A mentor once told me that most academics go through at least two major surges and one major slump in their career.
He commented that the first surge better come around tenure.
The second surge better come around promotion to full.
And you just hope the slump doesn’t hit until you are ready to be an administrator.
My mentor’s point was well-taken - in that you can control when you work but you can’t control when papers get rejected.
His comments gave me solace during the long dry spells that inevitably come with publication.
Sometimes due to rejection.
Sometimes due to multiple rounds of revision.
Sometimes bc you just run out of ideas.
Dry spells happen.
Submissions just don’t make it into conferences.
Grants don’t resonate with review panels.
Journals board shifts require you to retool.
So how do you get through it?
First, you persevere.
If untenured, you can’t quit.
If tenured, you need to earn promotion.
If a Full, you need to be a role model.
So you keep working.
Second, you retool.
Topics sometimes fade or methods fall out of favor.
It takes time to sort out a new topic or methods.
Be patient with yourself while you retool.
Third, you don’t disappear.
Slumps can mean not having papers accepted at conferences which translates to no funding to go to conferences for most faculty.
You still need to show up to maintain relationships and to keep up on trends in the field.
A couple of years missing conferences can leave you out of synch with the field.
Fourth, keep submitting.
You don’t break a slump by quitting.
You don’t learn why you are being rejected without review packages.
So even if rejected, take the package & sort out what went wrong.
Finally, never forget the stakes of the game.
If not tenured, just remind yourself
‘I don’t have a job, yet. I don’t have tenure, yet…’
If tenured, you will have to find another motivation.
For me, it’s helping my students.
I remind myself that, so-so doesn’t have a job yet …
With a good motivation, it’s a lot easier to keep working.
Pushing through rejection is not easy - just remember - you are not alone & you can persevere.
Best of luck.
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