Recognizing overwork

Great post about recognizing “overwork” (endemic in academia) as the first step toward regaining balance.

Why things take extra long to get done in a pandemic: our mental load is so much higher.

In week 15, I reflected that I never would have guessed I could spend every morning hiking or playing with my kid and only work in the afternoons for months and “get away with it”. As a trainee our schedules may be constrained or we might feel watched – and sometimes that’s true and sometimes we’re just judged on output/productivity. It’s a good time to think about what “shoulds” are not working for me and am I willing to pay the price (which might be smaller than I expected) for ignoring the should.

In week 20, I reacted more strongly than I expected to something in a meeting, and then realized I was feeling exhausted and crabby. So even though I had 4 whole hours wherein I had hoped to make progress on a long-postponed project…I didn’t. I took a break and went with Sam on some errands.

Amid emotional complexity in my life, I have noticed I have trouble wending my way through research decisions. I need more time to do the work. It takes time and clarity of mind to write clear and compelling arguments when I’m making my first attempt at making them in a manuscript. For better or worse I’ve always been someone who writes 5-10 (or 40) versions of something enroute to a final draft – my first drafts are almost never good. I am doing my best to be patient with the process, and to acknowledge and honor whether things are rather than where I wish they were.