Yea, I find this really difficult to think about. I think if I’d never joined Rethink, I’d have ended up continuing to work in the global poverty space (>70%). If I left Rethink now, I’d probably look for (longtermist-oriented) research and research-adjacent jobs at EA orgs and EA-aligned think tanks.
I think it’s unlikely I’d be able to continue doing cross-cause area work, but unsure which specific cause area I would primarily be focusing on.
35% likely: EA aligned research in a non-EA organization.
15% likely: EA aligned work in a different EA organization.
15% likely: non-EA aligned work.
10% likely: Charity Entrepreneurship’s incubation program.
25% likely: Unsure
If I hadn’t been hired by RP, I probably would have ended up working for a random tech company in Austin, where I live, or maybe I would have ended up doing admissions counseling remotely (which is lucrative but soul-sucking work). If I left RP now I would try to work for a different EA research org.
I applied to RP when I decided to make an important change in my career. If RP hadn’t hired me, I’d have kept trying it at different EA organizations, maybe as an intern. Yet, I would likely have ended up working in a management position at a local NGO.
It’s really hard to know. At first I’d take a career break. Maybe eventually I’d start applying to some similar researcher jobs. Or some other kinds of jobs in animal welfare. Or I would get a programming job and save enough money for another career break. I’d also consider finding some job that doesn’t require much logical thinking like circling instructor.
Most likely academic research related to the use of subjective wellbeing in prioritisation systems (healthcare, central government, maybe EA orgs, etc). Might have applied for researcher positions in other EA orgs.
I honestly don’t know. I’d probably be doing research at another EA charity, or potentially leading (or trying to lead) a slightly different EA charity that doesn’t currently exist. Generally, I have previously seriously considered working at other EA organizations but it’s been some time since I’ve seriously considered this topic.
I would be doing more of my academic research, at present Rethink Priorities definitely accounts for most of my time. I would probably also be doing more work for Rethink Charity and Charity Entrepreneurship, who I had been working for, but reduced/stopped my hours to work more for Priorities.
My guess is that I would still continue to keep up my hybrid EA research + earning-to-give in data science, except instead of running an EA research organization I would just do independent EA research on my own.
Also, if Rethink Priorities didn’t exist, I think the chances of me going full-time into EA research (as I am now working on doing) would be much lower, though there is a decent chance I would’ve applied to work as a researcher at OpenPhil (though, of course, I don’t know if I would’ve been hired).
Peter, do you have any tips for being productive while doing independent research and other work in parallel? I’m also trying to do both scientific research and scientific consulting at the same time. I’ve found my two major difficulties are slowed productivity while context switching (which I usually need to do several times a week, between projects in very different fields) and feeling obliged to prioritize time/energy on my clients research projects in front of my own (regardless of what I consider their relative importance/interest to be). I’d be interested to know how you deal with these or similar challenges.
Sure. If it’s possible, try making a large block of time (at least 2 continuous uninterrupted hours, preferably 4-6) for your main job and avoid context switching. Then take a break. Then make another large block of time (doesn’t have to be the same size, but also at least 2 hours) for your independent research.
I have a lot of flexibility in both my day job and my EA job to structure my days as I see fit. I know other people aren’t lucky. I try to wake up early, eat, read a bit, and then plow ~4hrs into my day job. Then I take a break for ~2-3hrs to exercise, eat, nap, and read a bit more. Then I plow ~4 more hours into EA stuff.
The last trick that makes the above possible is taking things like email, meetings, administrative stuff, etc., and try to push them as much as possible to just Tuesdays and Fridays (and I think doing it just on Fridays is doable for most non-managers) to avoid using up my continuous uninterrupted hours on “shallow work”.
It sounds like your context switching might be unusually costly, in which case you might prefer to alternate days or weeks in so far as is possible. This has worked well for me but I recognize I am probably unusual in how I can work and also in the flexibility I have during the day and during the week to make these blocks and to avoid answering emails for a few days.
You might recognize this as a “deep work” approach, as advocated by Cal Newport. I took some notes on his book that I recommend (both the book and my notes).
I also once made a productivity curriculum that I think is generally helpful for approaching work, but doesn’t really directly answer how to allocate time between projects.
As for prioritizing the job that pays me salary and letting my unpaid work languish, I do suffer from that a bit, but I try to precommit to a doable pace at work, avoid the temptation to do more than I need to, and make sure all my co-workers are clear and onboard about when I will deliver things. I aim to be a merely “good / above average” performer as opposed to a star. As a result, I’m not on any promotion fast-track (though I do still get promotions and raises) but I can put a significant amount of time into EA work. I have stacked the deck a lot more in favor of EA lately as I plan to transition to doing EA work full-time quite soon.
