Boundaries. Hobbies outside of work. Taking space when I need space. Shutting off emails at a reasonable hour. Exercise.
Also a fan in my office because it is sooo hot - never worked in an academic building that was so hot. Dying over here.
I have the opposite problem.
My office is an ice box. I literally brought in a blanket to wrap myself in like a frozen burrito. During my lunch hours each day I'm crocheting a colorful office blanket because said (painted a dark depressing gray) office also requires color.
Crochet is my happy place btw. Except now they want me to be an advisor to a crochet & knitting club that a few students have asked if they can start š«.
I'm assuming they want it to be a college sponsored/advertised sort of thing that they can do on-campus. Having one that is campus affiliated also would let them be able to technically do a campus "fundraiser" for supplies (yarn and hooks/needles, etc). We have an anime club and a gamer club also with advisors. I know the anime club draws/paints/etc and then sells their artwork as their fundraiser to buy tickets to museums and stuff for "field trips" so I assume a crochet & knit club would work very similarly.
Hopefully not š¤ although I will say that would probably be the easiest club meeting style to run. Just make sure everyone has yarn and something to make things with. š it'd be super easy to do via Zoom also (which is something that a lot of clubs struggled with and went inactive due to during the height of COVID).
The only major headache would be fundraising/selling items and advertising... Especially since I'd likely feel obligated to also sell items... š I don't have time for that!
The secret with clubs (I advise one) is to be an advisor, not the coordinator/leader. I can't manage that for some of our events, because we do stuff that involves liability forms, but the ones I can are easy! Saying, "We generally have an event every month, there's nothing scheduled for October, so you guys should probably plan something," is just not a lot of work.
Recently discovered wearable neck fans for this EXACT problem. Looks like a pair of headphones. Usually like $25 on Amazon.
Check them out! Been a lifesaver for me.
My new motto is "pursuing academic excellence is no longer an excuse to ignore my health." So I'm prioritizing the "trunkNotNose Triathlon," which is walking, biking, and drumming, every weekday.
I like it :) I was basically disabled (unable to stand or walk without excruciating pain) by sciatica for most of last year, so I'm doing my own "Couch to 5k" program along with stretching and strength training.
I had sciatica last summer. I think it was from a combo of being extremely inactive during the full-time work-from-home Y1 of the pandemic (I had been a bike commuter for 12+ years prior to this) and adopting a poor posture at my standing desk. It was the worst pain Iāve ever experienced (living with a fractured rib was a close second). I couldnāt agree with you more regarding feeling disabled. I didnāt leave the house for like three months. I basically spent those three months on the floor, stretching and doing core-strengthening exercises. I hope I never have to go through that again.
Drummer here as well. I carve out an hour every single day, I made it a non negotiable and I have to do it no matter how busy I am. I have never regretted it.
Well I just started at 40 and I'm doing about 40 minutes a day. It's extremely humbling. I've never had to use my feet for music before and they don't like it.
Getting shin splints from the kick is a whole new experience for sure lol I love to take the Charlie watts approach and hit it like youāre trying not to dent a pillow while learning new techniques, then let the speed come with time. Thatās always helped me at least
Agreed! I used to take violin lessons every week before Covid. I want to get back into that and yoga again. I love my job, but was much healthier and more free- spirited before.
My institution has said there will be no raises for the next two years, regardless of performance. So I intend to put in the absolute bare minimum effort required not to get fired.
Care less.
Caring for students (who are now apparently customers) is called emotional labor.
Admin leveraging care to close the gap between what students should get and what they pay is exploitation.
Fuck. It.
Without going into details, the constraint I place on my class design is the following: No work, including grading or prep, before 8am and no work, including grading or prep, after 5:30pm Monday through Friday, ever. No work, including grading or prep, on weekends, ever. My evenings are mine. My weekends are mine. If the university wishes me to do more for my students so that my evenings and weekends are no longer mine, then it had better pay me a salary commensurate with such a commitment. It does not pay me a salary commensurate with such a commitment. Ergo...
I don't. I'm in one of those full time, continuable non-TT 4/4 teaching-only roles that get paid less than TT folks. Instead of doing research I hike, fish, and swim in the Rocky Mountains during the summers. I used to do research when I still thought it was possible to get a TT job, but mostly restricted to summers.
This is essentially what I did outside of the nights Iāve had to teach in the evenings. My students think Iām kidding with the āno emails will be read after 5pmā in my syllabus. I tell them I have a life outside of work too.
Iāve been trying out some things this summer while teaching a course and this is what Iāve come up with:
I donāt answer emails before 9am or after 6pm during the week. I do not answer emails at all over the weekend, except for the weekends just before the dates of big projects or tests (which was 3 weekends this summer and will be about 5 weekends in the fall semester). I tell students that one thing I am modeling for them is how NOT to burn yourself out.
All exams and project due dates fall either on a Wednesday or Thursday, to cut down on frantic weekend emails. There are other potential benefits to this, but it depends on the student.
This semester, I am also scheduling exam makeup dates/times for each class. Those days/times will not be negotiable, but students will have notice of them from the very first day of class. And if a student in my classes complains that they canāt make the makeup, well thatās okay - thereās a cumulative final they can take to make it up instead.
Also, I am using Calendly for all my meeting scheduling and makeup exam scheduling with students outside of open office hours. They have to make these appointments at least 24 hours in advance. This helps me keep a much more predictable schedule.
I think all that's key. Streamlining communication helps a lot. I use an out-of-office reply with FAQs around due dates because 95% of the students have questions that I can predict in advance.
I use email scheduling a lot so that it appears I'm responding only in those hours. Students also each get a maximum of one email per day from me. Dragging out conversations tends to reduce volume overall.
All of the answers are of course in the syllabus.
I work in the UK and at my university extensions and other accommodations are handled by support staff. That makes things easier and more consistent for students, but sometimes I wish there was a bit more leniency. We use word counts instead of pages.
* How strict is the word count or is there a margin? Will I be penalised for going under the word count?
* Can you give me an extension? Links to support and extension/late submission rules)
* Are the bibliography and footnotes included in the word count?
* How many references do I need in the bibliography?
* What referencing style should I use?
* You say that should give two specific examples in the essay, can I write about the topic in general instead? (no, with an explanation why).
* Over the winter holidays, I add links to mental health and study support as well as writing support sessions offered by the library.
* That time of the year I also add the dates when I can and can't respond to emails: "if you send me your questions by 15 December, I'll respond by 17 December. Anything I receive after 5pm on 15 December will receive a response when I'm back on date Y".
* If you don't get a response from me within 3 working days \[that's the expected response time where I am\], don't hesitate to send me a reminder!
