NO PIC TONIGHT

I went out to dinner on a Tuesday. Extraordinary!

Two guests were academics. They both work most weekends. And into the late night many nights a month. They have little actual time to prepare material for teaching, and even less time allocated for this task by their workplace. They are tired. Rail against meaningless hoops and procedures they jump through, and even more against fake deadlines that turn out not to be deadlines at all, but nevertheless cut into their limited time to do other tasks.

This lifestyle was a major reason I wanted out of academia. Another topic of conversation tonight, the pressures at every turn to try to anticipate the impact of your actions on student mental health, is another compelling reason I walked.

If this is you, or someone you love, you may want to consider contributing to the ANU research project lead by Inger Mewburn (aka The Thesis Whisperer) into what “being productive” means in academic work. You can find out more here: Our new survey is live – your help please?