A subjective analysis of time at scientific conferences
May-June is a busy time of year for conferences in my tiny corner of the world: EASL, ESPGHAN, and non-invasive tools meetings. These meetings are great, but there is too much of a good thing and they have their drawbacks. I end up feeling guilty whatever way.
Conferences are good for their scientific content though are best for meeting with people. The ‘highest yield’ meetings I have are often at conferences (e.g. planning out a grant, paper, or collaboration). There’s something about being physically away from usual work that breeds good ideas.
Yet, I feel guilty, even though presenting data at meetings is part of my job. I feel guilty about:
- Time away from the kids / family
- Environmental consequences of travel
- The cost
- Not going to enough scientific sessions
- Spending too much time at the conference and not sightseeing
I have absolutely not figured out the balance of work vs. relaxation when travelling to conferences. I feel the need to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of a trip given that it is such a privilege to travel as part of my job. The result is that I tend not to ‘see’ much of the places that I go to for work…which is itself a conflict because then it seems a waste to have travelled without exploring.
I usually come to the compromise that provided I work from 8am-6pm, plus all the travel time, that I can justify going for a couple of runs and catching up with friends in the evenings. (In the process becoming extremely short on sleep.)
This is another illustration of how it’s hard to find the optimum balance. The older I get, I think that if I feel like I’m failing all round, then I am probably getting the balance about right.
