Journal de biométrie et biostatistique

Strategies for Optimal Time Management in Biostatistical Practice

Abstract

Areti Angeliki Veroniki and Lehana Thabane

Early-career biostatisticians need to spend a lot of time and energy on enhancing their research and methodology skills to establish themselves as independent investigators. To accomplish these goals, they follow several strategies (e.g., publishing their work in high impact factor journals), which help enhance potential impact of their research and build new collaborations. However, these approaches can be time consuming, and hence time management approaches are necessary. However, time management is not usually taught in typical (bio)statistics courses, and biostatisticians often learn such a skill through a trial-and-error process or mentorship support. The aim of this paper was to discuss key questions that biostatisticians may come up during their career development and to offer potential strategies to tackle them. We searched PubMed and JSTOR from inception until October 19, 2018, as well as the Google search engine to identify articles discussing or assessing empirically time management in (bio) statistics. We included any study design, but restricted to English articles only. Our search retrieved no relevant articles. This highlights the gap in the existing literature of biostatistics. In this paper, we discuss and provide potential strategies for key issues (e.g., how to prioritize projects in short timeframes) commonly raised by biostatisticians who begin their career and would like to enhance their time management. Overall, time management can result in greater productivity, higher efficiency, less stress, and better opportunities to achieve career goals and advancement. We encourage biostatisticians to make a good plan of their workload, manage their expectations, and always set goals.