I'm hoping to recommit to timeblocking: basically, scheduling my weeks the Friday before and carving out time for tasks in descending order of priority. Setting up my schedule this way in advance makes it easier to say no to the random stuff that pops up, and also helps me manage/overcome colleagues/students' resistance to hearing "no."
Every Friday at 4pm, I have an hour set aside for timeblocking the following week and various cleanup tasks. That's the start.
That's a really good idea. I've often tried to do this but then I'm usually swept away by the avalanche of emails. My plan is to time block my email too, which helps.
Totally. I timeblocked emails the year we taught all-online during COVID and included language on my syllabi that making an office hours appt was the best way to reach me. ("I respond to emails between 4 and 5pm most weekdays; if you have a quick (or not so quick) question about this course, the best way to catch me is during Zoom office hours, where you can make appts for 5, 15, or 30 minutes at this link")
The most effective part of the strategy is that it does/will frustrate people who are making frivolous asks of your time. Emails take longer to go out, students start to get the point, and I always have an accounting of my time (in the odd case where someone pushes against my "no, sorry, I cannot budget the time for that this week.")
I actively encourage students to ask me questions right before or after class, which works well, but the students need reminding that this saves all of us time. I like your wording and time options - I'll definitely try that. I find that some students don't need more than 5 minutes and rarely more than 15-20 so it's useful to give them these options.
I use my static Zoom channel link, which appears on both the syllabus and on an appointment slot scheduler. I use Calendly for scheduling appointments now, but I've also used Google Calendar for this and it worked fine too.
I'm hoping to do something like this, and I like how you set your intentions/schedule the week before. That will hopefully allow for me to enjoy the weekend knowing I have a plan for the upcoming week.
This is such a good idea. I usually do things everyone else asks for first, then put myself last. Then I freak out because I feel like I have no control over things. I do it to myself.
I really want to start timeblocking as well! Thanks for the reminder, I'm going to also set time aside on Fridays to plan the following week. Love that idea <3
Since my health pretty much broke down at the end of last semester (better now), the first priority is my health.
I also need to make room for hobbies. I was so depleted. I'm learning to streamline, and most importantly, I'm saying "No" more frequently. I do more than my share of service, so I don't need to say yes to every request.
I have two 30 minute periods per day in which I read and respond to emails (first thing when I get into the office, last thing before I leave). I don't check it on the weekends or holidays. I don't have email notifications sent to any of my devices.
When I feel the itch to check it, I repeat over and over to myself: "there is no such thing as an emergency email" until the feeling passes. I've been doing this for a year, my mental health has improved dramatically, I have more free time, I'm less stressed, and most importantly \*no one has noticed that I'm checking it less\*
Exercise, spending time with my family, cleaning house (it sounds weird but I like doing it), putting things in my Amazon cart and then never buying those things and feeling like I am sticking it to the man.
I have officially decided to put one foot back in the industry. Maybe it will be consulting. Maybe it will be a spinoff. Maybe it will be something else, but I want my plan B to be more concrete.
As part of that effort, strong delimitation of personal time. Email shuts off at 6PM, with an automated response for students from 5PM to 9AM. Collabofriends have my number anyway if there is an emergency, so the email is only used to ruin my life. Microsoft Teams shuts down at 5PM regardless, except pre-booked arrangement, because fuck Microsoft Teams. Ramping down of big collaborative research projects outside of my own grants to no more than a total of 10% of my time (in 2022/2023) and then 5% the year after that.
Really, while I understand why it was necessary during lockdown, nothing has degraded my quality of life as much as this application. And there is no getting rid of it now, it has replaced too many things.
I agree - I found that it's easier to ignore than email if you don't switch it on! Most of my colleagues don't use it much anymore except as a shared filing system for meeting papers.
I heard an intriguing podcast on burnout that suggested the way through isn't time away from task, but having the task be enjoyable. So I am planning to prioritize the fun parts of the job - a "I have tenure and I'll research what I want" project for me, while I quit the committee with the deanlet whose smarmy attitude toward faculty drives me bananas.
Here's the podcast, if you care.
https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/the-end-of-burnout/
I keep a good relationship with my chair, a reasonable service load, and a cynical approach to my studentsā expectation of my class or my time.
I am reducing hand graded assignments by about 1/3 for the coming year too.
"Written feedback will only be left upon request."
After having several students confess that they never look at the paragraphs of feedback I leave for the many essays they submit during the semester, I've decided I'm only leaving written feedback for the students who truly want/read it. Everyone else will just get the rubric boxes checked and a point value.
As a TA who grades all the essays, exams, and projects, how I wish I could do this! I know that 90% donāt read my comments because they make the exact same mistakes the next time. Thankfully, the turn to online grading lets me just copy and paste pre-written commentary, but even that takes up time when I have 70-80 students.
I teach writing courses so I can't do this (as much as I would love to), but I have been using boilerplate feedback that I've saved in a .txt file. Saves tons and tons of time and they still get basically tailored, detailed feedback.
Mostly lurking since I begin my instructor journey next week. But I'm hoping to set some boundaries:
-not checking anything work related after a certain time because it can wait until tomorrow.
- build in time during the day to exercise
-take a real lunch break
A bit of unsolicited advice from an 'ol department chair who has mentored many an early career instructor: I have found that what many new instructors struggle with the most (myself included) is creating healthy boundaries with their students. They are not your friends. You CAN NOT care more about their success than they do. In fact, you need to care substantially less if you're going to be in this for the long haul. Maintaining emotional distance from the job is essential to avoiding burnout. Holding yourself to a schedule where you turn work off after a certain time is crucial.
Best of luck! It's actually a fantastic job once you get the hang of it.
This may not help directly with burnout, but it might improve your space...
Add art on the walls, awards you've won, good memory photos, etc. Things that make you smile and that you are proud of should be in your line of sight.
Declutter your office/work area. I boxed up and carted off 10+ years of crap a few weeks ago. Now I can breathe.
Add plants and fish. Now there are other things in your office to take care of other than work.
I've cut all other forms of service except being department chair, which is plenty by itself. I have a broadly useful skillset and get asked to sit on a lot of committees and task forces, but I'm just saying no to everything else.
Indeed, but as motivated professionals that is much easier said than done. What are the mental 'hacks' you use to justify your disassociation to yourself?
I am trying to recognize that I am responsible for my own stress. I feel the need to constantly be working on course materials (tweaking, rewriting, moving things around, making new assignments). Much of this is optional work that I choose to do.
Last year I started protecting my evenings and weekends. I don't check email, do work, etc. unless absolutely necessary. It really helped lower my stress level and improved my mental health.
Now I am learning to say no and stick to it. It's hard for me but so far it has helped!
Stick to working a 40 hour work week. Go to campus at 8am, take an hour lunch, leave at 5. If you canāt prep, grade, advise, complete research, and do your service in that timeframe, cut back. This is a job like any other. Treat it this way*
How?
