The Best Thing About Data Science

Good Morning Data Scientists,

Are you tired of

• Endless catch-ups and stand-ups?

• Meetings where you have nothing to contribute?

• No time to do actual work?

I’ve been working since Monday this week (whilst most people are on holiday) and it’s lovely having days free of meetings to crack on with my language model project.

That’s the best thing about Data Science - working on cool tools which stakeholders are gagging to use.

And I presented my work to senior stakeholders last month - it’s great when they’re excited about what you’re building for them.

So if you want fewer meetings and more time for fun Data Science work, here’s how you can achieve that

1) Bunch your meetings together

There’s nothing worse than having meetings scheduled at awkward times, so you’re able to start work but unable to achieve anything.

Avoid this by having as many of your meetings as possible on one morning/afternoon/day.

That can be your dedicated ‘meeting time’, and then the rest of your week you’ll have more time free for focused work.

2) Politely Decline Meetings

If you think you won’t learn much or aren’t able to contribute much at a meeting, I encourage you to politely decline it.

This doesn’t mean just saying no - you can also mention any relevant information you may have shared via email.

And you should also explain what work you’re prioritising instead of the meeting, so people understand why you’re not attending.

3) Understand Your Body Clock

Different people work best at different times.

For example, I feel more focused later in the day (~4-6pm) and less focused in the early afternoon.

So I try and organise meetings in the early afternoon, so I can be more productive later in the day.

But you might be different - perhaps you love the afternoon!

The key is working out when you’re most productive, and protecting that time like fort knox.

This may require some experimentation.

You may find this book about understanding your body clock interesting (it completely fixed my sleep problems too).

To summarise, here’s how you can have fewer meetings and more time for your projects, remember to

1) Bunch meeting together

2) Politely decline meetings

3) Understand your body clock

I hope you have a great start to 2025!

God Bless,

Albert

P.S. I want to make this newsletter as valuable as possible for you.

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