A reader writes in:
I am a big believer in the benefits of treating graduate school as a 9-5 job as a way of preventing burnout. While I have found that I am decent at following the letter of the law, I am not so good at following the spirit of the law. By this I mean that while I don't often actively work on projects in the evening, I cannot turn my mind off. I keep thinking about all the things I need to be working on and it has started interfering with my family life. I am not as present at home with my daughter or wife as I want to be. As a grad student, I know I have it the easiest now as I ever will. Should I be lucky enough to get a TT job, I will only be teaching more classes, with additional service duties, and more publishing pressures. Keeping a work/life balance will be even harder.
I use some of the tactics that are often suggested for keeping a boundary between work and home. For instance, I keep a notebook with copious to-do lists and make a to-do list for the following day before I go home. I have longer term to-do lists for semester long projects as well. The goal is to externalize my projects and take them off my mind, but I still find myself thinking and worrying about them. I've started meditating and trying to visualize putting my work away until tomorrow, but I haven't been doing that long enough to see if it is effective. Are there any other tactics you or your readers have found helpful at turning your mind off from work for the night?
I think this is a really important query. In my experience, this is one of the most difficult parts of being an academic. I struggled with it while I was on the job-market (the market was basically on my mind 24/7), I struggled with it once I finally got a TT job (stressing about publishing, teaching, etc.), and I still struggle with it today. Like this reader, I have actually set pretty firm limits on my workday. I only work from 9-5pm on weekdays, and I self-enforce a nearly categorical commitment to never work on weekends (sole exceptions being hard deadlines that necessitate it). I began this practice many years ago while still in a non-TT position, and it worked wonders. However, I've still always struggled with mentally distancing myself from work and not allowing work stresses to compromise my free time (viz. preoccupation when out with friends, etc.).
That being said, allow me to share a few things that I've found helpful and then open up the discussion for other suggestions from readers!
One thing that I found helpful when I was on the job-market was practicing mindfulness. When I was on the job-market, my spouse was still a PhD student in a very good nearby psychology program. She told me that mindfulness has been found to have clinically significant physical and mental benefits, including reductions in depression, stress, and anxiety–and as luck would have it some researchers in her program were carrying out some kind of study or other and were looking for participants. While I was pretty skeptical and there are critics of mindfulness and mindfulness research, I took part in it and much to my surprise I found that it really seemed to help! Basically, mindfulness consists in making concerted efforts to focus on the present: on what you are doing right here and right now, including focusing on sensations (such as sights, sounds, smells, touch, and so on). So, for example, when I would go on my daily walks with my dog–a time where I would usually ruminate to no end on the job-market, etc.–I made myself focus on the world around me: on the sky, on my dog, on the cool air against my skin, and so on. Whenever outside thoughts (e.g. on the job-market) would intrude upon my mind, I would again make a concerted effort to focus on the now. Similarly, when I would get home and work on cooking dinner (another time that, yes, I would often ruminate on the job-market), I would make myself focus on what I was doing: the smell of the garlic I was chopping, and so on. In all honesty, I found it tremendously helpful. But it does take a concerted effort to do it and keep doing it.
Another thing I've increasingly found helpful are hobbies. As longtime readers may know, I spent much of my life during my undergrad and grad school years as a semi-professional musician. Because music was proving to be a distraction from finishing my PhD, I actually ended up giving it up for a number of years (including selling all of my instruments) in order to finish my degree and succeed on the job-market. Although I ultimately did end up with a tenure-track job, giving up music gave my little else to focus on besides work and all of the preoccupations associated with it. Ever since getting tenure I've gotten back into music, and it has proven to be a godsend. I often now spend most of my weekends composing and recording music, and it basically enables me to immerse myself in something I find purely enjoyable and get my mind entirely off work. Finally, although I didn't realize it then, I really could have taken up music again years ago, back when I was on the market (because, again, I had a policy of never working on weekends even back then). So, that's a second thing I would suggest to our reader: if you don't have a hobby–something you just enjoy, period–consider picking one up. It can be a wonderful way to immerse yourself in something positive that gets your mind away from work.
One final thing I've found helpful is prioritizing social interaction. During grad school and my time on the market, I had a tendency to withdraw from people because I was so stressed out. I've also seen other academics I've known cope in a similar manner. The problem is, or so I now think, withdrawing from people only gives you more time to ruminate. These days, my wife and I (who are both academics) try to make it a priority to talk and hang out in the evening, for instance while one of us is cooking–whereas we used to 'decompress' by watching TV or whatever. I find this helps. Similarly, I'm now part of a local reading group among philosophers who try to meet once per month. Although this is related to work, we also make it into a low-key social thing and I find it a great deal of fun. Otherwise, though, I try to keep these kinds of interactions away from work. For example, my wife and I quickly find that I we talk about work, then we just end up stressed–so better to talk about other things, such as the movie we just watched, or other stuff going on in our lives.
Anyway, these are just a few things I've found helpful. Like I said at the outset of this post, I have by no means solved this issue (i.e. work preoccupation, etc.), and it remains a constant struggle. But I'm glad our reader raised the issue, as I know it's one many of us struggle with–and I hope we can have a good discussion in the comment section below. Do any of you have any suggestions or things you've found helpful in in separating yourselves from work?
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