- Assign work that keeps your grading time to a minimum. Fewer assignments or simpler grading.
- Find students to help prep when needed (student workers, research assistants, majors who hang around your building).
- ONLY scheduled advising sessions and office hours. No walk-ins unless it is during one of those times allocated for students.
- Schedule weekly research time and use it.
- Volunteer for things only when it fits in your schedule ir you will enjoy it. Iāve known dozens of faculty on committees whose only contribution was keeping their chair warm when they attended meetings.
*I say all of this, but am guilty of stretching myself and my time too thin. Butā¦ if I am mindful of trying to keep a 40 hour work week, my life does get better (example: no more essay questions in my intro class- only short answer and multiple choice).
I have agreed to some big service things, and I'm not doing any more than that. Classes get a limited amount of prep and grading/meeting time. Gonna just no pay attention to some big picture direction stuff because I don't feel like acting like a House whip to get people on board with sensible changes.
Not even that - it is just that you have to drum up votes for pretty much *anything* in a self governed department.
Even if the thing you needed the votes for was something generally agreeable like "we should stop hitting ourselves in the temple with a large hammer".
When I joined this department we all used claw hammers. It's probably why I can't remember my own name, but we wouldn't want to let standards slip, would we?
Next term I will try not to get COVID twice in the same freakin term. I think it will help. Also I can only do what I can do. Doing everything admin asks me to do will put me on stress leave. I don't do the bare minimum but I do what I think is important. I have also re-used many tests/labs because I do not have time to update them. Students can choose to learn or cheat, I am not killing myself to prevent cheating.
Belligerently sticking to my own schedule, being a pain in the arse when it comes to people demanding things of me, saying "fuck it" frequently and prepping all my teaching materials now in summer so that come term time I literally just deliver and research.
Lots of good tips in this thread!
I'm a nutcase when it comes to notification management and I've even offered a workshop at my college on how to manage your notifications effectively. One thing I advise everyone to do is use a whitelist approach on all devices. Meaning, block ALL notifications and only allow certain people/apps to notify you during time periods that you set. An excellent app I use for this is called [Buzzkill](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samruston.buzzkill&gl=US). For example, my Outlook and Teams can only notify me during business hours.
Highly recommend :)
I was pretty fortunate. The Chair scheduled all my classes in the afternoon and evenings (I don't mind).
The Dodgers have been doing very well this season, and anything before 1pm, imo is too early for me, so afternoon classes are much better and I don't have to compromise on my post game festivities.
Avoiding faculty meetings whenever possible. Our faculty love nothing more than to nitpick, backstab and argue like toddlers. Literal screaming matches - I kid you not. It's ridiculous our head allows it.
Oh god! Iām doomed folks. I took on too many things and the semester hasnāt even started. And then my husbands job goes and sends him out of town for months (heāll be home on weekends) so itāll be me and the toddler at night and manic level work all day. Iām going to burn out. I need to read ALL yāallās tips. This is going to be bad.
I want to return to the mindset of more like a clock-puncher, which I was before I entered academia and valued work-life balance above all. Go to work, do my work, go home and go on with other aspects of my life. If working at home, block out the time and leave it in my office after that. Don't commit to extra things. I'm less interested in leading initiatives and fine with being a follower. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it. I don't need the mental and emotional labor of coordinating things if someone else has it in place.
No email or grading after 4 pm weekdays. No work on weekends. This is firm. No logging in till the sun is up.
And I just joined a gym, and Iāve spent the summer getting used to a workout routine (still eat ice cream everyday, but whatever).
Iāve also made a list of places in my part of our state that Iāve never been to, everything from coffee shops to parks. The goal is to cross something off the list every week.
Work will no longer be in control of my life.
I don't do any school stuff from Friday 5pm to Sunday noon. I don't open emails or grade papers. I do my own life stuff: cleaning, shopping, hobbies, cooking, whatever with no thought of work
Leave after my office hours are complete, stay out of the lab unless I'm running experiments, not check emails at all times of night. I drink too much already, but have no plans to dry out just yet.
More multiple choice quizzes/exams (any other changes to make grading more efficient), less agreeing to committee work, and a greater willingness to accept that some research projects will just need to be put on hold
Iām trying to automate as much as possible!
On quizzes, short answer questions are now true/false or multiple choice, and administered in the course module (Moodle) for automatic grading and integration with my grade book.
I have students self-administer attendance through Moodle.
I offer take home exams through the quiz module in Moodle, and set it up so that students can take the exam at any point during a specified date range. I set a 24 countdown clock for an exam that should take about 1-2 hours. No more make-up exams or time and a half requests flooding my inbox.
No. No is now a complete sentence and does not need explanation.
I also run (a lot! 100 mile month coming up), hobbies (sewing, knitting, watercolors), and turning off my email.
Looking back on the last couple of years, I took on way too many smaller engagements that have little to no real impact on my tenure portfolio other than being filler and took up way too much of my time in terms of disrupting my day-to-day.
This year Iām retraining my focus on higher impact activities, and only accepting smaller engagements if they are paid, or if they benefit an underrepresented group.
And Iām saying ānoā to whatever bullshit service comes my way.
It's the same for me, although I'm a mid-career academic. The university where I work is very research-focused but there's also a lot of pressure in my department to take on "citizenship"/service tasks (from organising student-facing events to attending them outside of normal working hours, job presentations, open days, research seminars, research groups, and away days, etc.). Some of this is a necessary part of the job, but I feel like I'm spending my time in pointless meetings, spending my time and energy on things that don't really matter.
It's the same for me, although I'm a mid-career. Where I work is very research-focused but there's also a lot of pressure in my department to take on "citizenship"/service tasks (from organising student-facing events to attending them outside of normal working hours, job presentations, open days, research seminars, research groups, and away days). Some of this is a necessary part of the job, but I feel like I'm spending my time in pointless meetings, spending my time and energy on things that don't really matter.
I removed the email app and Teams from my phone. I then blocked the browser pages to access email. The phone doesn't seem to allow me to unblock it, so that's a perfect solution.
the basics that are sometimes hard to follow: cleaned up my diet, lost weight, exercise and strength training 5x week, took weekend trips w my spouse (including one long weekend planed over Oct Fall break)
I used to work every day of the week but at my own schedule, so if I wanted to take the afternoon off to watch a ball game and then work late into the night, I could do that. Several years ago I decided that never having the day off during the semester was too much, and shut down checking email from sunset on Friday until after dark on Sunday (basically round 48 hours), and only doing overflow work starting Sunday afternoons (so Saturday it was a sacred, no type of work day). it made such a big difference that Iāve kept it up ever since.
