My name is Lesly, and I’m interested in issues relating to productivity in science. My experience working in a laboratory setting for the last few years has shown me that principal investigators often get their work days bogged down by lots of things other than research. Instead of problem solving, an endless parade of urgent-but-not-important tasks such as administrative duties, progress reports, and other paperwork can eat up a substantial part of each day.

I have a hard time understanding this. People who study science love science, so why do we continue to reward their hard work with an avalanche of unrelated tasks? I agree that some level of management and accountability practices should take place, but I just think that there has to be a better way to get things done.

I’m writing this blog because I’m interested in helping scientists have more fulfilling careers doing what they signed on to do—figure out problems. Creating effective networks, streamlining administrative and human resources practices, and adapting new technologies are just a few of the steps we can make to help things move more efficiently. Given the diversity of readers on Nature Network, I think that we can come up with a lot of interesting ideas. I welcome your input, and I hope to see you every week!