What would you be working on if you didn’t work for Rethink Priorities?
Yea, I find this really difficult to think about. I think if I’d never joined Rethink, I’d have ended up continuing to work in the global poverty space (>70%). If I left Rethink now, I’d probably look for (longtermist-oriented) research and research-adjacent jobs at EA orgs and EA-aligned think tanks.
I think it’s unlikely I’d be able to continue doing cross-cause area work, but unsure which specific cause area I would primarily be focusing on. 35% likely: EA aligned research in a non-EA organization. 15% likely: EA aligned work in a different EA organization. 15% likely: non-EA aligned work. 10% likely: Charity Entrepreneurship’s incubation program. 25% likely: Unsure
If I hadn’t been hired by RP, I probably would have ended up working for a random tech company in Austin, where I live, or maybe I would have ended up doing admissions counseling remotely (which is lucrative but soul-sucking work). If I left RP now I would try to work for a different EA research org.
I applied to RP when I decided to make an important change in my career. If RP hadn’t hired me, I’d have kept trying it at different EA organizations, maybe as an intern. Yet, I would likely have ended up working in a management position at a local NGO.
It’s really hard to know. At first I’d take a career break. Maybe eventually I’d start applying to some similar researcher jobs. Or some other kinds of jobs in animal welfare. Or I would get a programming job and save enough money for another career break. I’d also consider finding some job that doesn’t require much logical thinking like circling instructor.
Most likely academic research related to the use of subjective wellbeing in prioritisation systems (healthcare, central government, maybe EA orgs, etc). Might have applied for researcher positions in other EA orgs.
I honestly don’t know. I’d probably be doing research at another EA charity, or potentially leading (or trying to lead) a slightly different EA charity that doesn’t currently exist. Generally, I have previously seriously considered working at other EA organizations but it’s been some time since I’ve seriously considered this topic.
I would be doing more of my academic research, at present Rethink Priorities definitely accounts for most of my time. I would probably also be doing more work for Rethink Charity and Charity Entrepreneurship, who I had been working for, but reduced/stopped my hours to work more for Priorities.
My guess is that I would still continue to keep up my hybrid EA research + earning-to-give in data science, except instead of running an EA research organization I would just do independent EA research on my own.
Also, if Rethink Priorities didn’t exist, I think the chances of me going full-time into EA research (as I am now working on doing) would be much lower, though there is a decent chance I would’ve applied to work as a researcher at OpenPhil (though, of course, I don’t know if I would’ve been hired).
Peter, do you have any tips for being productive while doing independent research and other work in parallel? I’m also trying to do both scientific research and scientific consulting at the same time. I’ve found my two major difficulties are slowed productivity while context switching (which I usually need to do several times a week, between projects in very different fields) and feeling obliged to prioritize time/energy on my clients research projects in front of my own (regardless of what I consider their relative importance/interest to be). I’d be interested to know how you deal with these or similar challenges.
Sure. If it’s possible, try making a large block of time (at least 2 continuous uninterrupted hours, preferably 4-6) for your main job and avoid context switching. Then take a break. Then make another large block of time (doesn’t have to be the same size, but also at least 2 hours) for your independent research.
I have a lot of flexibility in both my day job and my EA job to structure my days as I see fit. I know other people aren’t lucky. I try to wake up early, eat, read a bit, and then plow ~4hrs into my day job. Then I take a break for ~2-3hrs to exercise, eat, nap, and read a bit more. Then I plow ~4 more hours into EA stuff.
The last trick that makes the above possible is taking things like email, meetings, administrative stuff, etc., and try to push them as much as possible to just Tuesdays and Fridays (and I think doing it just on Fridays is doable for most non-managers) to avoid using up my continuous uninterrupted hours on “shallow work”.
It sounds like your context switching might be unusually costly, in which case you might prefer to alternate days or weeks in so far as is possible. This has worked well for me but I recognize I am probably unusual in how I can work and also in the flexibility I have during the day and during the week to make these blocks and to avoid answering emails for a few days.
You might recognize this as a “deep work” approach, as advocated by Cal Newport. I took some notes on his book that I recommend (both the book and my notes).
I also once made a productivity curriculum that I think is generally helpful for approaching work, but doesn’t really directly answer how to allocate time between projects.
As for prioritizing the job that pays me salary and letting my unpaid work languish, I do suffer from that a bit, but I try to precommit to a doable pace at work, avoid the temptation to do more than I need to, and make sure all my co-workers are clear and onboard about when I will deliver things. I aim to be a merely “good / above average” performer as opposed to a star. As a result, I’m not on any promotion fast-track (though I do still get promotions and raises) but I can put a significant amount of time into EA work. I have stacked the deck a lot more in favor of EA lately as I plan to transition to doing EA work full-time quite soon.