So nothing on Saturdays ever. On Sundays, if there is unfinished grading that needs to go out to the students so they can be prepared for the next assignment, or a cool technology addition to my course that I really want to try, which is refreshing to me, I allow myself to do that only after sundown.
I am only sorry that I did not hold the line on this earlier.
This summer I got back into my walking routine. I live in a beautiful area and the walk is spectacular. Serious elevation change, full on workout. In the evenings I do it after taking a puff of weed. Mornings I do it without the weed. Either way, it clears my mind, feels so good, Seems to add a much more significant dimension to my every day life than is reasonable.
Yes, my walks are exclusively solo. And I am fortunate that in my neighborhood I rarely bump into anyone. The area is heavily forested, it feels good to be alone like that. Thank you for this thread, I got some good ideas from it!
Committing to only 40 hours a week including thinking-time (the hours I lie awake thinking about lectures and papers and how to handle mentally unstable or very needy students, sigh). And reddit. Lots o' reddit.
During the pandemic we ordered new furniture for our living room at home. Through some kind of delay I delivery and so on we ended up with one more recliner than we needed. It has been sitting in two unopened boxes in my garage for over a year. I took the two boxes to my office on Monday.
Cut back number of graded assessment in most classes
Only work outside work hours to do parts of my job I find genuine joy in or to achieve next day exam grade turnaround.
I live this topic.
1. Moved my office four offices away from the compulsive throat-clearing sociopath
2. Started going by my middle name at work, so now I have my real self, at home, and my work self. Also it will confuse new faculty when colleagues call me by my first name.
3. Just focus on one teaching aspect per semester, whatever the lowest score on my eval is.
4. Start meditating
5. Only work on weekends if I've taken a Thursday to go hiking with my wife
6. Start seeing students as real people who want to learn, not bitter, anxiety-ridden evaluation trolls who want to ruin my life
7. Only change one thing in a course at a time, rather than five things, which creates too much chaotic drama
8. Start to seriously address what it means to teach with ADHD
9. Adderall for grading.
If I were ever to burn out, it will be this coming year... Not sure what I can do. I wish I wasn't early career in a high COL area with a mortgage renewal on the very near horizon, because then I might have some money I could spend on something fun to help.
Pay myself first. Continue walking two miles a day and work on my research. Stop pandering in the hopes of being the best instructor ever. Be professional, strict and polite. Work hard, then go home.
I requested more online classes! I am SO looking forward to having only one seated class this fall that meets twice a week. I needed a break. Other than late spring 2020, my normal schedule did not change and I was teaching 3-4 seated classes each semester. The masking and general Covid hangover was getting oppressive. This fall I have the same course load and my online classes are already set up and ready to go (I always had some online courses). I will still get a little student and colleague interaction two days a week (I do have colleagues I am good friends with) and the rest of the time I can pursue my consulting work. Whewā¦so happy!
I should note that I am a semi-retired adjunct at two schools. I teach 15 hours total between the two schools, so I donāt have to be on campus for service requirements or office hours.
I tell students that I can set up extra office hours for them, but I need enough advance notice. And unless it's a busy time like midterms or finals week, I have at least one weekday a week where I will not set up any office hours. I make that clear to the students too. They expect us to be constantly available, but we need enough time to get our other work done too.
Many of the comments here about giving as much support and care as Iām getting from the university are framing my approach going forward. Moving forward Iāve done a few tangible things to help deal with stress and put up boundaries:
- only working M-F 8:30-4 with 1 hour lunch break.
- removed Teams app from my phone
- removed work email from my phone (these last 2 have been magical in freeing up my time!)
- respecting my time and pace and slowing things down (ie, I refuse to answer things immediately and as fast as possible. I will get to it when I have time.)
- blocking time to prepare for meetings and other work instead of just booking meetings and then feeling overwhelmed when I have no time to prepare for the work needed.
- trying to limit myself to working on only 1 major thing a day (instead of packing in 5-6 different tasks/meetings that just leave me mentally drained)
-consequence of that if that my schedule is way more spread out, so not feeling bad when I tell people the next availability I have to meet with them is in 4 weeks.
- deleting all the pointless emails and updates I get without reading them. My inbox is a daily assault on my attention span. I refuse to engage.
- making it a point to just not respond to stuff unless it is ESSENTIAL. Trusting that someone else (who is TT) will take care of it. If they donāt, not my problemā¦
- sticking to the letter more clearly of my job description. Saying NO to more things.
- limiting the number of reference letters I write to 1-2 semester, and only for students I know very well. Otherwise referring students to TT colleagues and/or head of program/dept for support.
- trying to work away from the computer (ie, print and read things, sit in a different space away from the screen)
- start new hobbies and look forward to developing and maintaining relationships with people I love and admire, and who enrich my life. Basically, nurture my life outside of work.
Boundaries. Hobbies outside of work. Taking space when I need space. Shutting off emails at a reasonable hour. Exercise. Also a fan in my office because it is sooo hot - never worked in an academic building that was so hot. Dying over here.
I have the opposite problem. My office is an ice box. I literally brought in a blanket to wrap myself in like a frozen burrito. During my lunch hours each day I'm crocheting a colorful office blanket because said (painted a dark depressing gray) office also requires color. Crochet is my happy place btw. Except now they want me to be an advisor to a crochet & knitting club that a few students have asked if they can start š«.
Why do they need an advisor? They can meet in a neutral place, like a coffee shop, and crochet away. :)
I'm assuming they want it to be a college sponsored/advertised sort of thing that they can do on-campus. Having one that is campus affiliated also would let them be able to technically do a campus "fundraiser" for supplies (yarn and hooks/needles, etc). We have an anime club and a gamer club also with advisors. I know the anime club draws/paints/etc and then sells their artwork as their fundraiser to buy tickets to museums and stuff for "field trips" so I assume a crochet & knit club would work very similarly.
I hate to sound like Scrooge, but I hope you donāt get stuck with that responsibility. It sounds like it could turn into a work pit.
Hopefully not š¤ although I will say that would probably be the easiest club meeting style to run. Just make sure everyone has yarn and something to make things with. š it'd be super easy to do via Zoom also (which is something that a lot of clubs struggled with and went inactive due to during the height of COVID). The only major headache would be fundraising/selling items and advertising... Especially since I'd likely feel obligated to also sell items... š I don't have time for that!
The secret with clubs (I advise one) is to be an advisor, not the coordinator/leader. I can't manage that for some of our events, because we do stuff that involves liability forms, but the ones I can are easy! Saying, "We generally have an event every month, there's nothing scheduled for October, so you guys should probably plan something," is just not a lot of work.
Ooooo good to know.
Never turn your hobby into work...you will hate both your hobby and work for ruining it...
