by Stefanie
Why are we researchers repeatedly or even constantly running a race against time? I find even the very valid principles that guide how to manage or even prevent those situations discussed in last week’s post not fully satisfying!
In the last 10-12 years I’ve been focused on personal development and human performance seeking to optimize and create a life and career of achievement and fulfillment. I tried countless systems, formulas, or ways of thinking. If I learned one thing:
There is no one formula or system that solves this challenge reliably for everyone or even someone all the time.
If there were a simple system that solves our workload problems, there wouldn’t be so much frustration, dissatisfaction, and burnout amongst us researchers. We are smart people and even though common sense is not always common practice and follow-through is one of the key elements to creating a life and career of joy and fulfillment, it isn’t all there is to the story.
All too often, we’re focused on external circumstances: The demands that our jobs as researchers put on us, the boxes we have to check, the many responsibilities we have to live up to. And there is no question that our external circumstances contribute to the overload. But I want to take this a level deeper.
The following considerations are assuming that you are a person who is motivated to contribute in a meaningful way while also desiring a high quality of life. For those of us falling into this category (and if you are signed up for the blog, you very likely are), the real question is:
How do we harmonize our strive for achievement or desire to contribute with our very individual needs, wants, and limitations?
Now here is the crux: My desire to achieve and contribute is sometimes in direct conflict with my physical, mental, and emotional needs. Or in other words, I want to do more than I can without jeopardizing my mental sharpness and creativity, my emotional wellbeing, and my long term health. That’s difficult to admit because I, and I assume you too, am constantly bombarded with messaging that suggests that where there is a will, there is a way. Doing less is not only a weakness but potentially career-damaging. And if I were truly capable and cut out for this career, I wouldn’t desire to do less. That’s the external stuff.
Internally, there are additional players at play:
It’s not super easy to distinguish real needs from anxiety or fear-driven desires. For example, it’s challenging to distinguish a need for mental space or physical rest from procrastination due to fear (of being judged or failing to achieve the thing we set out to do or… many other reasons). We all experienced both: A) Putting the thing we really need to do off even though we had all the resources to do it (procrastination). B) Pushing through even though it wasn’t the most efficient approach and we would have been able to do the same thing in half the time after a good night of sleep (need for rest).
Those of us who either value discipline or manage anxiety by controlling ourselves and our environment have often learned to overwrite or ignore our needs. This can manifest in doing something all the time, which serves a double purpose:
1. You are busy, you don’t have time to feel. Processing feelings is a slow process, way slower than thinking. The nice thing about being too busy to feel: Unpleasant feelings don’t register too much. The bad thing: Pleasant feelings don’t register too much. It all becomes one gray soup of meh. The irony: Meh doesn’t feel that great. But you are moving fast, you won’t notice meh all that much. At least at first.
2. If you learned to prioritize and do the things that matter and create impact, this strategy has served you extremely well. You are achieving! That’s part of the problem!
Now that may sound surprising: Why is achieving part of the problem?
It is because not only is our academic environment set up to incentivize you doing a lot (and likely more than is healthy long-term) but you additionally set up a strong internal reinforcement system for yourself. This will allow you to ignore your body, stuff down your emotions and push through exhaustion, mental fog, sleep deprivation, stress, etc.
Short-term this is attainable. But it is not sustainable over the course of a career.
This is especially true if your achievements have become distant from what you really care about. You are going after the checkboxes (to get this faculty job, to check off the very long list of promotion & tenure requirements, etc) but they are not what you are really after. What you are really after may be solving puzzles, exploring the mysteries of biology, the thrill of discovery or of finding a better way, creating something, [fill in whatever it is that lightens you up]. But that’s not what you are focused on a day-to-day basis. So you get de-energized, disillusioned, focused on what isn’t working.
But even if your achievement is driven entirely internally, ignoring your needs is unsustainable.
Data now show that following a passion or doing the things you love is no safeguard from burnout. I’ve been doing this personal development work for quite some time. One of the benefits of gaining self-awareness of my wants (note that wants are different from needs) is that I optimized my professional life such that I nowadays do very few things that I didn’t explicitly choose.
And yet striking a healthy balance between achievement and noticing and then listening to my needs has been the single biggest challenge I’ve been battling.
It seems I am teetering between “too much on my plate” and “am I doing enough to fulfill my responsibilities to my teams, employer, funders, clients, husband, pets, friends?”
Now the latter question may sound like one that a responsible human being and especially a good leader and mentor asks often. It’s one that helps me stay in integrity, so it serves a well-intentioned purpose. All our behaviors, mental and emotional patterns serve a (often subconscious) well-intentioned purpose. But even if behaviors always serve a purpose, they are not always healthy.
