No, I am not talking of two years of pandemic, but two years of holding the position of Assistant professor at the Université de Sherbrooke (UDS).

As I struggle with making sure to eat during some days (time flies it’s maddening), I have also struggled to find time for writing blog posts. Balance in this job is easy to forget and difficult to achieve especially before tenure. I do have given myself the goal to take at least half an hour of break per day to move or relax, take five deep breaths, and remember to have fun. Here, I would like to share some of my thoughts on the challenges of the last two years of starting my own lab.

In the lab, I now have 10+ amazing humans from diverse backgrounds and of varied interests. The first wave of recruitment of lab members came with a higher demand of time for me. It felt like I wanted to set the tone quickly: what type of PI am I? what are my priorities? how do I support adequately my group to perform well accounting for their individual aspirations, capacities, needs, and challenges? Having no senior members in the lab meant all queries and initiatives came directly to and from me. It felt like a forced brain expansion, and each time the lab has grown or more funding came in, I felt another push for more brain capacity. My multitasking skills, as well as strategy of prioritizing and time management have been put to the test. Learning to say no is another skill I am working on. But email management takes the gold medal of challenges. Somebody told me I needed to use the five Ds to succeed in managing my emails:

• Deny: junk mail, not interested, no important information.
• Deflect: if someone asks you to do something, asks for more info or a first draft.
• Delegate: it doesn’t have to be all you doing all the work.
• Delay: no need to answer right now.
• Do: do it now, and keep answer short and clear. 5-line email rules.

After two years, I am starting to have senior members (e.g., finishing students, a postdoc, a lab professional) so that some of the burden is off my shoulders. But, I do have more to do in terms of supporting projects that are at multiple different stages.

In addition, I have been confronted with situations that tested my ability to communicate, my patience, my diplomacy, my gros bon sens as we would say in French. Sometimes I have been frustrated by the status quo or lack of organization of the system. But most of the time, the experience has been incredibly exciting, motivating, and amazing. Especially teaching undergraduates, what a pleasure but I can’t believe how many times I have to repeat things, things that I say in the recorded classes, things that are in the Plan de cours, things that are on the forum and sent by emails. Drives me crazy… Another good piece of advice to be a good prof was the four Cs:

• Clarity: say what you mean clearly.
• Concision: say what you mean simply/shortly.
• Coherence: be prepared and be coherent in your design and actions.
• Confidence: show confidence even and especially when it is lacking.

Sometimes I struggle to put my limit, where is it enough for me to give to my job, which is also my passion. As in most experiences of my not-so-long life, the most mesmerizing and my favorite part is definitely the humans I meet and see evolve. None has left the lab yet and I look to this moment with both pride and dread.

Anyway, to whomever is reading this post, I wholeheartedly recommend the experience, especially when surrounded by wonderful colleagues and collaborators.

Here is the lab in 2022 and cheers to many more years.