Sarah Teichmann: ‘I wake as early as 4am and think about work’

The 42-year-old scientist is head of cellular genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, CambridgeSleep I need seven or eight hours. My daughters, aged 10 and five, are in bed by 8.30pm. My husband and I have different methods of getting them to bed: he likes nature television programmes; I like reading in German. Both my father and husband are German, so we try to maintain the language. Before I go to sleep, I read books such asSheryl Sandberg’sLean In, or essays fromHarvard Business Review. I am usually asleep by nine and wake as early as 4am; it gives me a few hours to think about work before the rest of the family wakes at 7am.Eat I try to have a low-carb diet. In the morning, my husband cooks scrambled eggs and I ’ll have lunch on theWellcome Genome campus in Cambridge. I am a creature of habit so I always have a salad, melon and coffee – I drink too much coffee. I try to have supper with the family three times a week. Our nanny - a retired academic from Uruguay - often cooks whatever is in the fridge. At weekends we cook but it’s very much dominated by what the kids like: pasta and pizza. There are no phones at the table and w e try to get information out of the kids about school, sports and friends; they are not always forthcoming.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Work-life balance & careers Health wellbeing Family Science Genetics Biology Life and style Money Source Type: news