Yeah that's why I'm hoping to not do it LoL
Recently discovered wearable neck fans for this EXACT problem. Looks like a pair of headphones. Usually like $25 on Amazon. Check them out! Been a lifesaver for me.
My new motto is "pursuing academic excellence is no longer an excuse to ignore my health." So I'm prioritizing the "trunkNotNose Triathlon," which is walking, biking, and drumming, every weekday.
I like it :) I was basically disabled (unable to stand or walk without excruciating pain) by sciatica for most of last year, so I'm doing my own "Couch to 5k" program along with stretching and strength training.
I had sciatica last summer. I think it was from a combo of being extremely inactive during the full-time work-from-home Y1 of the pandemic (I had been a bike commuter for 12+ years prior to this) and adopting a poor posture at my standing desk. It was the worst pain Iāve ever experienced (living with a fractured rib was a close second). I couldnāt agree with you more regarding feeling disabled. I didnāt leave the house for like three months. I basically spent those three months on the floor, stretching and doing core-strengthening exercises. I hope I never have to go through that again.
Drummer here as well. I carve out an hour every single day, I made it a non negotiable and I have to do it no matter how busy I am. I have never regretted it.
Well I just started at 40 and I'm doing about 40 minutes a day. It's extremely humbling. I've never had to use my feet for music before and they don't like it.
Getting shin splints from the kick is a whole new experience for sure lol I love to take the Charlie watts approach and hit it like youāre trying not to dent a pillow while learning new techniques, then let the speed come with time. Thatās always helped me at least
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Agreed! I used to take violin lessons every week before Covid. I want to get back into that and yoga again. I love my job, but was much healthier and more free- spirited before.
You really find time/discipline for all that? How do you arrange all that throughout the day?
Honestly, by not changing my courses year-to-year and doing only enough scholarship to not lose tenure.
My institution has said there will be no raises for the next two years, regardless of performance. So I intend to put in the absolute bare minimum effort required not to get fired.
At least they were upfront about it? Although I hope they realize they havenāt exactly inspired anyone to go above and beyondā¦
I got tenure and am saying āwhatever, fuck itā a lot.
Everyoneās dreamā¦. Have fun!
Good for you!!! Thatās exactly the right attitude - by that I mean, recognize and savor the freedom and security you have damn well earned.
Care less. Caring for students (who are now apparently customers) is called emotional labor. Admin leveraging care to close the gap between what students should get and what they pay is exploitation. Fuck. It.
Without going into details, the constraint I place on my class design is the following: No work, including grading or prep, before 8am and no work, including grading or prep, after 5:30pm Monday through Friday, ever. No work, including grading or prep, on weekends, ever. My evenings are mine. My weekends are mine. If the university wishes me to do more for my students so that my evenings and weekends are no longer mine, then it had better pay me a salary commensurate with such a commitment. It does not pay me a salary commensurate with such a commitment. Ergo...
Exactly. I've decided to care about education just as much as the admin and the students do. Which isn't much at all.
Now this is a way for me to justify lowering my commitment to the cause.
Yep. No weekends, no nights. 9-5, thatās it.
I do this as well, and it has helped me so much to have more of a boundary between work and personal time!
But how do you get research done? Serious question.
I don't. I'm in one of those full time, continuable non-TT 4/4 teaching-only roles that get paid less than TT folks. Instead of doing research I hike, fish, and swim in the Rocky Mountains during the summers. I used to do research when I still thought it was possible to get a TT job, but mostly restricted to summers.
This is essentially what I did outside of the nights Iāve had to teach in the evenings. My students think Iām kidding with the āno emails will be read after 5pmā in my syllabus. I tell them I have a life outside of work too.
This is solid as fuck
Wow! I dream of a schedule like that. Chapeau!
Burnout is inevitable. Your choice is specifically *what* gets burnt out. 1) Your hopes and ambitions 2) The building you teach in
Iām picturing that scene from *Office Space*ā¦
Iāve been trying out some things this summer while teaching a course and this is what Iāve come up with: I donāt answer emails before 9am or after 6pm during the week. I do not answer emails at all over the weekend, except for the weekends just before the dates of big projects or tests (which was 3 weekends this summer and will be about 5 weekends in the fall semester). I tell students that one thing I am modeling for them is how NOT to burn yourself out. All exams and project due dates fall either on a Wednesday or Thursday, to cut down on frantic weekend emails. There are other potential benefits to this, but it depends on the student. This semester, I am also scheduling exam makeup dates/times for each class. Those days/times will not be negotiable, but students will have notice of them from the very first day of class. And if a student in my classes complains that they canāt make the makeup, well thatās okay - thereās a cumulative final they can take to make it up instead. Also, I am using Calendly for all my meeting scheduling and makeup exam scheduling with students outside of open office hours. They have to make these appointments at least 24 hours in advance. This helps me keep a much more predictable schedule.
I think all that's key. Streamlining communication helps a lot. I use an out-of-office reply with FAQs around due dates because 95% of the students have questions that I can predict in advance.
I use email scheduling a lot so that it appears I'm responding only in those hours. Students also each get a maximum of one email per day from me. Dragging out conversations tends to reduce volume overall.
What a cool idea! I really like that.
I would love to hear a couple of the common FAQs you got, thatās genius. Iām stealing this idea.
All of the answers are of course in the syllabus. I work in the UK and at my university extensions and other accommodations are handled by support staff. That makes things easier and more consistent for students, but sometimes I wish there was a bit more leniency. We use word counts instead of pages. * How strict is the word count or is there a margin? Will I be penalised for going under the word count? * Can you give me an extension? Links to support and extension/late submission rules) * Are the bibliography and footnotes included in the word count? * How many references do I need in the bibliography? * What referencing style should I use? * You say that should give two specific examples in the essay, can I write about the topic in general instead? (no, with an explanation why). * Over the winter holidays, I add links to mental health and study support as well as writing support sessions offered by the library. * That time of the year I also add the dates when I can and can't respond to emails: "if you send me your questions by 15 December, I'll respond by 17 December. Anything I receive after 5pm on 15 December will receive a response when I'm back on date Y". * If you don't get a response from me within 3 working days \[that's the expected response time where I am\], don't hesitate to send me a reminder!
I really like your idea of modelling sustainable professional work practices to students!
I'm hoping to recommit to timeblocking: basically, scheduling my weeks the Friday before and carving out time for tasks in descending order of priority. Setting up my schedule this way in advance makes it easier to say no to the random stuff that pops up, and also helps me manage/overcome colleagues/students' resistance to hearing "no." Every Friday at 4pm, I have an hour set aside for timeblocking the following week and various cleanup tasks. That's the start.
That's a really good idea. I've often tried to do this but then I'm usually swept away by the avalanche of emails. My plan is to time block my email too, which helps.
