Warning: Potential for whining ahead.
I feel like the number of things I am involved in at work has tripled in the past 1-1.5 years. In my personal life, of course, I’ve always been in charge of my own life, happiness, etc. Who else would or could be?
At work, though, all of a sudden it seems like I am working with more students than ever. Several of them are doing independent studies. I need detailed notes to remind myself of who is interested in what concepts and which populations, and what the next steps are. Thank goodness for my habit of taking those excessively detailed notes!
I’m on more committees and workgroups, too. People are asking for my feedback and participation. I’m running two pilot studies, mostly on my own. Anyone who thinks that researchers are rolling in money has not talked to a researcher who has pilot funding (or, um, no funding in one case), who doesn’t have the resources to hire a study team, and who, as a result, is doing everything. I love it – don’t get me wrong, data are always welcome! – but it’s a lot, particularly with everything else.
But – and it’s a big but – I love working with my students. They have such interesting ideas, and it gives me the opportunity to explore other topics (one of the best parts of teaching and mentoring, if you ask me). I actually like participating and giving feedback, when I’m engaged with the topic and know that my feedback can make a difference. (Although I’m still more likely than not to stay quiet in meetings…. I haven’t gone completely over the edge!) And I love that I am getting the chance to do research on a topic important to me, and that eventually (hopefully soon?) we’ll get to analyze the data and see what’s what.
So it goes. Another busy week on tap. Another week when I’ll think, do I really want all of this responsibility? Do I really want to take all of this on?
The answer is still yes. Thank goodness.
I get it. Yes work is a lot but it’s things that you want to be doing. As long as you’ve got the downtime that you need, I say go for it!
Working on that downtime, for sure! I am trying to build in non-guilt-inducing breaks in my day. Like reading blogs, for Pete’s sake. (Especially this month1!!)
It does get hard to say no at work, doesn’t it? I mean, you want students to succeed and all of it leads to student success! I think the crucial piece for me is that I don’t work at home. If it doesn’t happen at the office, it just doesn’t get done! I have a strong home-work demarcation.
Exactly. I love my students and I love working with them. And their success is everything to me. (I mean, I want my research to succeed, too, but that’s my selfish “want”… the students are seriously, and surprisingly, a huge motivator for me right now.) I do have to work at home, as you well know, but I am trying to get better about building in breaks when I know I need them.
Sounds like you’re on your way to super burnout or already there. What are you doing to prevent that or cope? 🙁
Here’s the thing – I actually love all of these things! (Except the meetings, because, well, meetings…) I love working with my students, I get to teach great courses, AND I get to do the research I like! It’s just the time in my career and my semester where it all seems to be coming at me at once. I know others have mentioned burnout – and believe me, I’ve considered it – but I don’t think I’m quite there yet. I do know that I need to scale back on the all-work-all-the-time, and I’m making some (slow) changes there. It helps to have this community and to remind myself that there’s a big world out there. 🙂
This sounds like a lot, but it also sounds like you enjoy it and you are doing something that you love which is great. Thank goodness you are good at note taking, because I’d think with all of this mounting responsibility, you could easily become overwhelmed.
I do enjoy it – and yes, the notetaking is absolutely essential. Evernote for the win. Worth every penny, even though I truly detest the fact that you cannot modify the default font size. (Whyyy…?)
I think we all tend to take on more when we enjoy our jobs – the challenge, of course, is making sure I have a life outside of work. Working on that. (Ha…)
Listen, as long as you enjoy the work and the busyness, go for it! It’s nice to do stuff you’re passionate about. There is a lot I love about my job and most of the time, when I take on new things, it’s because I’m excited for the opportunity! It’s fun to do new projects and take on new responsibilities! (Within reason, of course.)
Your parenthetical is, I think, the most important part of your comment. I am trying to keep it within reason – AND I am trying to only take on those things where I think I can contribute in a positive way. I’m not going to sit on some committee and then roll my eyes at all the meetings. At least, not willingly. 😉
It’s hard to say “no”, especially if you’re interested in the work… but at the same time feel worried that you won’t be able to do it all. But the good news is: you figure it out. You always figure it out 😉
That’s exactly it – figuring out how to make it work. And/or make it end soon. 😉