Academia: Striving for Equilibriu m

1. Academia: Striving for Equilibrium Panayiota Kendeou, PhD

2. Equilibrium • Equilibrium is the boundary that you create between your profession and every other segment that makes up your life (family, personal growth, spirituality, fitness and health, community, and friendships). • You enable yourself to truly be present. • It enables you to use your time more efficiently and effectively. • Meaningful daily AchievementandEnjoyment in each of your work and personal life.

3. Equilibrium • Equilibrium is a state of balance • It does not mean an equal distribution of time over all areas of life (family, personal growth, spirituality, fitness and health, community, and friendships). • It varies over time (e.g., new faculty vs. senior faculty), and often on a daily basis. • There is no perfect, one-size fits all, equilibrium you should be striving for.

4. Keys to Success • Self-Assessment of priorities • What type of an academic do you want to be? • What do you want to be known for? • Write down your professional vision statement • Set up specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-sensitive goals • Manage your work and life time

5. Goals • Set up Long-Term Goals • Go up for tenure in 2016 • Publish 14 papers by 2016 • Submit 2 major grants by 2016 • Break down your long-term goals to Yearly Goals • Submit 4 papers in 2011 (and at least 4 every year after that) • Submit 1 major grant in 2011 (and at least one more by 2016)

6. Goals • Break down your Yearly Goals to Monthly Goals • Submit one paper this month (and one every 2 months thereafter) • Break down your Monthly Goals to Weekly Goals • Complete the Methods section of Paper 1 this week • Set-up Daily Goals • Work on the results of Paper 1 today • Constantly evaluate, update, and revise goals

7. Time Management • Perform a Time Analysis • How much time do you spend • Reading? • Writing? • Teaching? • in Committees? • Training students?

8. Writing Time • Schedule your writing time • Specific days/week • Pick your most productive time • Protect your writing time • You have an appointment with writing; you cannot double book; you cannot cancel without rescheduling; you should not be interrupted • Learn to say NO • Set-up specific goals for your writing time • Evaluate your progress and revise goals

9. Writing Time • Share your writings with colleagues you trust and can depend on for critical review • Co-author with more experienced writers • Set-up priorities for your writing, priorities that align with your goals

10. Reading Time • “Schedule” your reading time • Specific days/week e.g., a seminar, a reading group, a lab group • Set-up specific goals for your reading time • Read 5 papers every week • Discuss readings with students, colleagues, collaborators

11. Thinking Time • “Schedule” your thinking time • Often combined with reading and writing • During commute • Set-up specific goals for your thinking time • Design a new study • Study a measure/scale • Discuss ideas with students, colleagues, collaborators

12. Striving for Equilibrium • Schedule and protect your personal time, not only your work time. • Turn every occasion in your life into a positive - even negative experiences are seen as "What can I learn from this?" • Do not take on too much. • Pursue your goals persistently.

13. Thank you! Panayiota Kendeou, PhD NeapolisUniversityPafos, Cyprus E-mail: p.kendeou@nup.ac.cy