Recognizing the problem of balancing professional ambitions and personal needs is just the initial step.
The true journey is in navigating towards solutions that are in alignment with your unique blend of professional goals and personal values.
Last week, we talked about strategies to use when there are more tasks than time. Today, I move beyond principles into developing multifaceted systems that align with your values and acknowledge your limitations.
At the core of this approach is the concept of ‘conscious leadership,’ a philosophy developed by Jim Dethmer and Kaley Klemp. Conscious leadership is about leading from a place of self-awareness and intentionality. It’s about recognizing that every decision, action, and interaction stems from either a place of fear and reactivity (‘below the line’) or a place of trust and authenticity (‘above the line’). Now importantly, nobody is always above or below the line. Those are states that shift as you go through the day. A conscious leader is capable of recognizing the state they are in. They have also learned strategies to shift from below to above the line. A conscious leader declares that their needs, their health, clarity, and well-being comes first. Because that is what helps us be aware and shift from below the line to above the line.
As a researcher, embracing conscious leadership means not just managing tasks and timelines, but also managing your internal states, ensuring that your actions and decisions are driven by clarity, compassion, and a commitment to your true values.
Systems
In the spirit of conscious leadership, I integrate systems that serve not just my professional productivity but also my personal growth and well-being. There are many different systems we could speak about. For the purpose of the blog, let’s focus on systems that integrate with time management because time is at the core of our struggles.
In the conscious leadership framework, Dethmer and Klemp describe the relationship with time of a leader above the line as someone who takes control of it through use of time management systems. Above the line, you do with your time what you want. You may even get to a state of absolute presence where there is only now, you are in flow and there is plenty of time to do the things you want. Below the line, you are stressed or overwhelmed. There is never enough time–unless you’re bored. Then there is too much.
Dreaming big and breaking it down
To inform what to do with your time, you need to know what you want. What are you after? What would excite you if you achieved it in the next 5-10 years or so? Tony Robbins likes to remind folks that “Most people overestimate what they can do in 1 year. And they underestimate what they can do in a decade.”
- Dream about those long-term adventures first and know that even if you pulled one into your one-year list and didn’t make it happen, time is on your side.
- Decide on goals for the year.
- Look at those yearly goals and decide what you want to work toward during the next quarter.
- From those quarterly goals, pick your monthly goals.
- Review your monthly goals weekly and decide where you want to spend your time.
Understanding your routines and rhythms
Now there are goals and then there are maintenance and leadership related activities that also need to happen. That’s where time blocking comes into play. All activities that occur repeatedly should have a time block (and ideally a system) supporting them. For example, I have a meeting schedule for my team that allows us to get different things done including 1:1 mentoring. But also things like working on abstracts and posters or papers. I don’t wait for those to pop into my inbox. There is a dedicated time slot for these activities. And if it is not needed, I can use it otherwise.
The big question though is when to schedule what. It’s not just about assigning tasks to blocks of time; it’s about understanding the rhythm of your productivity and the nature of the tasks. This understanding doesn’t come overnight.It’s a process, a dance with time and energy, requiring patience and keen self-observation. For instance, I realized that, for me, these cycles change seasonally or due to shifts in work or home responsibilities. What worked last year, when I started my days writing for 2 hours, evolved into a new pattern this year with morning workouts and meetings preceding writing sessions.
This adaptability is not just a response to external changes but a reflection of an internal shift in values. I decided to emphasize my health and well-being over productivity, which is reflected in the way I use my time.
Honoring your limitations/needs
Acknowledging and understanding your limitations, or needs as I prefer to call them, is crucial. It’s about knowing how long you can sustain intense periods of focused execution or how many balls you can juggle before you slip ‘below the line,’ moving from proactive to reactive, from conscious leadership to a state driven by anxiety.
Recognizing and honoring this threshold is not a sign of weakness but of wisdom. It’s about knowing when to push and when to pause, ensuring that you remain ‘above the line,’ driven by clarity, creativity, and compassion.
The transition from managing overwhelming workloads to achieving a harmonious blend of productivity, personal growth, and well-being is not about adhering to a rigid set of principles or systems. It’s about developing a deep understanding of your values, recognizing your limitations, and leading consciously, both in your professional and personal life.
If you’re looking to weave these principles into your professional routine, we’re excited to announce the upcoming cohort of our Research Management Mastery Program, kicking off at the end of January. This immersive program offers you and your team the opportunity to apply and refine practice-proven systems firsthand. Spanning six months, it allows ample time for implementation, all while our expert coaches provide personalized guidance, so that you integrate systems “above the line”.
Please note, participation in this program requires an application. For more insights into the program, feel free to watch our LeadershipLab recording. If you’re ready to take the next step, you’re welcome to arrange a personal strategy session with us.
Stefanie