“It is not always easy working from home”

What is your career goal?

Ideally, I would like to stay within academia, and I am ultimately aiming for a lectureship within optometry.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I’d say, ‘stop procrastinating; do the thing now.’ To be fair, I could pretty much give myself that advice on a daily basis.

If you could switch career path, what would you choose to do?

I’ve always wanted to write a novel – so maybe a bestselling author.

How do you manage a work/life balance?

It is not always easy working from home. I think maintaining a routine as much as possible and knowing when you need to stop are pretty key.

What do you do to unwind?

I play golf, although the amount of unwinding I do is sometimes hampered by my performance on the golf course.

Ideally, I would like to stay within academia, and I am ultimately aiming for a lectureship within optometry

You have won the OT lottery. What are the first three things you would do with the £1m jackpot?

I’d buy a new house, put some money into trust funds for my nieces and nephews, and probably splash out on an outrageously expensive watch.

Did you have holiday plans in 2020?

We had tickets for a couple of the Euros games in Denmark and Germany this year, so hopefully we can tie that in with a holiday for the rearranged fixtures in 2021.

About the author

Howard Collins is an optometrist with over 15 years’ clinical experience. He has worked in High Street practice and has delivered clinical teaching for the optometry degree programmes at both Bradford and Aston Universities. He is currently in the final stages of writing up his PhD thesis at Bradford University while working on a collaborative research project with Aston University and ZEISS Vision Care.