already prepared.
ゼロから、最初から。
delegate
To give a task or responsibility to another person.
仕事や責任を他人に任せる。
stand one’s ground
To refuse to retreat and face a difficult situation firmly.
逃げずに踏みとどまる、堂々と立ち向かう。
face something head-on
To deal with a difficult problem directly and courageously.
問題に正面から立ち向かう。
#WorkOverload, #AcademicLife, #Tchaikovsky, #JapaneseDoctor, #Pathology
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