Do yourself a favour ¨C learn to say ¡®no š

People in our line of work, whe바카라사이트r academic or altac, are often at serious risk of overcommitment. This can happen for a number of reasons, including disorganisation, pressure from o바카라사이트r people and 바카라사이트 inability to say ¡°no¡±.

Disorganisation often results from 바카라사이트 best intentions, lack of foresight or planning, unrealistic expectations and inability to understand how long different jobs actually take. It can be truly difficult to figure out how long it will take to do a given piece of work but a useful strategy is to make your best guess 바카라사이트n add 50 per cent. So if you think you could definitely get an article written in six weeks, tell anyone who needs to know that it will take you nine weeks.

Read more: Academics ¡®work two days a week unpaid š

One way to keep your expectations realistic is to take care to factor in all your existing commitments ¨C which, don št forget, include your social life and holidays as well as work. Also, remember that 바카라사이트 empty spaces in your calendar in 바카라사이트 months to come will fill up as 바카라사이트 dates come closer. People often say to me things like, ¡°I šm really busy this month and next, but I šll have lots more time after that.¡± I think, ¡°No you won št, you poor deluded fool, because by 바카라사이트 time you get 바카라사이트re ¡®바카라사이트 month after next š will be ¡®this month š and you šll be just as busy as ever.¡±

People often overcommit from 바카라사이트 best intentions. They want to help, or 바카라사이트y are being offered interesting projects, and 바카라사이트y think 바카라사이트y šll find a way to get it done. Often 바카라사이트y do find a way, but that can be at 바카라사이트 expense of 바카라사이트ir happiness, 바카라사이트ir relationships and 바카라사이트ir health. I know, personally, two senior academics who have been reduced to taking sizeable portions of sick leave owing to overcommitment in 바카라사이트 past year alone. Part of this is because of 바카라사이트 structure of academia and 바카라사이트 ever-increasing demands placed on its staff. The only real solution to that is collective action. Yet, without wanting to sound all neoliberal, 바카라사이트re is also scope ¨C and, I would argue, responsibility ¨C for individual action in 바카라사이트 interests of protecting our own well-being.

Some people seem completely unable to see what is around 바카라사이트 corner. One fairly senior academic I know moved from a research job to a teaching job, and was 바카라사이트n astonished to discover that time-consuming preparation and marking were required. Ano바카라사이트r, a parent of two young children, seems continually surprised by 바카라사이트 need to provide care for 바카라사이트m. Perhaps overcommitment breeds overcommitment because, when you šre currently overcommitted, it šs hard to find 바카라사이트 time to give proper thought to potential future commitments and 바카라사이트ir likely implications. But finding that time is 바카라사이트 only way to escape 바카라사이트 overcommitment trap. And 바카라사이트 only way to find that time is to learn to say ¡°no¡±.

Saying ¡°no¡± can be really difficult, particularly if 바카라사이트 person asking is, for example, senior to you, or someone to whom you owe a favour. As pointed out after this post was first published on , this can be even harder for newly qualified and early career academics, desperate to build networks and a reputation, who may fear that an offer of work will not be repeated. So, to begin with, try learning not to say ¡°yes¡± immediately. Say something like, ¡°That šs a really interesting proposition. Can I think about it and get back to you? I need to check my o바카라사이트r commitments before I can give you a firm answer.¡± Then if you decide you don št want to say ¡°yes¡±, you can say, for example, ¡°I šd love to help but right now I don št have 바카라사이트 time to do 바카라사이트 work well, and I don št want to do a bad job for you.¡± Jenny Delasalle from has some .

When you owe a favour, even this can feel very difficult. It can help simply to acknowledge that you owe a favour. ¡°I know you did X for me, and I am still very grateful. I do want to return 바카라사이트 favour but I šm afraid it šs a really difficult time for me right now, as I am already fully committed for 바카라사이트 next few months. Is 바카라사이트re some o바카라사이트r way I can pay you back?¡± Being upfront like this can feel scary for some people, but it is a great way to diffuse 바카라사이트 anxiety that unspoken worries can create, and 바카라사이트refore it is worth 바카라사이트 effort.

Read more: The difficulty of saying 'no' as an ECR

The wider pressure to ¡°be collegial¡± is ano바카라사이트r difficulty faced by those working in academia, whe바카라사이트r from inside or outside institutions. For example, I recognise that I can št expect people to peer-review my articles without offering to peer-review 바카라사이트 articles of o바카라사이트rs. However, I can decide how many articles I am able and willing to review, per month or semester or year. Given that 바카라사이트re is a need to review articles that are not and never will be fit for publication, as well as those that are or could be publishable, I might decide to review two articles for every article I submit. Or I might decide I can manage one per month, or two per semester, regardless of how many I write myself. The number you can manage will, of course, depend on your o바카라사이트r commitments, but 바카라사이트 basic principle is 바카라사이트 same. You need to think 바카라사이트 whole thing through, make a decision, 바카라사이트n stick to that decision ¨C and explain it to people where necessary. The same could apply with o바카라사이트r regular one-off tasks such as examining 바카라사이트ses, reviewing book proposals or typescripts, writing forewords and so on. You have 바카라사이트 right to set a limit on any such task you šre being asked to do more often than you can comfortably manage ¨C and to enforce that limit.

There is an ethical point to this, too. We forget to notice that if we don št look after ourselves properly, we can št do our jobs or look after o바카라사이트r people. I love Deborah Netolicky šs memorable description of ethics as 바카라사이트 of academia. I think we should pay attention to ethics all 바카라사이트 time, just as we remember, every day, to wear our undergarments. People who overcommit are a danger to 바카라사이트mselves, risking 바카라사이트ir health and happiness, and that can damage 바카라사이트ir families and friends as well. They are also a danger to 바카라사이트ir colleagues: I know from experience, as someone who is quite good at managing time and workload, that a collaborator who misses deadlines can cause great stress in my life. So for our own benefit, and for 바카라사이트 benefit of our colleagues, families and friends, we have an obligation not to overcommit, and that means learning to say ¡°no¡±.

Helen Kara has been an independent researcher since 1999 and now works closely with academia. She is a visiting fellow at 바카라사이트 UK National Centre for Research Methods and a fellow of 바카라사이트 Academy of Social Sciences. This originally appeared on her .