The next years of work

I’ve been spending quite some time recently thinking about what I want my next years of work to look like.

There are a few reasons for this:

• I recently got promoted to associate professor in the Netherlands;
• I’ve been a research professor for nearly 8 years, and I see that my way of doing research and working is changing;
• In September I will have been a TU Delft employee for 15 years.
• I am turning 39 soon and I am pondering what I want my 40s to look like.

I have not outlined what I want these next years of work to look like yet.

My first step is to think about various topics. And while it sounds rather meta, I have thought about the topics that need some deep thinking. These are:

• In full memento mori style: think about the legacy that I want to leave with my work.
• Think about what is next and which ambitions I want to have.
• Think further about how to balance my responsibilities between both universities, while trying to maximize my impact.
• Identify which collaborations I want to pursue.
• In relation to the previous topic, identify which sources of funding I wan to pursue.
• Visualize what I want life to look like in my 40s. My daughter will be a teenager for most of that time, so our day-to-day will be different again.

Based on these topics to think about, I hope to get more clarity on what the next decade of work will look like for me.

How do you think about the next big chunks of time in life and work?