-
For the last few weeks I've had to work until 3am to make lectures, apply for grants etc. A lot of it because someone high up cancelled and I had to fill in.
Have been absolutely exhausted, have come to some good conclusions, but really don't want to continue working like this. The problem is that to succeed as an academic you have to do this for years. I could take a risk, leave for a company on six months funding, then might be locked out of academia for ever.
Have a big deadline coming up, but need to go home for a rest. I've barely been insufferable even when we've won.
Most weekends now I am completely empty and can't socialise, so just stay home.
-
The basic operating principle in serious academia is that you are a failure because you haven't published in journal x or gotten grant y this year. So it is a huge amount of work to make a standard to not fail, rather than be rewarded regularly.
I did some work for a hedge fund a few years ago, and I was treated with respect and rewarded monetarily for finishing projects.
Academia can be a really negative environment.
-
Hang in there fella. Sounds like you need a holiday/break to get perspective.
I'm on the fringe of academia professionally. It is a tough gig, and honestly can't see a step change in improvement in the future. I think it'd have to be a passion to do it.
Good luck, and good work sharing
-
@Tim said in Happiness Scale:
The basic operating principle in serious academia is that you are a failure because you haven't published in journal x or gotten grant y this year. So it is a huge amount of work to make a standard to not fail, rather than be rewarded regularly.
I did some work for a hedge fund a few years ago, and I was treated with respect and rewarded monetarily for finishing projects.
Academia can be a really negative environment.
My wife is in academia. The constant cycling of applying for grants from a relatively small pool of money, submitting papers, it can be a grind. Hang in there mate
-
This is why I think UBI is so important - yes in everyone's job there are stressors and loads you can't control, but when you're talking about being locked out of your preferred career and risking your livelihood as a result, that just isn't right.
Academia is a hard slog, and you're a better Polish Chick than me for the grind you're going through @Tim
-
I'm working with a woman in our village on a fundraising project and she sent me this WhatsApp Thursday:
I am so sorry but I am going to have to postpone our meeting tomorrow until Friday if that is possible. It’s just that we have to sign our wills tomorrow as George has heart surgery on Friday, so we need to cover our bases
Hope this is ok
DawnFound it profoundly affecting, but her cheerful, "worrying won't make anything better" attitude when we met Friday (she insisted) was awe-inspiring. Surgery went well, BTW. The human spirit, eh?
Privilege to know her.
-
Everyday people can be so uplifting
-
just read through this thread for the first time in a while, some genuine honesty here that's pretty humbling to read.
My dad died unexpectedly 2 months ago, and my bro got married in aus less than 3 weeks later, its been a whirlwind and not in a good way. My mum was amazing through the weeks after his death but is now struggling in a big way and its heart breaking, she's a good 1hr 30 mins away from me and given my bro lives in Aus its basically down to me to look after her.
I haven't begun to deal with the loss of my dad, i don't know where to start. But i have the Jordan Peterson phrase in my head the whole time that says 'your one job is to be the strongest man at your dads funeral'.
I have a stressful job, two youngish kids and a wife who lost her own dad 3 years ago and is also grieving for mine. I have a mum who is facing the prospect of living the rest of her life without her partner and best friend - they all need me.
I know that losing a parent is a natural part of life, and I understand the challenge that says 'you're putting a lot of expectation on yourself to be there for everyone else' and lots of messages above talk about the need to look after yourself in these moments and make sure you manage your own mental health, my question is how? What do you stop doing? I can't talk to many people about it because they're either grieving or looking after their own situations, and frankly i'm not sure how talking about it helps, it just opens the door to the wider feelings which are then harder to get back in the box.
I will be strong, but i'm not sure what to do to be honest.
-
@Dodge I'd like there to be a good response to that one, and one that doesn't feel trite to type.
That sense/importance of having to make it work isn't always an easy one. I lost my Dad on the afternoon of the 2019 AB's v England semi final, which he then sorted out from upstairs
Since then family health and circumstances has us dealing with some complex stuff.What first sprang to mind is Churchill's quip about "If you're going through Hell, keep going". Easier said than done of course...
and lots of messages above talk about the need to look after yourself in these moments and make sure you manage your own mental health, my question is how? What do you stop doing?
The billion dollar questions. I think this is do-able, but acknowledging that some days or weeks, it may be just out of reach too. I'd also like to think that there's also some level of peace from accepting that. Especially in not being too hard on yourself in the moments when it's not all being held together.
Lots written about grief and loss of a Dad. My own experience was that it could hit when least expected. Kinda reinforcing that need, at a minimum, not to be too hard on yourself throughout it all. Again, perhaps easier said than done.
-
@Donsteppa said in Happiness Scale:
@Dodge I'd like there to be a good response to that one, and one that doesn't feel trite to type.
That sense/importance of having to make it work isn't always an easy one. I lost my Dad on the afternoon of the 2019 AB's v England semi final, which he then sorted out from upstairs
Since then family health and circumstances has us dealing with some complex stuff.What first sprang to mind is Churchill's quip about "If you're going through Hell, keep going". Easier said than done of course...
and lots of messages above talk about the need to look after yourself in these moments and make sure you manage your own mental health, my question is how? What do you stop doing?
The billion dollar questions. I think this is do-able, but acknowledging that some days or weeks, it may be just out of reach too. I'd also like to think that there's also some level of peace from accepting that. Especially in not being too hard on yourself in the moments when it's not all being held together.
Lots written about grief and loss of a Dad. My own experience was that it could hit when least expected. Kinda reinforcing that need, at a minimum, not to be too hard on yourself throughout it all. Again, perhaps easier said than done.
very wise, and more helpful than i thought you would be
sorry to hear about your dad, its shit.
Happiness Scale
