A friend asked why I advocate for work-life balance in academia.
I can point to three cathartic moments.
The first was when I became a single parent.
Everything shifted at that moment. My identity went from parent & academic (balanced) to parent first & academic second.
However, it did not become a driving force for advocacy - I was too busy surviving.
The second was when Allen Lee asked me to give a talk on work-life balance for a junior faculty consortium.
Writing that talk forced me to think through issues tied to my life and the reality checks that came with parenting/professoring.
The third was delivering this talk on balancing life as a teacher, researcher, and father for The University of Queensland.
The audience pressed me on how to find balance and why weren't senior people advocates for early career people and intimated it was more challenging than I thought.
They were right - I'm very grateful to Marten Risius, Sabine Matook, and Andrew Burton-Jones for the invitation to give the talk - bc it evoked a lot of personal growth.
In any event, I'd forgotten about the talk - until this week - when a person mentioned watching a video of it.
I tracked down a link to the video: https://lnkd.in/e_SGqXZ8
It's not my most excellent talk - I watched it - and winced a bunch - Marten will too! Sabine and Andrew come out looking great!
In the talk, I contend that if you are to find balance; you will need to become mindful of your choices and their implications.
I then detail several academic myths & realities about life as an early career researcher.
Myth 1. Research gets easier. It doesn't.
Mindful Reality. If you study what you love, while it may still be difficult, you will take joy in the work.
Myth 2. You will naturally become a better teacher.
Mindful Reality. If you prepare, you can be better. However, more than better, you will enjoy teaching more.
Myth 3. You will have more time as your carer progresses.
Mindful Reality. You will always be busy. So make time to enjoy life.
Myth 4. You will be able to invest time strategically.
Mindful Reality. There are always disruptions. You need to be strategic first, then invest time.
To manage these myths, you need to become mindful, which unlocks the door to balance because it makes you more capable of prioritizing and setting a schedule.
I anticipate - that after viewing the video and slides - no one is going to ask me to give a talk again for a while :)
Have a great holiday season!
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