Post By: Matea Djokic, Peer Mentor 2022
It’s the age-old question: how do we establish a work-life balance? I don’t know the answer but I’m working towards finding out and I’m happy to share my thoughts thus far.
I’ve spent the past 4.5 years of my life in graduate school and the biggest challenge I have faced has been trying to find work-life balance in pursuit of my degrees. Juggling school, relationships, health, and fun can seem impossible, but it is achievable! And let me tell you that I definitely still have 12-hour days or 70-hour weeks here and there when I’m in the middle of a field season, but I don’t let those define my whole graduate experience. Most weeks, I’m able to take weekends off for some fun and short trips!
Non-negotiables + Planning in Advance
Something I’ve found helpful in my pursuit of work-life balance has been planning as many non-negotiable things in advance as possible. These non-negotiables include things like deadlines, fieldwork, and conferences. But they also include things like backpacking trips, travel to see friends and family, and weekly game nights. This lets me fit as much as possible into my life while keeping a realized balance (most of the time).
Sometimes I can get lost in my work and not notice when I’m depriving other parts of my life from my effort. But when I plan in advance, I can see when work and school are outweighing time with friends and family and plan accordingly to make up for that.
Additionally, if you are able to find friends who share the same interests as you, many of your hobbies can also turn into chances to socialize, hitting two birds with one stone.
Boundaries
Boundaries are another skill that I developed during my graduate career. Learning to say, “no” to certain opportunities or when people ask for your time when your time is already limited can be difficult, but it can be so helpful!
I have always had a problem thinking that I needed to sign up for every opportunity, fellowship, training, etc. to get the most out of my graduate experience. When I do that, though, I perform poorly at everything I am involved in. Rather, I found when I selected a few things to focus my time and energy on is when I would grow the most.
Communication
Communication basically goes hand-in-hand with boundaries so this builds on the previous section. Once you have defined your boundaries, it is helpful to communicate these boundaries with others in your life. For example, when I am TAing, I tell my students that I will reply to their emails within 48 hours. When I am upfront about the 48 hours, this tells my students that it is unrealistic for them to expect me to be replying to their emails 24/7 as that is not possible for me or my mental health. This communication also shows them that I have my own work-life balance and gives me a chance to lead by example.
Similarly, when I know that I will want to go home for a holiday to visit family or have a social event planned like a wedding, I make sure that I notify my advisor as far in advance as possible so that we can plan together how to accommodate that time off from my research.
General Health
As we’ve just lived through a pandemic, I think we have become more health conscious which has been great for work-life balance. It is difficult (if not impossible) to maintain a work-life balance when your health is not at its best. As you navigate your graduate studies, even after the Covid pandemic, it is important to stay in tune with your body to keep your health at its finest.
Habits Start Small
Building a new habit can be intimidating. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to drastically change your whole lifestyle to create a new habit. In fact, it can be helpful to tie the new habit you are creating with an old habit that you already have.
For example, I am trying to start stretching regularly. It would be helpful for me to tie stretching into another habit that I already have. I drink tea in the morning and in the evening and this could be a great time for me to add a minute of stretching into my day as I already have an established habit of drinking tea twice a day. Now, a minute of stretching might not sound like much but that’s ok. When the addition is small, it is easier to follow through with it. When we aspire to add big changes into our routine (e.g., 20 minutes of stretching) but it is more difficult to follow through with these changes compared to smaller changes.
Give Yourself Some Grace
Building new habits is difficult and graduate school is difficult. Try to give yourself some grace if you don’t achieve your goals right away. Graduate school is a marathon and not a sprint and you have plenty of time to work on your habits and work-life balance.