Thread by @cfiesler

The problem with workload (and thus work-life balance) in academia is:

You can always do more.

(A thread based on a recent personal epiphany.)

Unlike many other kinds of jobs, when you are a (research-heavy) professor no one tells you exactly what you need to do. Or even how much you need to do. There are things that are wonderful about this kind of freedom. But also, it means that you can always be doing more.

How many research projects should you be doing at any given time? How many papers should you be writing? You might have a personal sense for this, maybe even a rule-of-thumb, maybe even a mentor giving you advice. But whatever N is, it COULD always be N+1.

And what constitutes "should" or "enough" means a lot of different things for different people. Enough to get a job? Enough to get tenure? Enough to feel like you're contributing to a part of science you are passionate about? Enough to make an impact on the world?

Some of us are pretty good at maintaining a reasonable workload. Stopping work at 6pm. Not working weekends. Not working more than N hours a week unless there's a deadline, etc. And you might cap projects based on how much you can accomplish in that time. (I am bad at that part.)

But the thing is, you always COULD decide to do more. Because for the most part, no one is telling you how much you should do but you. You decide what research projects you do, what papers you write, (often) what service obligations you take on.

(I'll also note that, though this can be true for PhD students as well, I think that it is mediated by - hopefully - having an advisor who is giving you more hands on guidance about what is an appropriate amount to do. :) )

Anyway, the problem is, if you CAN do more (and there are people who then DO because of whatever is motivating them towards some "enough" and possibly overworking themselves), even if you know it is unreasonable you still feel a constant low thrum of guilt or concern for not.

Er if you were hoping this thread would end with a brilliant solution, I'm afraid I don't have one. My epiphany was only to identify the root of the low thrum of guilt/concern. (And to be clear, this is NOT me being worried about tenure.) But I guess that's the first step. :)

Seeing how many RTs etc. this thread has gotten, I just want to offer anyone reading this a big virtual hug and say: You are enough. ❤️