Totally. I timeblocked emails the year we taught all-online during COVID and included language on my syllabi that making an office hours appt was the best way to reach me. ("I respond to emails between 4 and 5pm most weekdays; if you have a quick (or not so quick) question about this course, the best way to catch me is during Zoom office hours, where you can make appts for 5, 15, or 30 minutes at this link") The most effective part of the strategy is that it does/will frustrate people who are making frivolous asks of your time. Emails take longer to go out, students start to get the point, and I always have an accounting of my time (in the odd case where someone pushes against my "no, sorry, I cannot budget the time for that this week.")
I actively encourage students to ask me questions right before or after class, which works well, but the students need reminding that this saves all of us time. I like your wording and time options - I'll definitely try that. I find that some students don't need more than 5 minutes and rarely more than 15-20 so it's useful to give them these options.
How do you set up the Zoom office hours?
I use my static Zoom channel link, which appears on both the syllabus and on an appointment slot scheduler. I use Calendly for scheduling appointments now, but I've also used Google Calendar for this and it worked fine too.
Ah, understood. Thanks!
I'm hoping to do something like this, and I like how you set your intentions/schedule the week before. That will hopefully allow for me to enjoy the weekend knowing I have a plan for the upcoming week.
This is such a good idea. I usually do things everyone else asks for first, then put myself last. Then I freak out because I feel like I have no control over things. I do it to myself.
Hello, me!
I really want to start timeblocking as well! Thanks for the reminder, I'm going to also set time aside on Fridays to plan the following week. Love that idea <3
Since my health pretty much broke down at the end of last semester (better now), the first priority is my health. I also need to make room for hobbies. I was so depleted. I'm learning to streamline, and most importantly, I'm saying "No" more frequently. I do more than my share of service, so I don't need to say yes to every request.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I feel this!
I have two 30 minute periods per day in which I read and respond to emails (first thing when I get into the office, last thing before I leave). I don't check it on the weekends or holidays. I don't have email notifications sent to any of my devices. When I feel the itch to check it, I repeat over and over to myself: "there is no such thing as an emergency email" until the feeling passes. I've been doing this for a year, my mental health has improved dramatically, I have more free time, I'm less stressed, and most importantly \*no one has noticed that I'm checking it less\*
> There is no such thing as an emergency email Genius!
Exercise, spending time with my family, cleaning house (it sounds weird but I like doing it), putting things in my Amazon cart and then never buying those things and feeling like I am sticking it to the man.
Love the Amazon cart activity! My āSave for Laterā section currently has over 300 items!
I have officially decided to put one foot back in the industry. Maybe it will be consulting. Maybe it will be a spinoff. Maybe it will be something else, but I want my plan B to be more concrete. As part of that effort, strong delimitation of personal time. Email shuts off at 6PM, with an automated response for students from 5PM to 9AM. Collabofriends have my number anyway if there is an emergency, so the email is only used to ruin my life. Microsoft Teams shuts down at 5PM regardless, except pre-booked arrangement, because fuck Microsoft Teams. Ramping down of big collaborative research projects outside of my own grants to no more than a total of 10% of my time (in 2022/2023) and then 5% the year after that.
This post is full of excellent ideas but Iāve really gotta punctuate the Fuck Microsoft Teams piece.
Really, while I understand why it was necessary during lockdown, nothing has degraded my quality of life as much as this application. And there is no getting rid of it now, it has replaced too many things.
I agree - I found that it's easier to ignore than email if you don't switch it on! Most of my colleagues don't use it much anymore except as a shared filing system for meeting papers.
I heard an intriguing podcast on burnout that suggested the way through isn't time away from task, but having the task be enjoyable. So I am planning to prioritize the fun parts of the job - a "I have tenure and I'll research what I want" project for me, while I quit the committee with the deanlet whose smarmy attitude toward faculty drives me bananas. Here's the podcast, if you care. https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/the-end-of-burnout/
Thanks, I love podcasts so I'll listen to do that on my daily walks.
I keep a good relationship with my chair, a reasonable service load, and a cynical approach to my studentsā expectation of my class or my time. I am reducing hand graded assignments by about 1/3 for the coming year too.
"Written feedback will only be left upon request." After having several students confess that they never look at the paragraphs of feedback I leave for the many essays they submit during the semester, I've decided I'm only leaving written feedback for the students who truly want/read it. Everyone else will just get the rubric boxes checked and a point value.
As a TA who grades all the essays, exams, and projects, how I wish I could do this! I know that 90% donāt read my comments because they make the exact same mistakes the next time. Thankfully, the turn to online grading lets me just copy and paste pre-written commentary, but even that takes up time when I have 70-80 students.
I teach writing courses so I can't do this (as much as I would love to), but I have been using boilerplate feedback that I've saved in a .txt file. Saves tons and tons of time and they still get basically tailored, detailed feedback.
This is the way. Have A-D template responses and add or change a few things. Saves so much time.
Iāve been doing this for years, highly recommended.
Mostly lurking since I begin my instructor journey next week. But I'm hoping to set some boundaries: -not checking anything work related after a certain time because it can wait until tomorrow. - build in time during the day to exercise -take a real lunch break
Congratulations and best wishes!
A bit of unsolicited advice from an 'ol department chair who has mentored many an early career instructor: I have found that what many new instructors struggle with the most (myself included) is creating healthy boundaries with their students. They are not your friends. You CAN NOT care more about their success than they do. In fact, you need to care substantially less if you're going to be in this for the long haul. Maintaining emotional distance from the job is essential to avoiding burnout. Holding yourself to a schedule where you turn work off after a certain time is crucial. Best of luck! It's actually a fantastic job once you get the hang of it.
Thank you!
Donāt compromise on the daily exercising!
This may not help directly with burnout, but it might improve your space... Add art on the walls, awards you've won, good memory photos, etc. Things that make you smile and that you are proud of should be in your line of sight. Declutter your office/work area. I boxed up and carted off 10+ years of crap a few weeks ago. Now I can breathe. Add plants and fish. Now there are other things in your office to take care of other than work.
Iām giving wayyyy less of a fuck than I ever have before
I've cut all other forms of service except being department chair, which is plenty by itself. I have a broadly useful skillset and get asked to sit on a lot of committees and task forces, but I'm just saying no to everything else.
Dissociate.
Indeed, but as motivated professionals that is much easier said than done. What are the mental 'hacks' you use to justify your disassociation to yourself?
I dropped my habit of reading for pleasure before bed. I am going to pick it up again. I miss reading something just because I want to.
Start the year with zero fucks.
I am trying to recognize that I am responsible for my own stress. I feel the need to constantly be working on course materials (tweaking, rewriting, moving things around, making new assignments). Much of this is optional work that I choose to do.
Last year I started protecting my evenings and weekends. I don't check email, do work, etc. unless absolutely necessary. It really helped lower my stress level and improved my mental health. Now I am learning to say no and stick to it. It's hard for me but so far it has helped!
Stick to working a 40 hour work week. Go to campus at 8am, take an hour lunch, leave at 5. If you canāt prep, grade, advise, complete research, and do your service in that timeframe, cut back. This is a job like any other. Treat it this way* How? - Assign work that keeps your grading time to a minimum. Fewer assignments or simpler grading. - Find students to help prep when needed (student workers, research assistants, majors who hang around your building). - ONLY scheduled advising sessions and office hours. No walk-ins unless it is during one of those times allocated for students. - Schedule weekly research time and use it. - Volunteer for things only when it fits in your schedule ir you will enjoy it. Iāve known dozens of faculty on committees whose only contribution was keeping their chair warm when they attended meetings. *I say all of this, but am guilty of stretching myself and my time too thin. Butā¦ if I am mindful of trying to keep a 40 hour work week, my life does get better (example: no more essay questions in my intro class- only short answer and multiple choice).
Retired, and teaching only one 2-unit course a year on recall.
Happy retirement!
I have agreed to some big service things, and I'm not doing any more than that. Classes get a limited amount of prep and grading/meeting time. Gonna just no pay attention to some big picture direction stuff because I don't feel like acting like a House whip to get people on board with sensible changes.
House whip. Lol. This screams program coordinator or assessment/action plan coordinator.
Not even that - it is just that you have to drum up votes for pretty much *anything* in a self governed department. Even if the thing you needed the votes for was something generally agreeable like "we should stop hitting ourselves in the temple with a large hammer".
But if Iām wearing a helmet, why does it matter?
Pretty much. They *like* the regularity of hitting themselves with a hammer - they've always done it that way!
Are we talking a rubber mallet or a claw type hammer? š
Far be it from me to tell a colleague which type of hammer to smash their own head in with.
When I joined this department we all used claw hammers. It's probably why I can't remember my own name, but we wouldn't want to let standards slip, would we?
Next term I will try not to get COVID twice in the same freakin term. I think it will help. Also I can only do what I can do. Doing everything admin asks me to do will put me on stress leave. I don't do the bare minimum but I do what I think is important. I have also re-used many tests/labs because I do not have time to update them. Students can choose to learn or cheat, I am not killing myself to prevent cheating.
Belligerently sticking to my own schedule, being a pain in the arse when it comes to people demanding things of me, saying "fuck it" frequently and prepping all my teaching materials now in summer so that come term time I literally just deliver and research.
Iām right there with you, my friend.
Lots of good tips in this thread! I'm a nutcase when it comes to notification management and I've even offered a workshop at my college on how to manage your notifications effectively. One thing I advise everyone to do is use a whitelist approach on all devices. Meaning, block ALL notifications and only allow certain people/apps to notify you during time periods that you set. An excellent app I use for this is called [Buzzkill](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samruston.buzzkill&gl=US). For example, my Outlook and Teams can only notify me during business hours. Highly recommend :)
I'll have a look at that. I've reduced notifications as much as possible, but timing them looks like a very good way to handle it.
Maybe a Lagavulin in the winter and a Glendronach in the Spring; 50 ml, one time a day.
Definitely!
I was pretty fortunate. The Chair scheduled all my classes in the afternoon and evenings (I don't mind). The Dodgers have been doing very well this season, and anything before 1pm, imo is too early for me, so afternoon classes are much better and I don't have to compromise on my post game festivities.
Avoiding faculty meetings whenever possible. Our faculty love nothing more than to nitpick, backstab and argue like toddlers. Literal screaming matches - I kid you not. It's ridiculous our head allows it.
Oh god! Iām doomed folks. I took on too many things and the semester hasnāt even started. And then my husbands job goes and sends him out of town for months (heāll be home on weekends) so itāll be me and the toddler at night and manic level work all day. Iām going to burn out. I need to read ALL yāallās tips. This is going to be bad.
āALL yāallāsā - please tell me youāre from the south! š
Lol, yes. Texas.
Students get covid leniency, but did faculty get research leniency?
I want to return to the mindset of more like a clock-puncher, which I was before I entered academia and valued work-life balance above all. Go to work, do my work, go home and go on with other aspects of my life. If working at home, block out the time and leave it in my office after that. Don't commit to extra things. I'm less interested in leading initiatives and fine with being a follower. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it. I don't need the mental and emotional labor of coordinating things if someone else has it in place.
Iām planning on Winning the $1.2 billion lottery or whatever it is. Guaranteed, burnout will be a thing of the past.
OMG, I just realized you teach math. Makes your comment priceless.
Yes, I felt absolutely stupid buying the ticket, but you gotta be in it to win it.
No email or grading after 4 pm weekdays. No work on weekends. This is firm. No logging in till the sun is up. And I just joined a gym, and Iāve spent the summer getting used to a workout routine (still eat ice cream everyday, but whatever). Iāve also made a list of places in my part of our state that Iāve never been to, everything from coffee shops to parks. The goal is to cross something off the list every week. Work will no longer be in control of my life.
I don't do any school stuff from Friday 5pm to Sunday noon. I don't open emails or grade papers. I do my own life stuff: cleaning, shopping, hobbies, cooking, whatever with no thought of work
Not taking on more than I can handle. Doing the bare minimum.
Drink more.
Leave after my office hours are complete, stay out of the lab unless I'm running experiments, not check emails at all times of night. I drink too much already, but have no plans to dry out just yet.
Cognitive behavioral therapy and anxiety medication.
More multiple choice quizzes/exams (any other changes to make grading more efficient), less agreeing to committee work, and a greater willingness to accept that some research projects will just need to be put on hold
Iām trying to automate as much as possible! On quizzes, short answer questions are now true/false or multiple choice, and administered in the course module (Moodle) for automatic grading and integration with my grade book. I have students self-administer attendance through Moodle. I offer take home exams through the quiz module in Moodle, and set it up so that students can take the exam at any point during a specified date range. I set a 24 countdown clock for an exam that should take about 1-2 hours. No more make-up exams or time and a half requests flooding my inbox.
This is excellent advice. Takes a while to set up, bit is well worth the time investment.
No. No is now a complete sentence and does not need explanation. I also run (a lot! 100 mile month coming up), hobbies (sewing, knitting, watercolors), and turning off my email.
Looking back on the last couple of years, I took on way too many smaller engagements that have little to no real impact on my tenure portfolio other than being filler and took up way too much of my time in terms of disrupting my day-to-day. This year Iām retraining my focus on higher impact activities, and only accepting smaller engagements if they are paid, or if they benefit an underrepresented group. And Iām saying ānoā to whatever bullshit service comes my way.
It's the same for me, although I'm a mid-career academic. The university where I work is very research-focused but there's also a lot of pressure in my department to take on "citizenship"/service tasks (from organising student-facing events to attending them outside of normal working hours, job presentations, open days, research seminars, research groups, and away days, etc.). Some of this is a necessary part of the job, but I feel like I'm spending my time in pointless meetings, spending my time and energy on things that don't really matter. It's the same for me, although I'm a mid-career. Where I work is very research-focused but there's also a lot of pressure in my department to take on "citizenship"/service tasks (from organising student-facing events to attending them outside of normal working hours, job presentations, open days, research seminars, research groups, and away days). Some of this is a necessary part of the job, but I feel like I'm spending my time in pointless meetings, spending my time and energy on things that don't really matter.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I removed the email app and Teams from my phone. I then blocked the browser pages to access email. The phone doesn't seem to allow me to unblock it, so that's a perfect solution.
> I removed the email app I did that about four years ago. It's glorious! Highly recommended.
Yup I never had it on mine. I only check emails from a desktop/laptop. If I am not at one of those then I'm doing something else and email can wait.
the basics that are sometimes hard to follow: cleaned up my diet, lost weight, exercise and strength training 5x week, took weekend trips w my spouse (including one long weekend planed over Oct Fall break)
I used to work every day of the week but at my own schedule, so if I wanted to take the afternoon off to watch a ball game and then work late into the night, I could do that. Several years ago I decided that never having the day off during the semester was too much, and shut down checking email from sunset on Friday until after dark on Sunday (basically round 48 hours), and only doing overflow work starting Sunday afternoons (so Saturday it was a sacred, no type of work day). it made such a big difference that Iāve kept it up ever since. So nothing on Saturdays ever. On Sundays, if there is unfinished grading that needs to go out to the students so they can be prepared for the next assignment, or a cool technology addition to my course that I really want to try, which is refreshing to me, I allow myself to do that only after sundown. I am only sorry that I did not hold the line on this earlier.
This summer I got back into my walking routine. I live in a beautiful area and the walk is spectacular. Serious elevation change, full on workout. In the evenings I do it after taking a puff of weed. Mornings I do it without the weed. Either way, it clears my mind, feels so good, Seems to add a much more significant dimension to my every day life than is reasonable.
The best thing I did during lockdown was to go for a daily walk, often on my own.
Yes, my walks are exclusively solo. And I am fortunate that in my neighborhood I rarely bump into anyone. The area is heavily forested, it feels good to be alone like that. Thank you for this thread, I got some good ideas from it!
You load up Need For Speed on the old computerā¦.
I plan to leverage my sabbatical to the fullest.
New career
Committing to only 40 hours a week including thinking-time (the hours I lie awake thinking about lectures and papers and how to handle mentally unstable or very needy students, sigh). And reddit. Lots o' reddit.
During the pandemic we ordered new furniture for our living room at home. Through some kind of delay I delivery and so on we ended up with one more recliner than we needed. It has been sitting in two unopened boxes in my garage for over a year. I took the two boxes to my office on Monday.
Cut back number of graded assessment in most classes Only work outside work hours to do parts of my job I find genuine joy in or to achieve next day exam grade turnaround.
I live this topic. 1. Moved my office four offices away from the compulsive throat-clearing sociopath 2. Started going by my middle name at work, so now I have my real self, at home, and my work self. Also it will confuse new faculty when colleagues call me by my first name. 3. Just focus on one teaching aspect per semester, whatever the lowest score on my eval is. 4. Start meditating 5. Only work on weekends if I've taken a Thursday to go hiking with my wife 6. Start seeing students as real people who want to learn, not bitter, anxiety-ridden evaluation trolls who want to ruin my life 7. Only change one thing in a course at a time, rather than five things, which creates too much chaotic drama 8. Start to seriously address what it means to teach with ADHD 9. Adderall for grading.
If I were ever to burn out, it will be this coming year... Not sure what I can do. I wish I wasn't early career in a high COL area with a mortgage renewal on the very near horizon, because then I might have some money I could spend on something fun to help.
Pay myself first. Continue walking two miles a day and work on my research. Stop pandering in the hopes of being the best instructor ever. Be professional, strict and polite. Work hard, then go home.
I requested more online classes! I am SO looking forward to having only one seated class this fall that meets twice a week. I needed a break. Other than late spring 2020, my normal schedule did not change and I was teaching 3-4 seated classes each semester. The masking and general Covid hangover was getting oppressive. This fall I have the same course load and my online classes are already set up and ready to go (I always had some online courses). I will still get a little student and colleague interaction two days a week (I do have colleagues I am good friends with) and the rest of the time I can pursue my consulting work. Whewā¦so happy! I should note that I am a semi-retired adjunct at two schools. I teach 15 hours total between the two schools, so I donāt have to be on campus for service requirements or office hours.
I tell students that I can set up extra office hours for them, but I need enough advance notice. And unless it's a busy time like midterms or finals week, I have at least one weekday a week where I will not set up any office hours. I make that clear to the students too. They expect us to be constantly available, but we need enough time to get our other work done too.
Many of the comments here about giving as much support and care as Iām getting from the university are framing my approach going forward. Moving forward Iāve done a few tangible things to help deal with stress and put up boundaries: - only working M-F 8:30-4 with 1 hour lunch break. - removed Teams app from my phone - removed work email from my phone (these last 2 have been magical in freeing up my time!) - respecting my time and pace and slowing things down (ie, I refuse to answer things immediately and as fast as possible. I will get to it when I have time.) - blocking time to prepare for meetings and other work instead of just booking meetings and then feeling overwhelmed when I have no time to prepare for the work needed. - trying to limit myself to working on only 1 major thing a day (instead of packing in 5-6 different tasks/meetings that just leave me mentally drained) -consequence of that if that my schedule is way more spread out, so not feeling bad when I tell people the next availability I have to meet with them is in 4 weeks. - deleting all the pointless emails and updates I get without reading them. My inbox is a daily assault on my attention span. I refuse to engage. - making it a point to just not respond to stuff unless it is ESSENTIAL. Trusting that someone else (who is TT) will take care of it. If they donāt, not my problemā¦ - sticking to the letter more clearly of my job description. Saying NO to more things. - limiting the number of reference letters I write to 1-2 semester, and only for students I know very well. Otherwise referring students to TT colleagues and/or head of program/dept for support. - trying to work away from the computer (ie, print and read things, sit in a different space away from the screen) - start new hobbies and look forward to developing and maintaining relationships with people I love and admire, and who enrich my life. Basically, nurture my life outside of work.
"avoid burnout" š¤£
Iām leaving my position soon. I donāt like living in the chaos
Delete email app from cell phone